Almost Doesn't Count

THE Texas Rangers...in beautiful San Diego?!?!
I wouldn't be a true fan if I didn't rearrange my schedule to at least make one game. So I did. I didn't care if I had to go alone...which I almost did, I was going to go. I have some friends George and April who share my love for game and for the Rangers and called me with the same philosophy so we headed out together. Petco Park was absolutely beautiful...baseball and the beach what else do you need?!?
 The park is right in downtown San Diego is the Gaslamp Quarter. Our adventure started at the Tilted Kilt Irish pub/bar right outside the park. There were so many Ranger fans it felt just like home...with a beach! Good to know Texas fans travel well :). Unfortunately they didn't have Harp on tap I figured they would...Irish lager...Irish bar....kinda makes sense but apparently not to them. I had a Killians instead...not a a bad 2nd  choice by any means.
Well, now George claims to be a Texas fan yet he says his Texas shirt was "at his other house"...mhhmmm so he shows up in a plain black tank...and for his punishment for looking like a bum and not sportin Ranger red&blue...
its cold outside.
He made a phone call to the sports apparel store that was about a mile away and they said they has Texas shirts...so we decided to go for a walk...it seemed a lot longer than 1.8 miles away I must say. Well Lord knows I had to pee, story of my life I have the smallest bladder of all time and of course by the time we decide to stop we had made our way to the residential area and we were surrounded by high rise apartments instead of useful places with public bathrooms.
Until we came across a gem
Nestled in the corner next to the public transit train. .
The Kansas City Barbeque.

We thought we were just going to aimlessly walk in to this bbq joint and use a random bathroom, relieve our bladders get out and be on our way to somewhere more flattering for a beer...
NOPE we were wrong this place is famous! Scenes from the classic movie Top Gun were shot in this bar and today they have the nickname The Top Gun bar. And the decor lives up to its name.

 The bartender got everyone at his bar top going with his story about  his arm being in Top Gun serving drinks and how his self worth was found it that prideful story...which was completely not true and left us laughing because we were the fools who believed him. To make this place even more interesting they have the notorious 'Shrine Collection'. This randomness includes over
350 Navy hats ranging from hats from destroyers and submarines to countries no longer in existence like East Germany and the USSR,

400 License plates from all 50 states and 42 foreign countries,
15 gallons of bra archives from the smallest hilltops to mountains at a 64FF,
and 15 life preservers from the U.S. Army, Navy and Coastguard and the Canadian Navy...a cool story and a different experience for sure.
George left April and I to finish our beers (Red Trolley is amazing in case you were wondering) while he went hunting for a Ranger Shirt. Only to find out they were sold out ...haha a bunch of Texas band wagoners in San Diego apparently. George wasn't too happy that we walked all the way over there and the guy on the phone told him he had shirts...but everything happens for a reason because we would have never found The Top Gun bar or gotten to ride one of those really weird looking bicycle taxi's with the cute Turkish driver!

Inside the park we sat in our section for the first couple innings next to a drunken Dodger fan and his Padres fan girlfriend and then parted ways.
I had an old friend Ryan Cotton, to meet up with. He is in the military now and like a true Texas fan in Cali had to make time for the game. As we were catching up a random couple asked us if we wanted to use their two extra tickets that are like 3 rows up and right next to the home team dugout...um yes! No hesitation there! Kelly was from Tyler, Texas and her husband from the Netherlands. I was intrigued by their story. They were an amazingly sweet couple and I am so thankful for them, it was very cool of them to let us sit there because they were possibly the closest we've ever been and I had a great view of Josh Hamilton's 2 RBI triple..yep I was happy.

Speaking of Josh Hamilton...you must know I am his biggest fan, ever. Like, ever ever, I have an I Am Second bracelet because of him I sport his name on my shirt to all the games I can in SoCal and make signs for the games and better believe I keep up with him and the Rangers better than any girl you know  & I was nervous that he wasn't going to play considering he hasn't been starting lately due to an illness. But he is feeling better and in the line up, I was stoked. Every baseball fan goes to a game with secret hopes of catching a ball..foul ball, homerun ball, a ball thrown after the inning...anything. And If it were from their favorite player it would be the highlight of their summer. I remember being 6years old with my t-ball glove at the Ballpark in Arlington anxiously awaiting the time when my baseball fairy tale came true and I caught one. I could be sitting in the nose bleeds, but my innocent little girl self believed in fairy tales and I was prepared. At the time I was praying Pudge would be the batter in shining armor that hit me that ultimate love letter.
Well to this day I'm still waiting for the happily ever after part of the fairy tale...

