Second day in Austin and onto San Antonio!

Thursday, March 27 had heavy rain in the forecast, so we planned a mostly indoor day. (The forecast was right - it rained steadily all day, which is rare for TX generally and Austin in particular). We slept in, did a little shopping north of town (I had underpacked, so I needed a few more short-sleeved shirts), then had lunch at a local burger chain P. Teddy's. It was pretty good with a Char Grill vibe. After lunch we headed to a local arcade and played some pinball. 

The arcade we went to had a lot of pinball machines, so we had fun playing them. We could have gone to the UT art museum or the TX History Museum, but we opted for flashing lights and sounds of this large arcade.

Riley and Jensen video called us from Italy. Glad to hear from them to know things were going so well for them on their trip.

We had an early dinner at Stiles Switch BBQ, some of the best we've ever had! 

We headed in early to relax and do laundry before our trip to San Antonio the next day. 

Friday morning we headed south after breakfast. We charged near downtown and found a very good Texas BBQ for lunch on the recommendation from some locals, Smoke Shack BBQ. Again, outstanding BBQ and they had this spicy cream corn that was banging!

Since we had some time before we could check into our hotel, we decided to spend some time at a cool shopping and dining area, called the Pearl. Pearl was a TX-based beer that went out of business a while ago. Someone had the brilliant idea to revitalize the old property into a multi-use district. It sits on the Riverwalk, too, so it is accessible by walking or by boat. 

The old can plant is now bougie condos.

The original building has been preserved. Lovely architecture!

There were added fountains and public art throughout the area.

So glad this building survived!

We enjoyed the Pearl area then headed to the Crockett Hotel next to the Alamo, our home for the next two nights. It is a historic hotel with a compact but otherwise fine room. We ventured out on foot to explore the area, including the  Riverwalk area. We had an early dinner at Dough Pizzeria Napoletana which was amazing! We shared a blood orange soda and the tre colore burrata - totally DELICIOUS! We planned to also get a pizze, but we were really satisfied with the burrata, so we stopped there.

Tre Colore means 3 colors, so this was burrata had sundried tomatoes inside, along with pesto and those little tomatoes on the outside. The flatbread was really on point, too.

After dinner, we spent time walking along the Riverwalk and people watching. We also learned more about the history of the area on a riverboat ride. 

I couldn't resist getting Leon to climb inside this playground climbing structure.

There is public art everywhere. This lovely lady asked us to take a picture with her.

Doing the tourist thing by taking a riverboat cruise.

Sculpture along the Riverwalk in front of the art museum.

We were tired by the end of all of this touring, so we took a grumpy picture. That's the sign on our hotel above our heads.

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Costa Rica to Texas - on with the Adventure!

On Sunday evening we needed a change of food venue, so we headed to Playa Coco for the first time. The Italian place we had was great with Cherise having her best meal of the week. Leon's pizza was good, and my pasta dish was great. Gelato was the perfect ending to the evening.

Monday was our final full day of relaxation. We mostly sat outside and enjoyed the pool deck and nature including lots of birds. Leon also had his fourth stingray sighting, this one in the very shallow water a few feet from shore. 

That evening we went back to Playa Coco for dinner. This was our first meal with just the two of us and we had a great dinner at Tandoor. Gelato also ended this meal as well. 

Tuesday was our travel day. On the way to the airport we had our most authentic Costa Rican experience in a convenience store where we picked up to-go food for lunch in the airport. We got a few meat pies and pastries plus a bag of chips all for $7, by far our cheapest meal of the week! No issues with our flight but we did have to wait in a 30-minute immigration line in Dallas.

That evening we met up with old friends Rick and Melissa in Dallas and had a wonderful time catching up. Hate we didn't get a picture of all of us! We continued to Waco that evening and had our first charging challenge of the trip as Leon couldn't get the hotel charger to work. Otherwise, the Best Western was fine, and we charged at a fast charger the next morning to get to Austin.

On our way to Austin we stopped at the Mammoth National Monument and really enjoyed the mammoth excavation site. It was cool to learn about the animals and the importance of the site. 

