I’m spending a few days in San Antonio at a convention. I go here about ever other year and it is real nice. The hotel is real nice and right on the Riverwalk. But this post isn’t about that. It’s about my first time in San Antonio a short, oh lets say 36 years ago.
Don’t snicker, you aren’t so young yourself. I had just graduated from College and started work for Mobil Oil Corporation in Victoria, Texas just a couple hours or less from San Antonio.
One of the summer employees at the plant was from Texas, a big friendly guy named Mike. He and I became friends and one day he asked if I wanted to go with him to visit his girlfriend in San Antonio. Sure, lets go I said. So off we went. Truth was I had never heard him say anything about a girlfriend.
Turns out that she was a student at Saint Mary’s University. We got there and she was all in tears and crying and boo hooing and all that. She was the only daughter of a south Texas Rancher. Her daddy owned a big huge ranch. Small ranches in south Texas would be huge everywhere else so a big huge ranch might be kind of like Rhode Island or something. So she was used to a life of privilege. Just to give you an idea, her car that she drove was a late 1970’s model Cadillac Eldorado.
(ecarlist.com)
Her problem was that her suitemates were mean to her and made fun of her all the time and she wanted to go home. So Mike had his hands full trying to convince her to stay in school.
It was decided that we would go downtown and see the Riverwalk. So we loaded up in her car, of course, my Toyota Corolla definitely wasn’t going to get the job done. Not for a girl that wouldn’t settle for anything but white leather under her butt.
;
Now the Riverwalk was a different thing way back when. It was a fraction of the size it is now. They didn’t have all the nice restaurants that are there now nor quite the genteel atmosphere. Nor did they have all the canal boats giving tours like they do now. I remember that people were renting those two person little paddle boats and tool around them on the canal. They were everywhere. There were lots of young servicemen on leave and they were wandering around looking for stuff to do.
We did all the tourist stuff. We walked the Riverwalk, ate, went to Hemisfair and went up the tower. The whole time she was weepy and crying and Mike was doing his Barry White thing (“Cmon Baby, it’ll be alright…”
Anyways, I had of boring time being the third wheel on that adventure. However, it was the only time I got sit my butt on white leather my whole life. Mike and I ventured back to Victoria. He went back to school and got his degree and went to work for Exxon and I lost track of him after a while. I don’t know whether he and the princess ever got married. (I doubt it, she was always going to be Daddy’s girl, I could tell that.)
So that is the story of my first trip to San Antonio.
Have you ever sat your butt down on white leather? In a car I mean.
love the night shots. so cool. ( :
would love to see those sights in person one day. take care this week.
Nope, I have never sat on a car’s white leather seat. That’s quite the memory. I wonder where the princess is now.
My husband was dying to go to San Antonio last weekend for the Valereo Golf tournament. He was stunned at how long it would take to drive there from Tulsa. (And no, we don’t have white leather seats in our car.) So we stayed home.
What a great memory. Thanks for taking us there. Nothing like happy memories with good friends.
Terrific night shots. Love the ” Cinderella” coach.
Fine night shot of the Alamo, and love the night shots on the Riverwalk. Spent three months in San Antonio this winter and see you have captured the feeling of the place.
Great story and tour of San Antonio too. My only white leather sitting situation would have been wearing white leather hotpants, more than 36 years ago.
Any experience I have had with white leather seats is long forgotten, but I do remember that the last time I saw the Riverwalk in San Antonio was about (gulp) 1968.
Interesting story. I have a feeling the princess and Mike hook-up wouldn’t have turned out happily ever after.
No white leather for me. I’ve never been a princess and never particularly wanted to be one.
I always wondered why you didn’t keep that Corolla longer. Our first (and only) trip to San Antonio involved a search for the Alamo and it turned out to be right next to our hotel. Not quite what I expected. Hope you’re having a good time and I think you should go try a Volcano!
It would be good if your erstwhile friend could drop a line and finish off the story for you (and us). Don’t think I’ve ever put my butt on white leather – leatherette maybe, leather no.
Looks a lovely place to visit.
Grandkids weren’t interested in the Riverwalk so we went to the zoo.So it goes
aw what wonderful story … and i bet you are right, she sounded like she was truly spoiled
nice post
I LOVE San Antonio, and this sure brought back memories! Loved your great photos and reading the story of your first encounter with the city! One summer my daughter was dancing with a Joffrey summer program there and I spent several weeks on the Riverwalk and all around, eating at a wonderful quaint Mexican restaurant every day for lunch and reading and spending time in the library doing family research. Years later when we lived between Austin and Houston, we drove into San Antonio for one of our anniversaries and I got a bit tipsy at Durty Nellie’s and then rode one of the boats and felt rather queezy in the process!
Loved the post and all the shots.