AND OH! Let me tell you. I'm going to need therapy because this is one of the most unfortunate stories, ever. Definitely not what you would expect happily ever after to be like...

I'm walking back to my seat from hanging out with Ryan,
I stop to grab a drink at the bar...I would have been in and out of there had it not been for the super social bartender who was asking me all about being from Texas...at the time I appreciated him for not just having the snobby "I'm the bartender" attitude but about 5 minutes later I wished nothing more than that he would have been that way.
I had been walking in between innings, so I wouldn't miss anything. But now that I chatted for so long, I leave the bar and notice Josh is up to bat...I am too far from my section to make it in time and I HAVE TO  watch Josh, so I stroll out to stand above the section I was at and right in time for the next pitch too...
Josh fouls it off...
 my heart stops.

its headed right toward my section..

I swear time slowed as I watched this unfold a few sections over...
right as the thought "I swear if that ball.." runs through my head...
I see the guy, the annoying Dodger fan...the one in the seat RIGHT NEXT TO ME dive over the seats and triumphantly stand up holding the small, white trophy in the air with pride...
and I am furious!
And in shock "Did that REALLY just happen?!? Really?!?!?"
Okay so yes it is my fault I left my seat, I know this, but seriously?!?! I get back and try to persuade them to let me have it.. I mean I AM wearing his name on my back and THEY didn't even pay attention enough to know who hit it! Trust me I went on and on about this, it was a tragedy, really. They had no freaking clue and not to mention when Josh came up again they were chanting and yelling that he sucks and they wanted him to strike out.  I had to deal with this guy the rest of the game! That ball should have been mine and if I was there I would have fought for that bad boy! I mean this is not just a foul ball..
It is a Josh freakin Hamilton,
the one and only,
my baseball hero,
foul ball.
and I missed it.
It hurts to say I almost caught a Josh Hamilton foul ball.
Almost doesn't count...
That's a once in a lifetime type thing...
needless to say I am heartbroken.

Not to mention when they were in Anaheim I sat literally in the seat next to the grassy area where lots of home runs end up prepared and ready to jump that fence for a ball... But of course, that game nothing comes close:/ So this game I was ready to go thinking man it HAS to happen this time...
And it did...
And it was hit by my hero ...
And it was in my section...
and it was right by my seat section 208 row 1 seat 16
And I was gone.
Ugh.

I did get a picture with it

But they made me give it back....

Absolutely, utterly, completely, heartbroken.

I might just be pitiful & get ice cream and watch baseball movies every night for the next couple weeks....

But Scott Feldman did pick up his first win and RBI after they intentionally walked Michael Young to get to him. Good things :)

So next time you're in San Diego stop at the Kansas City Barbecue and just listen to the stories. If you're going to Petco Park The Tilted Kilt really is awesome and a great place for pregame drinks. After the game the nightlife of the Gaslamp Quarter awaits. We chose The Shout House, a great piano bar with a lively crowd and awesome dueling pianists and The Yard House with about 200 beers on tap...you just can't go wrong there.

Btw. Next game I am GLUED to my seat. Even if it's the nose bleed seats.

PIZZA! && The Ghost of Davy Crockett

So before I start this post I want to share an amazing story with you. Unfortunately for now I serve tables for a living. There are goods and bads of course and usually the good out weigh the bad or else I wouldn't choose it to pay my bills..for now. But last night was just one of those nights...every server knows...when it seems like you work your tail off for a table, they are incredibly nice and engaging and so fun that you give them way over the top service...WAYYY over. And then you grab their check binder curious as is to if they are average or 20%ers..and you're taken back, shocked and confused because they prove to be complete douche bags and tip you 3$ on their 145$ tab...now it's in that moment that you wonder if they don't like having their drinks constantly full, food hot and out in a timely manner, being entertained by their server and being treated like royalty...or if they are just completely rude, cheap people. I guess we will never know. But I do know I did my job, well and they are just ridiculous. Well this mornin' I see an ex co-workers, Christina's, post on Facebook about someone who tipped .38 on a 74.62 tab just to round the credit charge up to 75.00...and there were about 20 comments going back and forth about bad service and tipping and all kinds of mumbo jumbo. Of course being the good Facebooker, and server, I am... I put my 2 cents in about my cheap tip last night and something happened that has never happened to me before...