Artist's rendering of the nursery herd of Columbian mammoths that were likely caught in a flash flood and died at this location in Waco. They were all females and juveniles, hence the name nursery herd. Columbian mammoths were the kind that lived in more temperate climates.

Overview of the dig site.

This is another mammoth that died much later (about 10k to 15k years later) than the nursery herd, so he is preserved on top of the nursery herd.

Outside the welcome center, there was a Dr. Pepper drink machine - my favorite! Dr. Pepper was created in Waco, so not too surprised to see it.

From there we continued on to Austin and stopped by SLAB BBQ for lunch. From there we went downtown and walked the area before we finished with a driving tour.

Congress Street Bridge behind us; this is where the bats come out around sunset each night.

Love this mural near the Congress Street Bridge.

This marker shows catastrophic flooding that happened in 1869 and 1935. Lady Bird Lake is way below us here, so I can't imagine how much water this was.

Cool shot of downtown that Leon took.

We headed to our hotel for the evening and had another charging challenge as the hotel charger was broken (and installed in a fire lane!), another nearby charger was in a gated apartment, and the nearby Ford dealer said their charger was not public. Finally, we charged at the HEB (very large grocery store) where we picked up some Mio and cake and had dinner before we headed in for the evening.

Monkeys!

 

Another Day(s) in Paradise

Sunsets on the Pacific are magical. I love the way this one reflects on the ocean.

This is a little place off the beach that we enjoyed for lunch, "Pescado Loco". It is owned and run by the 3rd and 4th generation. The picture on the upper right shows the founders of the place. While we were there, a man came in with a delivery of fresh octopus, which he had harvested himself by walking 1.5 hours along the rocky coastline. We were waited on by a very nice young man (4th generation) who had just graduated high school and was headed to university in May to become an industrial engineer. 

At dinner at the beachside Aquasport. Not a bad view in the place.

The colors deepen after the sunsets. We love watching this each night. It is always different from the day before.

The next few are the views I have from my afternoon pool chair. It was very breezy this day, so the palm trees were dancing. Even though it is 95 degrees, it is the dry season here so it isn't humid. With the breeze, shade and water, you have no problem being outside all day.

The pool is lovely. The upper pool is an infinity pool. We have been spending most of our time moving around the pool to keep in the shade.

This is the view of the ocean from my pool chair. The waves here are calmer than in NC, but you can still hear them.

One more sunset.

 

First Full Day in Play Hermosa

Leon and I took a beach walk in the morning. The sand here is dark, nearly black, I think because of the volcanic rock that is around. 

Leon found a shady spot on the beach to enjoy the view.

On our way to dinner, we spotted a family of monkeys moving through the trees. There are lines strung up in the trees expressly for the monkeys to be able to move easily through the canopy.

Here you can see a juvenile monkey using the monkey highway that has been constructed for him.

Another captivating sunset over the Pacific Ocean. We were surprised how much the sunset had moved to the right from the previous night. It also happened 10 minutes earlier than the night before.

This is the delicious grilled red snapper I enjoyed for dinner (and lunch the next day). The seafood here is incredibly fresh.

The rest of the day we enjoyed the pool in the morning. Leon spent a lot of time on the beach while Cherise, George and I napped and relaxed in our lovely villa.

 

On to Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

 On March 18th, we got up bright and early to catch our flight to Liberia, Costa Rica.

Our customary before-flight photos, looking a little tired because it is 6:30am.

We met up with our friends, George and Cherise, at the airport and promptly found a place to get tacos for lunch. The place had this gorgeous mural on the wall. We proceeded on to our place in Playa Hermosa and got settled in. Just before sunset, we walked down the beach to a place that we remembered enjoying when we were first here about 10 years ago. We caught a beautiful sunset and enjoyed more tacos, because it was Tuesday after all!

Gorgeous sunset on Playa Hermosa

Cherise and Leon looking over the menu at El Velero

Hanging with George

Enjoying the light with my sweetheart

George and Cherise enjoying our evening