Vacation! San Antonio, Texas

We have been dreaming of this specific vacation for years. It’s always been in the back of our minds, but we just assumed that the cost of the plane tickets alone would be out of reach. We even looked it up once (quickly & without any research) and the numbers completely turned us away. To be honest, this trip was a dream, but the reality of it always seemed so far off.

That is, until one day about 2 months ago, when I was chatting with a friend who used to live in Texas. Somehow we got on the topic of traveling & she mentioned that she was sometimes able to find really cheap airline tickets to come home to Pittsburgh. Intrigued, I asked for more details. And thus became our realization that with a little research & planning (and the help of Google Flights & Allegiant Airlines), this trip that we’d been dreaming of, could actually become a reality. And fast!

Derrick’s Grandparents, his Aunt & cousins live in San Antonio. Derrick & his family actually spent several years living there as he was growing up. So, going back to San Antonio was like revisiting a slice of his childhood. He was so excited to go back & I was excited for him & Braelynn was just excited to get to ride on an airplane!

We planned our trip so that Derrick’s Mom could come along with us too. We were going specifically to visit her parents after all! And when we told her the ticket prices that we found, it was a no-brainer. The four of us had so much fun & Braelynn loved traveling with Nana!

We flew out of Pittsburgh on a non-stop flight into Austin. It was roughly a 2 1/2 hour flight & Braelynn did amazing! I was so worried about her ears popping, but she never complained one little bit. We bought an iPad (I’ll be taking it to weddings this summer for slideshows & using it at meetings) but it’s real purpose was to entertain Braelynn on the plane & it was perfect!

When we left Pittsburgh, the weather was cold & rainy. When we arrived in Austin, it was hot & sunny! A vast, but absolutely wonderful, difference!

We were in San Antonio for one week and we packed out our time there!
On Day 1, we went downtown to the Alamo & the Riverwalk. Both were completely different from what I’d imagined. I had no idea that the Alamo literally sat right in the middle of downtown San Antonio! And no matter how much they described the Riverwalk to me, nothing prepared me for how beautiful & unique it was! So so amazing.

We had to specifically go into the hotel across from the Alamo so we could ride the glass elevator all the way to the top. Apparently, it was an old favorite way to pass the time back when Derrick’s family used to live there. The view looking down was definitely incredible & goose-bump inspiring!

I’m usually not one for touristy things – I’d rather spend my money on good food (or simply save it), but I really wanted to go on a Riverboat Tour! I knew that Braelynn would love it too, but literally as soon as we bought our tickets, she fell asleep. And then she slept through the entire hour-long tour.

After spending the majority of the day downtown, we went back to Derrick’s Grandparent’s house where we spent the rest of the evening visiting with his family! His Texas family came to our wedding 7 years ago, and his cousin David was actually in our wedding, but I didn’t really get to “know” them. So, it was really wonderful to have time to talk & visit & get to know the wonderful people that they are!

Day 2 was our “slow” day. Derrick’s Grandparents had a few doctors appointments that day, so we just hung around the house. We went for a long walk around their neighborhood and then walked down the street to get coffee at McDonalds. We had originally planned on spending that day in the pool, but when we arrived, we found out that the pool in Derrick’s Grandparent’s neighborhood was under construction & closed. Bummed, we looked for another fun way to stay cool and we found the coolest playground & splash pad not too far away! We spent several hours there that afternoon & we had a blast!

Day 3 we went to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. Derrick’s Mom claimed it as one of her favorite places in San Antonio & we definitely could see why! It was gorgeous! And huge! We could have easily spent the entire day in the Gardens!

We grabbed lunch at one of Derrick’s “must-do’s”: Taco Cabana (which did not disappoint, wow was it good). Then, we continued on to see the Japanese Tea Gardens – which again was WOW amazing!

Day 4 was the only day we went our separate ways as a family. Braelynn spent the day with Nana, her Aunt Katie, and her Great-Grandparents while we spent the day at Six Flags Fiesta Texas with Derrick’s cousins. Of course, if you’ve read my blog for any length of time, this shouldn’t surprise you, as you know Derrick is a little roller coaster obsessed. No vacation would be complete without riding a few new roller coasters!