The ultimate random act of kindness or pay it forward act or just simple good hearted gift giving love language type act, whatever you choose to call it happened to me. TO LITTLE OLE ME! And it made my day, in fact it inspired me.

A friend of Christina, John Montgomery, a complete stranger to me...I have never met, heard of, or seen this guy in my life, engages in my story and this is what happened....

And I now have a 30$ gift card for pizza. And all I can say is THANK YOU 

John it is people like you that make this world so intriguing and wonderful. You have great character and the philosophy of giving that I thought was completely lost and I appreciate you. Best wishes to you and your family. And I pray the time comes and I can return the favor in some creative way.

OKAY! AND NOW FOR PLACE #2 I GET TO CHECK OFF!

On my trip to Texas Hill Country I had the opportunity to cross off another place in my book. Page 717 The River Walk in San Antonio, Texas.

Of course I've been to the river walk multiple times considering I lived in San Antonio for one semester of college...and the only semester I actually enjoyed I might add. UTSA was a great experience and I highly recommend that school for anyone thinking about it. The Honors College was incredible and very good to it's students, I got to meet with the dean frequently. 

So anyways enough of the collegiate talk.

After the night we spent in Gruene we couldn't decide if we wanted to go to to 6th street in Austin or head to the River Walk in San Antonio. We were about the same distance from each one. Any normal 21 year old would have chosen 6th street...especially since I have never been there. I was really excited and wanted to go experience this. For those of you who don't know 6th street is supposed to be the crazy bar hopping party scene of the wild and crazy city of Austin. The motto is "Keep Austin Weird". Like I said I have never been, only heard stories....but for whatever reason we chose to go to the river walk. The decision was okay with me because I knew it was in my book and even though I have been there before I wanted to go again to make it an official visit for my journey.

ya, car rides.

The River Walk or Paseo del Rio, began in 1938 as a part of "The San Antonio Beautification Project". Since then the 2.5 mile river walk has evolved into one of Texas' most popular tourist attractions. The walk is absolutely beautiful. Covered with tropical foliage, the giant cypress and palm trees, along with the flowering wonderfulness create a delightful scenic walk.  Lined with restaurants, bars, shops, and hotels the bustling area proves to be a good time both during the day and for night life. If you choose, during the day you can take a river tour ferry complete with expensive pictures and a bambling tour guide...one of those very touristy things that I'm not into at all. I'd rather do my own research, find my own adventures, and meet with the locals and hear their stories.

 Buuuuttttttt if you're into it, when you visit San Antonio grab your camera with the neck strap, the off grey t-shirt you bought at the airport that says "SAN ANTONIO TEXAS" with a hibiscus flower in the middle, or possibly your flowering button up Hawaiian t-shirt, your white new balances OR velcro sandals ( don't forget the tall white socks with those), cargo pants, fanny pack, pull out the map with the little red stars and captions, and brown sunglasses with a black safety strap that goes behind your head and please by all means jump on the ferry and get your tourist on....in fact buy a key chain for me while you're at it.

My favorite restaurant along the river has to be Casa Rio. It has great Mexican Food, moderate prices, and a great atmosphere. And I always get great service. This time we were there pretty late so we had to find something open...Dick's Last Resort was the winner. This restaurant is always fun because of the intended rudeness and crude humor of the wait staff...I don't recommend it for your kids 9th birthday party but if you're looking for a interesting adult dining experience, go here.  They are in most major US cities. We had a couple drinks, nachos, and an epically hilarious waiter. 

After Dick's we wanted to hit a club...unfortunately we had picked up some under age 20 yr old boys...don't ask me why it WAS NOT my idea to keep them around...so we had to find and 18 and up club..lame. 

Well we ended up at the Bonham Exchange right behind the Alamo

and yes....

it was a gay club.

or "USE TO BE" is what I was told.

But none the less definitely still had some of the "use to be gay club" crowd

Granted I had a great time. There were many rooms with different themes and the dance floors were large with a high class club atmosphere, cheap drinks, and great DJs.

But I was definitely looking out...no matter how drunk you get me the LAST place I want to find myself is in the middle of a lesbian drunkeness extravaganza

that's just not me.

if that's your thing...then more power to ya and I love you for who you are 

but as for me, I'm not into it.

