From San Antonio to San Antonio and back again

Sometimes, you just get these crazy ideas and you think, 'why not?'  That's how it generally is when Raymond goes out of town for a class reunion or a golf outing.  I always say, "when the cats away, the mice will play", so my mind immediately constructs some fun adventure Dad and I can get into.  See, I used to sit at home and mope a bit when he'd leave.  You know, the old, 'woe is me!!, why can't I be having any fun?!?!' *cue the violins* Then, it dawned on me one day: Why AREN'T you having fun?  Fun is a CHOICE.  I flipped the script and next thing you know I've got us booked to go to San Antonio. No...the OTHER San Antonio.  You may not already know this dear reader but, I actually live in San Antonio, FLORIDA ( people who live right up the road in Tampa have never even heard of San Antonio Florida so, don't feel bad. LOL).  Anyway, I've never spent any real time in Texas so, I says to Dad, "You wanna go to the OTHER San Antonio?"  And he says, "why not?"  I chose to fly my favorite airline, Delta, because I already know that they are really great at making sure handicapped flyers get special treatment.  When you book Delta on line you have the option to request wheel chair assistance right up front.  So, when you check in with the skycaps the third party transportation company will know to be on the look out for you.  You give them your boarding pass and they take it from there helping to whisk you through TSA pre-check and then to your gate.  I WISH I could tell you that TSA expedites people in wheelchairs but, honestly, it's a hit or miss situation.  Both Dad and his wheelchair have to be patted down and tested for bomb making residue before being passed through.  Dad never minds.  His feeling is, 'they gotta do what they gotta do'.  But sometimes I get just a tad cranky about it.  Rather be safe  than sorry though...  We get to the airport in San Antonio, Texas and pick up our four door sedan at Budget car rental.  I was blessed enough to snag a room at the historic Omni hotel dead center of the Riverwalk complete with wrought iron balcony and killer views.  We really had to sit for a minute and take it all in.  You know how you hear about a place so much that when you actually visit it you want to really inhabit not just the place but yourself IN the place?! That's how I felt in the OTHER San Antonio on the River.  I had mapped out a pretty ambitious schedule for us: 1) Visit the Alamo (of course!), 2) take a river boat cruise (if it was handicapped accessible which it was),  3) stroll the Riverwalk, 4)  head into the hill country of central Texas. Wait, whaaat?! Yup, one day we just got in the car and drove and drove to Austin Texas by way of some of the most gorgeous scrub land in America.  We stopped in Fredricksburg to visit the WWII museum of the Pacific Theater and Dad got the VIP treatment while there.  Then it was on to Austin proper for Bar BQ at Stubbs and a look see around this hippest of college towns.  I understand the appeal of Austin that's for sure; trendy but friendly.  Driving back to our lovely hotel on the river,  I found myself falling for Texas.  We shall return.  We shall not forget!!