Meeting an old friend

Our stay in Seguin put me stone's throw away from a dear old friend that I don't get to see very often.  It created the perfect opportunity for us to get together over lunch and catch up. We had both looked online for suggestions and decided walking around the central park would be a good place to start.

We settled on Jonathan's choice for lunch: Amy's & Cathy's. As cute as the little sandwich shop was inside we chose to dine alfresco. The afternoon was just too beautiful!

More walking led us to a coffee shop with "We've Moved" written on the glass.  A disappointment.  We continued on to a fun little bookstore.  Who can resist?  After a thorough perusing, we chatted a while with the owner and got directions to the relocated coffee shop.  It wasn't in walking distance, but oh, it was worth the short drive just for the sheer novelty of it!  Jonathan and I found quite the juxtaposition:

Chiropractor & Java Joint

Let that sink in for a minute.

Your eyes are not playing tricks.

We indulged in the Java portion, but passed on the chiropractic! 

We soaked up the remainder of our afternoon on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

The bookstore lady told us this old power station is being converted into a restaurant.
This will go on mine and Bobby's to-do list.

That evening, Bobby and I just struck out with no place particular in mind to eat.  Maybe the afternoon outing inspired me, because we ended up at the Guadalupe Grillhouse.

It it usually a good idea to ask the server for a suggestion on what to order. They will either tell you their favorite or what is most popular.  Their recommendation will either confirm your choice or convince you to try something you otherwise would not have.  That was the case for me on this night.  I tried their brisket nachos.  Excellent choice, if I so say so myself!  The smokey meat was a very different take on traditional nachos. They were loaded with brisket, cheese and beans, topped with jalapeno slices.  Our server tempted us with a platter of desserts and we succumbed. We shared a slice of locally-made caramel pecan cheesecake over coffee.

Seguin, Texas

Traveling north just a bit, we land in Seguin, Texas. We arrived in town tired and hungry; comfort food was the ticket, even before we checked into the hotel. Our go-to favorite in that category:

I love IHOP.

It was training night at IHOP--shadowing trainees galore.  I was reminded of Kristin's stories from back in the day when she was the 'shadower' and then 'shadowee'.  They were all working so hard--we got asked about 15 times by several people if everything was okay.

We were in a booth. Picture the kind with a half wall divider and a strip of glass atop that.  I didn't notice when 2 quite elderly ladies were seated on the other side of it.  What got my attention was their server.  He was maybe all of 19, tall, cute in a teenage sort of way, turned out in his white shirt and black slacks.  He was giving his utmost attention to his customers.  The ladies were deliberating over the menu, clearly unsure of what was what.  This young man was bent over the table, pointing through the menu, describing items, giving them consideration as if he were ordering for himself. He was so sweetly patient, without a drop of frustration or condescension toward these little ladies. It was quite touching. When he finished taking the order, I caught his eye over the partition and gave him a thumbs up.  Later I mentioned to his supervisor what a kind thing he did.  The supervisor then told me that the young man had ADD and when he first started working there he wanted to give up on himself, but this supervisor wouldn't let him. He took the young man under his wing, literally, working with him side by side.  He became confident and can now handle multiple large tables at a time--on that night he was also training 3 other people.  One of his best employees. An already good story just got better. I wish that young man many successes and kudos to the supervisor for seeing his potential.

On this night, IHOP provided not only comfort food, but comfort for the soul.

Rockport & Fulton, Texas

From the top, I will just say that our Rockport stay was too short.  There was too much left undone for my satisfaction, but that will give me something to look forward to should we get to return.

Our first night there we drove down to the Fulton Harbor just as the fishing boats were coming in for the day. These are not the yachts and pleasure craft of the last post, but rugged working vessels, rusty and grimy. We watched them unload their wares as the fog began to roll in.

Mere steps from where I took these photos was the Moondog Seaside Eatery.

We asked to be seated on the patio, but asked to by moved inside before we ordered since the heavy fog was getting chilly.

We enjoyed our meal much better without the shivering.

Our server assured me the crab cakes were good and she was right--fat, well seasoned with bits of sauted celery and onion, topped with a nice dill sauce.  I had a side of sweet potato fries.  Bobby had shrimp--see a pattern starting to develop?  Unfortunately it was too dark and the pictures did not look appetizing, which is a shame, because it was delicious.  Most of the clientele seemed to be local which are the kind of places we seek out.  The service was fair--we could have used more tea refills.

I had an afternoon to kill while Bobby was working that I spent at Rockport Harbor.

Only in Texas

The aquarium is closed just one day a week.  Guess what day I was there.

Now we're talking crab cakes!

Funny side story:

Years ago when I was still a kid at home we were on a family vacation and stayed a day or two at Rockport.  It was there that we experienced our worst restaurant ever. The Rusty Anchor has gone down in history and family lore as the symbol of dining at its lowest.  It looked innocuous enough going in--tables, chairs......And you would think, right there at the coast you could expect real seafood, right? Wrong.  In hindsight, our first clue came when the waitress seated us, waved nonchalantly behind her as she departed and said the now infamous words: "Help yourself to the salad bar."  She was using that term loosely.  There was a bowl of wilted lettuce, some other bits and pieces, and all this proudly displayed sans a sneeze guard. That was the defining moment we should have kept walking past it and right out the door.  We didn't.  We ordered fish dinners--I don't remember the make or model--but will never forget, some long while later, she brought to our table......fish sticks!  Burnt, tough fish sticks!  I can say that disastrous meal has provided us more laughter and jokes through the years that it almost made up for the crime that it was!

When we were headed to Rockport this time, I told my folks I would look up the Rusty Anchor for them, full well knowing it had to have gone out of business days after we left it years ago!  On the afternoon of my walk-about, this cafe caught my eye:

My apologies to Crazy Rusty for any dubious associations of horrors past.

"Help yourself to the salad bar" = code for "Get the heck outta here!"

Port Aransas & Mustang Island

While in Corpus Christi we spent a delightful afternoon at Port Aransas and Mustang Island riding the ferries, dolphin-watching, strolling the marina, and splashing in the surf.

Pier at Roberts Point Park

Port Aransas Ferries
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Let me insert here that it was after this trip I invested in a zoom lens!

Roberts Point Park
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Mustang Island