Daddy's Quilts (1/6/2015)

Today was my last day in Albuquerque. Wowser. it was hard. It was such a great visit with my mom...19 days of fun and precious time together. I had an evening flight so we stopped at Musical Theatre Southwest on our way out of town and I got to see the quilts. For most every show this group has put on, the cast and crew got a t-shirt with the logo and dates of the show on it. The group had a big pile of t-shirts and didn't know what to do with them and they came up with this quilt idea. When our family's dear friend Mr. Thompson passed in November of 2013, we inquired as to a specific item we could donate in his honor and they said the money to make one of the quilts. So we did. And when Daddy passed in February of 2014, a group of friends did the same thing. Between the two sets of donations, there was enough money to pay for three quilts and to have plaques made honoring these two men who were such good friends with each other and friends of the theatre. I'm glad I got to see them and with my mom.

Great Boarding Pass (1/5/2015)

I love Southwest, especially the customer service. But I do have a hard time getting a good boarding pass...I'm just not always in a place where exactly 24 hours before my departure, I can be poised and ready to log in. But I was tonight and it was kind of fun. Felt more like a lottery winning than a dreaded wait to see how far down the line I could be. And it paid off! A-33 is a great place to be! Woohooo! And it was during a Games Night at my mom's house where everyone there had been through the lottery before and could appreciate and celebrate my good fortune.

Happy 80th Birthday, Shirley! (1/5/2015)

One of the "Walking Group," (among many other affiliations), Shirley, had her 80th birthday while I was in town and I got included in the surprise birthday party. :-) About 30 friends were in the back room of a local restaurant. A friend picked her up to take her out to brunch on her birthday but when they got to the restaurant and were taken to the back of the restaurant for their table, we surprised her real good.

We had a menu to choose from....I got something with green chiles in it, no surprise. The breakfast burrito was quite yummy.

Bob Fosse Presentation and Lunch at The Frontier (1/3/2015)

The Theatre Lovers Community (TLC) had a cool event today: The show Chicago is coming to town and so they had "a special program on the Broadway hit Chicago. Prominent choreographer Donna Scheer and Popejoy’s Terry Davis discussed Bob Fosse’s choreography style, and Donna offered a demonstration involving the audience that helped us to understand how meticulous Fosse’s choreography was." It was held on the UNM campus (I liked their display on dance...not related to the presentation we attended but still cool).

I went with Mother and our good friend Sylvia. Afterwards, we went to the Frontier Restaurant, a classic Albuquerque eatery across the street from UNM's campus. If you have to miss brunch at Millie's, eating at the Frontier is a good backup plan. I had a Fiesta Burger...yes, there were green chiles involved. 
 

Rock & Brews Albuquerque (1/1/2015)

I gave Mother a gift certificate to a restaurant of her choice. This new Rock and Brews just opened in the neighborhood. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS are two of the partners. There are only 8 locations, but one of them is less than 2 miles from the house. We had to check it out.

Fun atmosphere and yummy food. Mother ordered a burger that she said was delicious.

Whoever heard of a brussel sprouts appetizer??!!! I ordered it for my dinner and it was excellent...

...and then had cheesecake for dessert.

Christmas Celebration Sunday (12/28/2014)

Mother and I waited until the Sunday after we got back to celebrate Christmas again. We went to mass and then opened gifts, though the biggest gift was going to San Antonio together.

Dinner and the Theatre…ABQ Style (12/27/2014)

Christy Mae's is an Albuquerque classic hotel. And it's located near the fairgrounds where Musical Theatre Southwest puts on their performances. So it's not unusual to go to Christy Mae's for dinner before the show. Six of us met up here tonight. Check out today's special:

And of course, I ordered that...and it was delicious!

Tonight's play was "Shrek the Musical." It was a fabulous production! Wow! They really outdid themselves on this one.

 After the show, many of the actors hang out in the lobby to meet the theatre goers. Patricia never misses a chance to say hello and congratulate the cast and crew. Here she is with Donkey.

