Monday, November 10, 2014

Anniversaries, Birthdays, Dirty Dancing, Cathedrals, and The Saga

On Saturday, Patrick and I celebrated our 39th Wedding Anniversary. We celebrated by spending the weekend in San Antonio. We didn't really have any plans except to attend the matinee performance of Dirty Dancing on Sunday afternoon.

On Friday evening, Ezra and June went to parents night out at Junie's day care center. That gave us the opportunity for a grown-up dinner out with Katy and Travis. We ate at Tong's Thai which is near their home. I had Honey Pecan Shrimp. It was absolutely delicious. I would order it again right now. Patrick had Pad Thai which he said was delicious too. After dinner, we went with Katy to pick the girls up from Night Out. I love walking in and watching them interact with the other kids and waiting for them to notice us.

On Saturday, we had a family luncheon for my sister Kay. Besides being our wedding anniversary, it was Kay's 65th birthday. We met at Chuey's for a long, family lunch.  We had so much fun, Bylinda brought Kay and two of her teenage grandchildren, McKinzey and Connor. Her son Zack also came. Katy's family and Patrick and I made ten of us. We ate and talked and, instead of cake, we had sopapillas with honey. Yum! Kay had fun and we sat and visited for more than two hours. It just proved that we need to get together more.


Saturday night, we didn't have any plans. Travis went to his monthly poker night and we decided to go downtown to the Main Plaza at San Fernando Cathedral to see one of  San Antonio's newest attractions, San Antonio/The Saga. This is a video art installation by French artist, Xavier De Richemonte. It is AMAZING! The 25-minute show is free and plays at 9:00, 9:30, and 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

First, a little bit of history about the Cathedral which serves as the "screen" for the show. The San Fernando Cathedral was built between 1738 And 1755 and is still an active Catholic parish. It is the oldest operating sanctuary in North America. It faces the Main Plaza which is one of only four colonial plazas remaining in America. We have attended Mass in this cathedral several times. It is known as the burial place of the heroes of the Alamo. The remains of Davy Crocket, William B. Travis, and Jim Bowie are interred inside.

On Saturday night, we paid $1.80 for a parking place about two blocks from the cathedral. We took lawn chairs and blankets along with mugs of hot chocolate.  There was not a large crowd. I would guess less than 150 people were there. There was a wedding party exiting the cathedral just as we arrived. As you might imagine, Our Little Princesses were very excited to see the bride and groom.

The show is accompanied by music and a little narration. It is fast-paced and bright and will hold the attention of any age. Every one of us enjoyed it. Our 3 and 5 year olds loved it and sat attentively on our laps for the entire show.

My new camera takes most excellent nighttime pictures so I snapped a bunch. Enjoy.











On Sunday we were treated to a matinee performance of the Broadway Road Show of Dirty Dancing at The Majestic Theater. My friend Heather bought the tickets and then wasn't able to use them, so she gave them to us. The show was awesome, one of the best I've seen. The singing and dancing was outstanding. It was a great show with a great cast. If you are a fan of the movie, you will definitely enjoy the play.

San Antonio is such a great city to visit. We love it for lots of reasons, not the least of which is that Our Little Princesses live there.