Pre-wedding trip to Austin and San Antonio

Hubs, Sister and I left home early for the wedding and took a couple of days before the wedding to go San Antonio for a little sight-seeing tour! But first, we just HAD to stop at Round Rock outside of Austin to go to IK*A. My sister had never been in one so we toured the store.
I love how they have little (and I mean "Little") rooms set up like apartments. Sister and I agreed most of their stuff is too modern-looking for our taste but it was fun to look! We also enjoyed looking at their baby rooms! They had some darling fabrics for baby rooms.I have this sudden interest in all things "baby".....wonder why???
When we got to Austin we had to eat lunch at our favorite spot, "Freebirds". Our son introduced us to this when he was at UT and their food is delicious!
An interesting piece of "art" coming out of the ceiling at FreeBirds!
We also drove through the campus at the University of Texas.

We got to San Antonio and, of course, one of the first spots to visit is the Alamo! If you have never been there it's not what you have pictured in your mind's eye! You think out-on-the-plains of Texas with Davy Crockett riding up on his horse. The truth is that the Alamo is right across the street from Dillard's and Ripley's Believe It orNot! But it is a neat place inside and on the grounds.
This is a very architecturally-ornate building on the other side of the Alamo. I'm not sure the name of the building, but it was very pretty.
The grounds and gardens around the Alamo were just gorgeous. I really enjoy the plants and the trees. They were having military ceremonies while we were there.

Big Mama, who lives in San Antonio, told me that this was a good place to eat in San Antonio. Hubs looks up the address and says, yes, we can walk there from the RiverWalk. So off we go in 95+ degree heat thinking it was just a few blocks. Well, a few turned into about 9 blocks but hey, it was worth it! Thanks, Melanie, we enjoyed it alot!

Yum, Yum, This was what I ate!
We stayed in a neat hotel. It used to be a bank and was turned it into a hotel. The rooms were very nice. Downstairs you could go by and see the vault on your way out to the RiverWalk.

The RiverWalk had been lengthen and improved since we had been there a couple of years ago. We enjoyed our evening walks up and down......mostly people watching. There were lots of tourist. Didn't see much recession at the shops and resturants!
Our hotel had a floor on top with an open deck where you could look down on the city. This is one of the buildings you see lit up at night.
Oh , yes, we went to the wax museum and Ripley's BION! This was a full-size model of the world's fattest man....1400 lbs. if I remember correctly. I took this picture to hang on my refrigerator to remind me when I reach for the Blue Bell!! har har

Here I am with Oprah as she is holding her book club's newest best seller, " Blogging for Dummies" by Judy Martin!!!
This guy was just standing around....have you seen him before???
Then we arrived at Corpus and decided to go out by our hotel and get our feet wet!
Sister was the first in the water! No, we did not swim. Wet feet was enough for us.....we had a wedding to get ready for!!