Out with the old, in with the New

Jeff and I got back yesterday afternoon from 2 1/2 fabulous days in San Antonio celebrating the New Year! This has become a tradition for us and I look forward to it all year. This was our third year to go. We left Houston on 12/30/08 and told the cat we'd see her next year. We stopped at my fav' Buccees and still made it to San Antonio just in time for Six Flags to open for Holiday in the Park. We walked, enjoyed the scenery, a few rides, and some shows. Wednesday morning we slept in and enjoyed our hotel before going to the Tower of the Americas. We had New Year's Eve lunch at the Chart House restaurant located in the Tower of the Americas. It is similar to the ball in Dallas because it rotates and you get to see a 360 degree aerial view of San Antonio. I like this picture because you can see our hotel in the window behind us. We stayed in a brand new hotel called the Grand Hyatt. It was really pretty and a short walk from the tower and festival. It also was the hotel where all the activities were occurring for the upcoming US Army bowl game this weekendJeff actually wanted his picture taken in front of the towerSan Antonio has a really neat New Year's tradition of placing the date of the outgoing year on the tower on New Year's Eve and turning it to the incoming year date at the strike of midnight. You can also see the elevator on the side of the tower go up and when it arrives at the top the countdown is over and the fireworks begin. After lunch we walked around the park surrounding the tower and the little shops before going back to the hotel to rest up for the festival. The festival that occurs in San Antonio in honor of New Year's Eve is always packed so I can't imagine what NYC time square is like. This is me trying to capture the feel of the festival. You can almost smell the corn dogs and funnel cakes!
Just before midnightFireworks signal the beginning of 2009!On New Year's Day we walked on the river walk, and ate lunch before heading home. I enjoyed taking pictures of the river walk with my new cameraWe ate New Year's Day lunch at Michelangio's on the River walk. I recommend it for yummy Italian food. Jeff boycotted having his picture taken AGAIN, but agreed to snap this one of me solo.The drive home is always kind of sad because the "holiday season" is officially over, but this time we had more fun to look forward to. We are going to see this tonight, SO exciting