Day 5 was our beach day! We drove 3 hours down to Padre Island and Port Aransas, which everyone said was the best beach. The water was especially choppy the day we went & the wind was blowing so hard that you could hardly hold conversation with the person sitting next to you. The water was so warm though & that definitely made it better!

Braelynn has never been to the beach before, and she honestly did not like it at first. We set her down in the sand and she just kept picking up her feet and crying, saying, “I don’t like that! I don’t like that!” Eventually, we got her to put her feet in it, and after about an hour, she decided that she really did like it. She loved running into the water & loved the waves!

On our way back from the beach, we had to hit up another roller coaster for Derrick. This one is really strange in that, it’s at a sort of “fun park”, you know the type – they have go-karts and rock climbing. Well, this one also has a roller coaster!

On day 6, we went to Sea World! Braelynn loved that! She loved seeing the whales & dolphins, the sea lions & penguins! She also was able to ride the rides in their “kiddieland” section, so that was particularly fun too!

Theme park merchandise always gets me – I think it’s because I used to work in the Emporium on Main Street in Magic Kingdom, but there’s just something so special about it! Braelynn apparently loves it too & we couldn’t leave without getting a whale.

That night was our last night in San Antonio. We had dinner with everyone & stayed up late playing games. We just wanted to stay & let our vacation live on a bit further, but unfortunately, home & reality were calling. We did take some group photos that night though! Here are Derrick’s Grandparents!

Four generations!

So, we spent the beginning of the week staying with Derrick’s Grandparents, and then about mid-week, we “moved” over to his Aunt’s house. Aunt Katie has 2 dogs that Braelynn instantly fell in love with & she was beyond thrilled to stay at the “house with the doggies”.

Day 7: our flight didn’t leave Austin until 5:21pm, so we had all morning to pack up & enjoy a little more Texas sun. When it was finally time to leave though, someone was found hiding behind the couch!

And, this is where the fun part starts. When we arrived at the airport, it said our flight had been bumped back to 5:35pm – no big deal at all. We were literally flying home on the flight that was coming in from Pittsburgh, and there was some pretty rough weather transpiring back home! So, we watched our plane roll in, we got in line to board, and on to the plane we went.

The only problem was that we weren’t moving. Our plane was full, no one else was boarding, but our plane still was not moving. We simply sat there for at least 15 minutes before they made an announcement that on the way down, one of their computers had malfunctioned. It wasn’t a major problem as they had 2 other computers to back it up, but they still wanted to get it fixed before we took off. Maintenance was currently working on it, and they didn’t think it would be too much longer before it was fixed.

About 5 minutes later, an announcement was made that the problem was a little more involved than they’d realized & they needed us all to get off the plane. Bummer, but okay, a safe plane is best, so off we all went. Shortly after we all made it back into the terminal, an announcement was made that the problem had morphed into a much much larger problem and they were grounding our plane. You could literally hear the collective groan go up from the crowd of people in the terminal.

A “rescue” plane was sent to pick is up, but it meant a 7+ hour delay. We were given free vouchers for another flight, vouchers toward free food, and we settled in to make the best of it! This is when the iPad really became worth it’s weight in gold, as we were able to stream Daniel Tiger shows, play games, and watch Secret Life of Pets (about 3 times, can you guess what Braelynn’s favorite movie is?).

Braelynn handled it much better than some of the passengers did. She was a little champ. We were originally supposed to leave at 5:21pm, and we didn’t board our new plane until just before 1am. She stayed awake all the way up until the new plane rolled in (about 12:30am) and then she passed out. She slept the whole way home! Our plane landed around 4:30am (local time, there’s a 1 hour difference between Austin & Pittsburgh) and we arrived home right at 5:30am – the exact time Derrick was supposed to be heading back to work. Obviously, after a night spent in an airport, he took Tuesday off

We simply cannot stop thinking and talking about our trip to Texas. It was wonderful. We loved everything about it (and even the 7 1/2 hour delay at the end wasn’t truly all that terrible, it could have been worse!). We so enjoyed hanging out & getting to better know our Texas family & we already miss them! We also miss the Texas sun & heat, as it’s been cold & rainy here in Pennsylvania almost every single day since we got back. We simply had a marvelous time away.