I don't know who decides to go to the Alamo at 3am...

well actually I do, we do. And I am telling you right now I saw the ghost of Davy Crockett...still holdin' down the fort like a loyal Texas Revolution soldier. I don't know if he was waiting on the ghost of Santa Ana to come back so he could beat him once again or what but he was there...

in a security guards uniform, in stealth mode, quiet and on the look out with arms folded, back against the tree, right leg up lookin' like a flamingo, at the door of the Alamo. He was not gonna let a group of random, crazy, possibly drunk, young kids at 3 in the mornin' do anything stupid to his beloved Alamo. All he did was give us the death stare and I was spooked. With a stare like that there's no way the Mexican army had any chance back in 1836 at the Battle of the Alamo. Not to mention I also saw his buddy William B. Travis inside the walls posted up keeping watch out the probably 10 foot high window...with a stare just as piercing. True soldiers still keepin watch over their Alamo!

Look closely you can see Crockett posted up on the tree

 If you don't know the story of the Battle of the Alamo...google it. It is was a huge victory for the Great State. And if you claim to not care because you're not from there or don't live there..then read about it anyways...America's history would have been completely different without the annexation of Texas and without this victory that would not have been possible.

San Antonio has a lot to offer. SeaWorld, The Magic Time Machine Restaurant, Six Flags, Tower of the Americas, San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, a zoo, Alamo Bowl, HemisFair Park, it is also home to the NBA's San Antonio Spurs (GO MAVS!), and many more. It is also driving distance to many other great places. When you go visit definitely read up on the history because that's what this city was built on.

2 down 998 to go!

P.S. 

Keep checkin' up on the blog I will be posting some great Cali adventures soon along with some plans for the journey. And if you like what you read...re-post! Thanks!

Texas Hill Country! Oh yes.

Can I just say that the first thing I did before I wrote this post was re-open my book and I just so happen to open to page 303 and you'll never guess what's on page 303...not in a million years, so don't even try.

Count Dracula's Castle in Transylvania, Romania. Talk about epic!! I can't wait to go there.

So I have been epically lazy and procrastinating like a champ with this blog so thanks to Amy for calling me out on it. I promise to work on that from now on.

Okay so what I really am writing this post about I am so incredibly excited for. The very first place I get to mark off!! 1 down 999 to go. Texas Hill Country Page 715 in the book.What better way to start my journey than in my home state, THE GREAT STATE.

The plan was to go floating down the Guadalupe River and hang out in New Braunfuls with some friends. My family has a time share in Canyon Lake which sits right on the river. I am incredibly lucky to have an amazing friend named Amy Jones. Now Amy and I weren't always so close..in fact we started out hating each other...despise may be a better word. Let me tell you we did some damage to the 5th grade classroom. But what great girl friendship doesn't start out catty? That's just the way it is. The coolest thing about her and I is that we both have the travel bug. So any chance we get to take some random trip or mini vacation together...we hop on it.  We had a decision to make...we could either take the 35, which is the most popular, fastest, and industrial way to travel from Dallas down to the New Braunfuls area or we could take some random Texas highways through some little towns, possible dirt roads and the history and scenery of Texas Hill Country. You can probably guess which one we took.

We started our journey out in Denton, Texas. The list of towns we went through on the way down and back include: Cleburne, Glen Rose, Hico, Hamilton, Johnson City, Lampasas, Llano, Dublin, San Saba, Stephenville, Fredericksburg, and Luckenback. And I'm definitely forgetting some.
Hill Country was absolutely breathtaking. The rolling hills and beds of wildflowers create a rustic beauty that is quite abnormal for Texas considering most of the state is flat. I wish I could have been there through bluebonnet season because I can only imagine how beautiful the land would be with blankets of bluebonnets.

 In fact I just googled 'bluebonnets in hill country'...yep, next year it's a must. Even though I saw no bluebonnets I did see tons of other colorful wildflowers.

Driving through the hill country was incredibly peaceful. It was refreshing to be in open space with no buildings, houses, or any human creation of any kind. For the most part it was just open untouched country. Sometimes I feel like all the human establishments I'm surrounded with have depleted the country of its beauty. I was relieved, it reassured me that humans haven't completely ruined the world we live in. More than once we found ourselves windows down, hair blowin', and Dixie Chicks "Wide Open Spaces" blarin' out of our speakers.