No Reservations Necessary (12/27/2014)

One of my favorite parts about any trip to Albuquerque is Saturday brunch at Millie's. We showed up a little early and the table is ready...water with lemon for everyone and two glasses of iced tea for Tom. Nothing like being a regular.

 I had Huevos Rancheros because, of course, it has green chile. The chiles were hot today but oh so yummy!

Farewell San Antonio, Hello Albuquerque! (12/26/2014)

Milkshakes and burgers for lunch in the San Antonio airport. How to choose between egg nog, white chocolate, and peppermint holiday milk shakes.

Boarding our San Antonio to Dallas flight.

Welcome to Albuquerque! This is a great welcome sign in the Albuquerque Sunport. That means "Welcome Home" for us.

Thank you for playing "Where's Patricia?" Hope you had fun (and hope you found the 1 Patricia in this blogpost).

Mission San José (12/26/2014)

It's our last day in San Antonio and we fly out today, but there's time for one last stop at Mission San José..."The Queen of the Missions." It is "the largest of the missions and was almost fully restored to its original design in the 1930s by the WPA (Works Projects Administration). Spanish missions were not churches, but communities, with the church the focus. Mission San José shows the visitor how all the missions might have looked over 250 years ago."

Here we are inside the courtyard of the mission, looking at the actual church building (which is owned and run by the Catholic Diocese of San Antonio while the rest of the grounds are taken care of by the National Park Service).

In the "corners" of the mission are circular bastions. Defenders would stand on the wooden platform and shoot through the small round holes while cannons were pointing out the larger holes at the bottom.

This is the "Rose Window" probably named for a person and not for its shape or color.

The entrance to the church.

Inside the church.

The Rose Window from the inside looking out.

One of many beautiful Christmas decorations, this one is under the Rose Window.

Did you find 2 Patricias?

Awesome Mail Box and a Fond Farewell (12/26/2014)

I was really hoping that this mailbox had a chute that would drop mail from the floors up above, but if it ever had one, it's either gone or well hidden. Or maybe it's just a great looking mailbox that never had a chute like the ones at The Roosevelt Hotel (Thankgiving 2009 with Rodney) or Le Château Frontenac (Summer 2011 with Karen). Farewell Alamo National Bank now Drury Inn. We had a blast during our tour of San Antonio. You were a great place to call home.

Last Night in San Antonio (12/25/2014)

Q: What is an American Christmas tradition for many people?
A: Go to the movies.
So why shouldn't we join those numbers? Our whole group went to see "Alamo: The Price of Freedom" at the IMAX Theatre in the Rivercenter Mall.

The movie theatre had a great Texas gift shop. They probably figured out that most everyone who comes to this movie is a tourist. Sooo many tacky Texas souvenirs that I was able to pass up. Even these chocolate covered Oreos decorated in a Texas motif. Sometimes I do have self-control.

And then it was back to our hotel for one last night of Kickback (and probably one of a very few places serving food at dinner time on Christmas night).

NOTE: There are no Patricias in this blog post.

An Afternoon at the San Antonio Zoo (12/25/2014)

Christmas afternoon, not a lot of places are open, but the San Antonio Zoo is open!

Christmas-colored macaws.

A beautiful bird. I forgot its name, but look how long its tail is!

Welcome jaguar.

I took eight photos of the jaguar who was pacing. This was the least blurry of them all and it's not because of my photography skills...that's just how fast he was pacing.

Cute carousel!

WITH A PANDA! (There wasn't anybody in line to ride the carousel, and the nice lady running it told me I could go ahead and get a close-up photo with the panda without having to buy a ticket.)

Pelicans! Sheryl's favorite. We got to watch this guy feed them. See the duck by his left foot? That duck attacked his shoe the entire 10 minutes we watched the feeding.

Hungry Hippos!! Yes, we watched the trainers feed the hippopotamuses and they were hungry. Very informative talk and demonstration, too.

Answer: 1 Patricia

Christmas Brunch Extraordinaire at Hotel Contessa (12/25/2014)

After our Santa gifts, we boarded our coach and headed to Hotel Contessa for a lavish Christmas Brunch Buffet.

Answer: 1 Patricia and a LOT of yummy food