Happy 7 Years!

My sweet hubs and I celebrated our seventh blissful year of marriage on November 8th by enjoying a little "staycation" right here in San Antonio on the beautiful Riverwalk. On the advice of a friend, I decided to try "naming my own price" on Priceline and ended up with a FANTASTIC deal at the 4-star La Mansion del Rio for only $85! And it was worth every cheap penny!

Now, unfortunately, right before we went on this getaway, we got some not-so-great news. I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and got the news by phone while I was at work (no fair) on the Nov 3rd. I had failed the first test, the one-hour glucose (which I failed when I was pregnant with Sabrina but passed the 2nd test) and then took the three-hour glucose test and failed 3 of the 4 results. I was immediately referred to a specialist for diabetes, a doctor I had already seen for a special screening sonogram for birth defects back when I was 14 weeks pregnant. I had to schedule an appointment with them and attend a FOUR HOUR class on Diabetes. Really?! Well, they tried scheduling it for November 8th......uh....NO. So it is set for the 15th, the following Monday, and I had a week to try and mentally prepare for what was ahead. But it also meant that we could enjoy our Anniversary before I had to start a special diet.

Since our Anniversary fell on a Monday this year, we were able to enjoy the Riverwalk without any weekend crowds. What we didn't know is that we would have to deal with a rather large convention in town, for financial people, that ended up interfering with our dinner plans, but more on that later. So we just booked a room for one night (the budget is pretty tight this year with a baby on the way) but took 2 days off from work so we could take advantage of both Monday and Tuesday to enjoy some quality time together.

We dropped Sabrina off at Grandma Ruby's house on Monday morning and headed out on our Anniversary Adventure. We had a VERY LOOSE plan........ to RELAX..... eat some great FOOD..... and just enjoy being TOGETHER. Since check-in wasn't until 3, we went to La Madeline for some lunch. I LOVE their Chicken Salad Croissant.......
Daniel enjoyed a Turkey sandwich and we both enjoyed just having a quiet meal, listening to the soothing background music and talking about whatever. It was really nice, I have to say, and a great start to our getaway.










When I called the hotel to see if our room was ready, it was being cleaned so we took an impromptu drive through Olmos Park and Alamo Heights so I could show Daniel all the amazing homes in the "old money" district. I absolutely love the different styles of architecture you can find and the trees.... oh, my, the trees! I don't have any shots of our adventure but it was so fun to just get lost in one of the most beautiful (and somewhat hidden) area of our beautiful city. It's not easy to find (you enter through Olmos Park and just take random turns) but the effort is well worth it.

So once we arrived at the hotel, we were told we had been upgraded to a Riverview room (I had requested on the phone but wasn't guaranteed) at no charge (another advantage of the off season and a Monday booking). Here's what we got......

Our Balcony overlooking the Riverwalk!

The view from our balcony, the bridge is right outside the hotel's door to cross the Riverwalk.

After we settled in, we decided to take a Riverboat cruise, which neither one of us has done in years. I've lived in San Antonio my whole life and usually do this kind of touristy thing when I have guests in from out of town. But it's been a reeeeeeeeeeeeally long time since I have been on a boat on the River. We had so much fun! The weather was PERFECT, the crowds were light, it's an easy activity on this pregnant mama, and I even learned a few new things about our wonderful city.

The view from the Riverboat - That's our room on the 2nd floor!

The Nix Hospital

Upon completion, it was the largest and tallest hospital in the US! It's sharp angles gives an optical illusion when viewed from the river that the facing wall is one-dimensional. Carol Burnett Oliver North and SA's former Mayor, Henry Cisneros, were all born there.

The mosaic tile mural on the Lila Cockrell Theatre, titled "Confluence of Civilization of the Americas" that was commissioned for the 1968 Hemisfair (World's Fair). I've always thought this was beautiful and one of my favorite parts of the Riverwalk tour.

The River Center Mall Christmas Tree that sits on the island in the Riverwalk circle.

"Marriage Island". Daniel came *this close* to proposing to me here when we celebrated his birthday in January 2003 with a day on the Riverwalk. We call it our "Perfect Day" because it was that and so much more. But he didn't have a ring yet so he waited another month and proposed on our five-month Anniversary at my favorite restaurant, Milano's.

Built in 1929. The interesting gargoyles on the side of the Tower Life building. They were supposed to fend off "evil spirits" and help the business prosper. Apparently it didn't work because the business initially failed.

Daniel in front of a small waterfall in front of our hotel on the Riverwalk side.

So one of the reasons why we wanted to stay at La Manson del Rio was because of its restaurant, Las Canarias. Famous for its cuisine, it's one of the nicest fine dining restaurants in the whole city. Daniel once ate there for a fancy batchelor party dinner but I had never been. We made reservations online and were all set until we found out right before our trip that they were booked for a private party. Aw, shucks. We inquired again when we checked in and sure enough, that convention bumped us from our Anniversary dinner. On to Plan B. After we took our Riverboat Tour, we inquired at Paesano's, another one of our favorite restaurants, and luckily was a short walking distance down the River from our hotel...... very important to this swollen footed, very pregnant mama. Booked for a private party. The convention people strike again! Plan C. We called up Boudro's, another fave (and part of the "Perfect Day" I mentioned earlier) and they had an opening! At 9pm. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA.......um, no. We were feeling pretty discouraged at this point but finally settled on the restaurant directly across the river from our hotel called Ostra (formerly Pesca). It was recommended by our hotel when we checked in but it's heavy on the seafood, which is not one of hubby's favorites. But we couldn't beat that it was 1. available at 6pm, and 2. the shortest walk across the bridge. Well, God was great and had this plan all along for us because we had a wonderful meal and enjoyed sitting Riverside and people-watching. This is the Salmon with Lemon Caper sauce that I ordered - DELISH and so incredibly flaky and moist!

And this is the Waygu Beef Short Rib with Horseradish Cream Sauce that Daniel ordered.... YUM!

What a wonderful evening with my wonderful husband!

Before we headed back to the hotel, I let Daniel take a "belly shot" of me..... not my favorite thing to do but I know I should record this image for historical purposes (yeah, I almost said hysterical purposes). So here's me and my big belly at 28 weeks.

When we arrived back in our hotel room, this is what we found......

What service! It was such a wonderful surprise and really ended our day on the perfect note.

We enjoyed sleeping in and ate breakfast in bed the next morning, took in the view of the Riverwalk from our balcony one last time, took our time getting ready and then checked out about 11.





After we checked out, we did a little shopping, ate a late lunch at Chicfila and then went to see "It's Kind of a Funny Story" movie. Happy Anniversary to us! The seven year itch? Bah-humbug! Here's to the next seventy times seven!