Will and Diana in Central Texas!

My twoo-wuv arrived in Austin on Thursday and we immediately drove from the airport to San Marcos to hunt for white Puma sneakers (they're what all the boys are wearing these days) and jeans. After lunch at the Cracker Barrel we went down to San Antonio and checked into our Riverwalk Hilton hotel, and continued the shopping mission at the RiverCenter mall. After trying on five pairs of sneakers, we finally found our Pumas! The hotel and room were perfect, we had a balcony overlooking Hemisfair Park from the 18th floor. San Antonio was definitely buzzing with locals and tourists with the start of Fiesta, and we could not have asked for better weather. The concierge directed us to Madhatter's, a local teahouse, where we could buy Webb Party tickets and so we strolled south of the Alamo a few blocks to get our tickets and snacks. We had inadvertently stumbled on a major San Antonio attraction-- I later realized that Madhatter's was written up and reviewed in my San Antonio guide book and the atmosphere and food were both fantastic. On Friday we woke up bright and early, walked to breakfast (my first in a series experience with Migas that weekend) and drove out to Sea World! No one has ever been willing to go with me. I have YEARNED to see Shamu and the killer whale choreography. Well, I was not disappointed. I was, however, a little surprised at the ticket prices. In fact, we both were. Fifty dollars surprised. But, we had paid $12 for parking already, had been eagerly awaiting this Sea World adventure since the inception of the idea for this trip. So we paid our $50 and decided we were not going to leave ANY sight unseen. Map in hand, we got a schedule of shows, and sat right down at the Budweiser hospitality pavilion with pen and free beers in hand to make an itinerary. It's impossible to fully describe the park--there's just so much to see. Soon, I'll have pics posted to my Shuttefly account and below are a few videos from the Sea Lion exhibit. We were giddy and having SO much fun. Maybe it was the presence of rollercoasters, adolescent band trips, the sun, I don't know...but somehow Will and I abandoned our adult personas and threw ourselves into Sea World. I still can't believe what they can train these animals to do. My absolute FAVORITE thing was the show The Cannery Row Caper. A seal, a sea lion, an otter and a walrus act with humans on stage. Granted, its more physical comedy than drama, but I was laughing so hard I almost wet my pants and the children in front of me looked legitimately concerned...like I might have a stroke or something.

Sea Lions feeding


Sea lions sunning

The Sea Lions reminded me so much of my Gracie May. The Webb Party was fantastic...I would most definitely go again next year! I could not believe all the people, the bands, the DJs, the bars located around the venue. I made great use of the open bar and inadvertently attracted an admirer, Myra, a San Antonio lesbian, when Will was at the bar. I sat down to rest my feet (my kitten heels had been aerating the museum lawn) and instantly made friends. Will and I have somewhat narcissistically noticed that when we are out together, we seem to attract other people--and not in the hey, baby kind of way. It just seems like people want to hang out. And we are not looking to make a lot of friends when we go out together because we have so little time anyway! We met a doctor and his MBA attaining boyfriend, a dentist, an opthamologist, an insurance guy and his buddies at Barcelona on 6th, and I had a nice moment with a homeless guy in Adams Park in Austin. After a while, it started to get funny. There reaches a point in the socializing where we are like, uh, gee, gotta go nice to meet you....[I'm not here to hang out with YOU, random stranger!].

Saturday we woke up early so we could make it to Georgetown by 11...err...11:30 for Will's meeting with Dr. Brooks, and then we checked into our Austin hotel for a long afternoon nap. A Reggae festival was going on across the street just along Town Lake, which accounted for the flood of people and traffice we encountered all night long. Sunday we went out to brunch for Migas Part Deux and shopped at the Domain before I had to take Will to the airport :( At least our next vacay together is only in four weeks when we meet in San Francisco!