San Antonio Classics (12/23/2014)

It wouldn't be a trip to San Antonio without a stop at The Alamo. This Texas Mecca will be closed both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so we spent the morning here today.

And another San Antonio classic... The Menger Hotel. Established in 1859, it is the oldest continually operating hotel west of the Mississippi River.

Here in the original lobby of The Menger, what may look like three life-size wooden nutcrackers really isn't...well two out of three are.

We had an elegant lunch buffet as part of our tour package.

The hotel is rich in history...both in events that happened here and guests that stayed here. Col. Theodore Roosevelt recruited his "Rough Riders" from his HQ in the Menger Bar. There was also a famous visit to the bar from Carry (also spelled Carrie) Nation. See that triangle-shaped piece of wood in the bar? That's the repair done after prohibitionist and temperance crusader wielded her axe and destroyed approximately 3 feet of the bar.

One Patricia unless you count the picture in which she was the photographer.