Hi Ho Trigger

Trigger

I woke up the next morning with a pounding head.  Well, actually, it was more like almost noon.  I t was okay to sleep late because we made up for it on the other end.  And most of the touristy places didn't open up at the crack of dawn anyway.  We were deciding what to do.  2 breweries in town were open to the public, Pearl Brewery, and the Lone Star Beer Brewery.  We also wanted to go to the zoo and the park.  What to do, what to do?  We decided we would get ourselves together, get in the car, and just go wherever it took us.  ("It" was me.)  We would be meeting Mary's uncle and his family for dinner at one of the yummy Mexican Restaurants for dinner.  His treat!!  He didn't live in San Antonio; he lived in Eagle Pass, or around there, and was specifically driving to SA to meet up with us.  That was a very nice thing to do.  She had a very cool family, unlike some people. (me)

We got in the Bug and drove down to the Pearl Brewery.  It was a pretty cool looking old building, but we decided to test it against the Lone Star Brewery.  Pearl was just a working brewery that conducted tours of the brewery according to what we had read.  On the other hand, Lone Star was a working brewery and had a museum, which was really the drawing card.  I set out for the Lone Star Brewery.

On arrival, we noticed, of course, the gorgeous landscaping and grounds of the facility.  Everything was so green.  If you live in Dallas or have ever spent a summer there, you come to appreciate the color green.  Green grass, green trees, trees with many leaves on them instead of trees that had taken the burning abuse from the sun, with the end result being trees with dried out or burnt looking leaves.
And Dallas just didn't have a lot of trees anyway.  I don't know why; maybe the climate was just too intense.  The only part of Dallas that seemed to have trees was in the North Dallas area.  Old trees that were protected by the threat of death by the property owners.  They didn't trim them ever, and that will be a problem for them later on.

Mostly what I remember about the museum were things that were dead that were standing.  I don't know or remember what the connection was to Roy Rogers, the old cowboy star of early television, but obviously, there was one.  Standing proud and tall in the middle of the museum was his horse Trigger.  If you don't remember or know, Trigger was a beautiful Palomino horse that could run faster than the wind to catch up to all of the bad guys.  He was very beloved by Roy Rogers, his wife Dale Evans, and of course, all of his fans.  The only problem on this day was that Trigger was dead.  Dead. As a doornail.  Trigger was STUFFED.  Yes, he was a good horse, but did he deserve taxidermy?  He was most definitely the most popular exhibit.  I had seen stuffed birds and wolves and bears, but a stuffed horse, a famous horse?  I was kind of grossed out and sad that he was being used to making money for someone else even after his death—shame on us.

And just when you couldn't quite stop looking back over your shoulder at Trigger, as soon as you walked on a little further, there was Bullet, Roy's dog.  He had been a beautiful German Shephard.  He was also a star on the show and now making money for someone else after his death.  I guess I'm weird, but I didn't like it.  The only thing that seemed to escape being stuffed was Roy and his wife, Dale.  I thought that would have been appropriate for them; it certainly was okay to have their animals stuffed.  Why not a stretched, stuffed Roy and Dale to add to the freak show?

I was no longer interested in The Lone Star Brewery.  I never liked their watery tasting beer anyway.  And I damn sure didn't like their museum.  It was a freak show,  End of that story.

Now we had time to kill.  I thought we would drive around the park that had the stream running across the road.  The name of the park is Brackenridge Park.  It is such a gorgeous place, and it just happens to be where the zoo is located as well.  It is one of the old school parks that has character and charm.  It is not flowing with modern art pieces for you to look at and turn your head sideways and say, "WTF is it?"  It has the old-time architecture of days gone by, stone buildings that fit in nicely with the rest of old San Antonio.  Water runs throughout the park from the river and from mineral springs.  Maybe that is why the water was so soft in the motel, mineral water.  If in San Antonio, you must visit this charming park and the zoo.  Both are fine.

We drove around the park for some time, enjoying the slowed-down pace of doing nothing but cruising with the radio on like everyone else.  Such a shame that I didn't have a convertible; it would have been the perfect day for it.  A little warm, yes, but I have always felt that a sunroof or convertible sets you free by exposing you to the wind and elements, mess your hair up, and give you that wild look.

It was time to go back and make ourselves family oriented looking.  We were having dinner with Mary's family, so a little cut back on the makeup and more conservative clothes was in order.

The restaurant was picked specifically by Mary's uncle because it had authentic Tex-Mex and traditional Mexican dishes.  There were also Mariachis walking throughout the restaurant playing their instruments and singing.  I always found that a little annoying, but it was the real deal.

The food was great, and the family was wonderful.  Why couldn't I have a fine family like that?  We dragged the dinner out for about two hours before we said our thank yous and goodbyes.  I would see them again at a family reunion soon.

Now we were off to park the car at the motel and walk down to the River Walk.  We walked around for a good while, walking off our dinner.  No way could we imbibe on liquid finery right at that minute.  We were victims of too much salsa, too many chips, and too much heavy food.   A nap would have been nice, but we were getting short on time; we only had one more day left here.  So we tuffed it out.  While we were walking, somebody's kid fell in the water.  Fortunately for the family, a nice Air Force guy who was out to have a good time jumped in the murky water to save the kid.   The kid was fine, but the poor guy was a mess.  He wasn't going to be hitting on any women on this night.  Not with those clothes on.

We settled in a cafe by the water as usual.  I'm a people watcher, so I get a lot of entertainment from watching crowds of people for the weird, unusual, and bizarre humanities that pass by.  I'm not cruel; I just like to watch all of the different life varieties that pass us by daily.  In our normal rush to do things, we take for granted how different we all are, and yet we are the same.

This night was a quiet night.  I think we were ramping up and building our reserves up for one last day and night in San Antonio tomorrow for our last day here.  I was kind of sad in a way that it was going to have to end.  Oh, it would never do for me to have unlimited time and money available to me.  I would be a wealthy bum.  And enjoy every minute of it.

Back to the room, we went; it was only around midnight.  But we were tired of the heat and the activities of the week.  We could watch TV for a while and then zonk out.  Tomorrow I would get up early to savor the last hours in this city that I was so crazy about.

But until then, it was just, zzzzzzzzzzz.

www.brackenridgepark.org


historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roy_Rogers_Show