PAX South -- Featuring San Antonio, TX

Note to Nobody in Particular

Normally, my travel blogging is formatted with each day or two being a post. It has been a great way to help others follow along from home as if you were on the trip, but it can make for pretty punishing late nights. To make a long excuse short, I found myself watching The Witcher on Netflix at Brad's recommendation. So, this vacation is being collated as a single entry during my 6 1/2 hour layover in Minneapolis. 

Episode IV:

Cold Departure

I think I managed to get the timing for this trip nearly perfect. Temperatures in the days before I left had lows of -36C and windchill values hit -52C. Prospects of my trip kept me relatively upbeat for the worst temperatures of the winter... probably, anyway.

When the plane rises above the clouds, the added height makes the sunrise come much earlier. A symbol of hope for me.

When I landed in San Antonio, TX, it was +18C (woo-hoo!). I Waited for Brad's plane to arrive from Virginia (via Atlanta), we hailed an Uber and were off.

PAX south

PAX feel like a rock concert

Once called the Penny Arcade Expo, it is a 3-4 day gaming convention of staggering magnitude. After 8 years, the organizers stopped reporting attendance numbers in 2012 when they blew past 70,000 participants. So, not as big as the New York or San Diego comicons, for example, but not bad for an event arising from 2 weirdos who created a webcomic.

PAX is waiting, and waiting...

PAX was an overwhelming experience. If you don't like people, or hate line-ups, it could be a tough experience for you.

PAX is playing, and looking, and spending, and wishing...

While there, Brad and I completed a multi-day scavenger hunt, bought dice, played cards, discovered a new (to us) board game, ate shameful quantities of expensive junk food, watched live role playing (with Bards and without), adventured in an escape-room style "True Dungeon," and watched the finals of a $10K Fortnite tournament.

Regional Flora (and Fauna??) by scooter

We managed to get our eyeballs onto some non-urban San Antonio on both the 20th and 21st. On the first occasion we hopped a scooter and scat?!? for several "miles" as they call them here until we arrived at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. It was quite a large area centred on a placid pond whose function was to trick me into coating my iPhone 11 pro in duck weed. Mission accomplished.

Under Pond

Our scooters were still where we left them, so we scooter'd over to the local Japanese Tea Garden, which is tucked away behind the zoo. There was no admission price (thanks to the San Antonio Parks Foundation), so it was a lot more busy than the nearby botanical garden.

Over (different) Pond

a lot of cactus

inevitable outcomes

A second "wilderness" excursion found us exploring McAllister Park, which I will hereafter refer to as The Dead Forest. Don't get me wrong, there were definitely things that were alive there (cactus', trees, air plants, grass, and a few flowers. It's just that the biodiversity seemed to be... more like bio-not-so-diversity. If you know me, you understand a bit about my passion for insects. I looked hard in McAllister Park. In fact I was increasingly desperate. In the first 2 hours of our exploration, I only counted perhaps 4 insects!!! A spider so small, it was hard to tell if it was actually a spider, a postage stamp sized butterfly, a butterfly chrysalis (I was unable to confirm if it contained a viable inhabitant) and a sad housefly circling an unclaimed piece of doggie doo. Just before we left, I did manage to find a single ant colony full of very tiny life-forms.

San Antonio River Walk

River is a pretty flexible concept. The Amazon and the Nile are rivers. The Amazon rules many of our standard metrics. It has the most water moving through it, while the Nile is 91st by this metric. Looking at length, the Nile is the longest with the Amazon coming in a close 3rd (the Yangtze beats it by 18km). How much area do they drain? They finish 1st and 3rd in the world, though it isn't even close. The Amazon covers nearly twice territory.

Fresh guacamole "river"side

How about our beloved South Saskatchewan River? It is less than 1/3 the length of the Nile, carries about 1/10 of the Amazon's discharge rate, and its drainage basin is 2/100 of the Amazon.

"river" boat at night

Thinking of the San Antonio River in this company is not really fair. It is 1/4 the length, 1/12 the area,  and moves 1/20 the amount of water... of the S. Saskatchewan. In the River Walk area it has only been a river for 10 km and averages 1-3 metres deep. But, it is cute.

traffic calming measures for ducks?

La Panaderia

I was tipped off about this San Antonio shrine to bread by Scott T. I assume that he came across it during his lifetime of travels. I only had to have croissants and coffee there once to never bother going anywhere else. I've had coffee and breakfast bread in a lot of places by now. Short of Amy's Bread in New York City, I'm not sure I've ever had better.

A lot can also be said for making competent American coffee and providing refills with generosity. Add to that loads of sitting room and it is a perfect gem.

Other Stuff

The Alamo

The Alamo was... underwhelming. Wendy has dragged me to quite a few historic fortresses in 25 years. Kind of seems like few people were involved in the famed conflicts in this area and that the stakes were not really too high. Except for those who died, of course.

backdrop... fail

Brad and I couldn't ever really set up for a good photo. There are many tourists and almost as many hand rails and fences blocking your view.

Pinky-sized lizard. Not even on the brochure!

Old Churches

There are a bunch. Compared to Rome or Barcelona? Does not rate.

Night Life

As you might expect in a city of 1.5 million, there is quite a bit to do at night. I was hoping to get to see my first NBA game live, but it was not to be. I could have done it by sacrificing my first day of PAX and that wasn't happening.

We did get out to a really interesting place called The Cove. We listened to some mostly competent jazz. I was shushed by the mother of one of the band members for trying to hold a conversation at the bar. I decided not to ask her to step outside.

The most interesting thing about The Cove is the building, itself. It has a 4-bay car wash and laundromat on opposite sides. A central door opens into a small ice cream shop. Further in, around the corner, and through another door, you can find the bar and restaurant tables. Don't just sit down though. You have to head back to the ice cream shop to order your food. If you just want drinks, you can order from the bar.

How do I even get in?

Brad also talked me into going to a sports bar called The Yard. I have been trying to get over my fear of alcohol, so I shared some of Brad's "flight" of beer tasters. I actively liked one called Dragon's Milk and a local brew called Founders Underground Mountain (which is brewed with COFFEE).

Flying

For my birthday, Brad took me to iFly. Being floated on a column of air sounds like it is easy, but it is not. They suggested that we could be mastering flips and turns in a matter of weeks. Even without doing James Bond style tricks, it was very fun. Sadly, I need to add flying up-and-down-quickly-in-circles to the list of things that makes me feel nauseous. Go figure.

Flying is windier than I had imagined ;)

Guns

RIP to Chez Geek's "Slacker" and "Drummer"

We barely knew you...

Guns are: Louder, heavier, sharper, and scarier than I thought. The End.

All of my trip photos and video are in Google Photos, as usual