Blanco was a fun little town there was an town Ice House I wanted to stop in so badly but unfortunately we didn't get around to it. Johnson City is the birthplace of president LBJ and they are sure proud. There's a huge sign right as you drive into the city limits that let's you know. There's is a random exotic zoo right outside the city as well that if you blink you'll miss the sign. Hamilton, Glen Rose and most of the towns we went through were lined which chic boutiques, antiques stores, art galleries and gave off a very old timey feeling.  Most of the buildings were old and worn but that added to the feel of the towns. While most of these towns were settled by German immigrants and continue to hold on to German-esque traditions, Dublin was most definitely where the leprechauns landed. It had such an Irish theme to it the main street was called Patrick street and shamrocks seemed to be the logo of every business in town. The luck of the Irish definitely helped this little town out though, because they are the home to Dublin Dr. Pepper. The oldest Dr.Pepper plant and the only one to still use real cane sugar...and any true Dr. Pepper lover will go crazy over some rare, good ole Dublin DP. Fredericksburg allowed us to have some AMAZING real Texas BBQ lunch. We stopped at Cranky Franks and it was delicious!!! We also enjoyed some local brew. The Golden Ale from the Alamo Brewing Company from San Antonio.

Luckenbach.

DUH we stopped there.

13 miles outside of Fredericksburg off ranch road 1376 in Gillespie County is the Luckenback Town Loop. Growing up in Texas everyone has heard of Luckenbach...its a Texas Legend thanks to Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Their song "Luckenback, Texas ( Back to the Basics of Love)" is a classic. Literally nothing but a retired post office, general store, music stage, and a saloon this unincorporated community has created a huge name for itself, especially in country music. It's a popular biker rest stop and has the Guinness World Record for most guitarists gathered playing simultaneously for five minutes. 1,868 was the official count of August 23, 2009.
Okay now think about that for a second....that's just ridiculous and incredibly loud... I bet the poor squirrels still are scared to death and will never come back.

We stopped here for a cold Shiner, chatted with a guy named Randy who was so intriguing. He and his biker friends were traveling all of Texas in a very short amount of time. He has also traveled the world and gave me a couple places to stop when I am in Europe! His stories were inspiring. We also got to enjoy an underground country artist who was very talented. Look him up if you're into it www.thomasmichaelriley.com. 

Everybody has to go to Luckenbach at least once in their life...

 "Everybody's somebody in Luckenbach"

Just one of the locals.

Now once we finally got to our timeshare we met up with my friend Jordan Hartsell and prepared for the epicness of floating the river. Three girls in a liquor store buying three 12 packs of 3 different beers, wine, and two different flavored vodkas...
Need I say more???
The night before we went out for drinks at a bar called Daisy Dukes and had a great time with some great cowboy eye candy. We also ordered some pizza from Fox's Pizza Den...they made a ranch pizza...what geniuses they are.
The next morning when it was time to float we got our tubes...plus an extra for our cooler! Our friend Jeremy drove down to float with us and we delegated the job of bartender to him...tying the cooler tube to his. We trusted him with this huge responsibility and he definitely came through for us, loyally tossin us a cold brew everytime we yelled "BARTENDER!"

Good thing I had a waterproof phone because it came in handy for pictures! We met a group of about 7 military guys floating and they were quite fun. We spent the day soaking in the sun, drinking beer, and floating and it was an absolute blast. Lots of splashing, tube tipping, dunking, and the occasional annoying the people around us. We found a random rock we could all stand on...gave it the official name of Party Rock and took a little bit of a break at one point. A break from floating at least...all the other festivities continued.

That's Hartsell for ya, no lie.

The philosophy of the river

Trucker hat status.

Those boys we found came in handy.

That night we headed into Gruene and went to the famous Gristmill...You can't go to Hill Country and not eat at this restaurant. Its a necessity.

 There's a live band that entertains you in the waiting area and a bar for your pre-dinner drinking preferably an ice cold Shiner. And of course there's room for two-steppin All the food is great and according to the french fry connoisseur, Caitlin Collins, they have the best fries in Texas.  She drove down to hang out with us for the night. Jerry Jeff Walker was playing at the famous Gruene Dance Hall but it was sold out...sad day.

The Crew + the random military guy friends

All in all Texas Hill Country was an experience I'll never forget...there are somethings you just can't miss out on and this is one of them. I am so glad I decided to make it first off my checklist and I will definitely be going back again. I actually knocked out two birds in one stone this trip because I also ventured to the San Antonio River Walk and I'll be writing about that one soon.

Shout out to Jordan's ridiculous tan lines, Amy's crazy love story, Caitlin's loyal drive after a longs days work, and Jeremy's awesome sleeping arrangement.

1 down 999 to go...gotta start somewhere...