Vacation……Had to Get Away

So, I make the statement that we should maybe get away and the next thing you know, all logic and reason is pushed aside and we are heading west into the sunset. Despite a lack of time to plan and money to spend, we go anyway. Our destination is San Antonio. I have never been there, and G has only been there once when she was a teenager on some church outing. Seems like a good place to go, there are things to do and see, and people I speak to who have been there give it rave reviews.

The first red flag that I should have noticed was the lack of available hotels. Either they were booked, or they were way too pricey. To get around this, we decide to stay just outside of San Antonio in the small German-like town of New Braunfels. I figure it's a quiet place this time of year, since the main attractions there involve water in some form. Lodging is booked and confirmed at the Holiday Inn, a "hotel" that I would normally be leery of, but after reading about it online, it seems to be the nicest place in this town. This unfortunately would prove to be very misleading.

Upon arrival, the first of many problems arises; we can't find the place. It has one of those addresses along the freeway on an access road, so you have to figure out what side of the freeway it is on, and then which way to go since it is a one-way in one direction on one side and a one-way in the opposite direction on the other side! So, after driving in a circle around the freeway exit like Clark Griswold, I finally find the damn place. I check in and we proceed to the room, which is on the front side of the hotel, facing the freeway. Not only is it facing the freeway, but from the sound coming in from behind the closed door, it seems to be ON the freeway. Since I'm a freak about noise when I'm trying to sleep, I return to the lobby to request another room. Room number two is a smoking room, but I have been assured by "Buffy" the young lady behind the counter that the carpets were recently changed and it should be fine.

The smoke smell isn't that bad, but the bed is about as comfortable as sleeping on a sack of marbles. The pillows are just barely larger than my head, and the sheets feel like they have been washed several million times, and resemble the texture of burlap. At this point you might be envisioning me as a hotel snob, someone who expects too much. Maybe, but I am on vacation, and damn it I want luxury!

The other problem with this place is not evident until the following morning when we venture down to San Antonio to visit the famous Riverwalk. Thanks to ancient, faulty electrical outlets that were probably installed by Edison himself, my camera battery has not charged, and I am now lugging around my digital camera for no reason. The rest of the day is pretty good though, nice scenery and cool things to see. One of the things that I see in very large quantities turns on the light bulb in my head and makes me realize why we couldn't find a decent hotel room. Everywhere you go you are inundated by that hideous shade of brownish orange worn by Texas A&M people. It's the Alamo Bowl today, and they are everywhere, along with the occasional sprinkling of Penn State folks.

Later in the day, we visit the Alamo. Not a very exciting place. Very historical, but not much to see. I think the only thing most people take away from visiting it is the 'scratching it off the list' of things to see in life. The second night at the Holiday Inn motel is heightened by the adventurous discovery of a large yellow stain on the bed comforter. Nice. I get a good idea, that since we are going to Austin the next day to visit someone, I could use my Hilton Honors points to get a nice room, regardless of the cost. Sure enough, we find an Embassy Suites that has a room available, and I cash in all my points for a one night stay. Finally we will be able to rest and relax in a nice suite that should be problem free and wonderful. Ha! It was not to be.

The Embassy Suites in being remodeled. Our first room….that's right FIRST room is okay until I notice the sink has no faucets. I guess someone really wanted to upgrade their home sink. So, I go down to the desk and after some brief apologies, our second room is issued. This one seems okay also, until I notice the plastic bag covering the smoke detector. I guess I could have just removed it, but with my luck it would be broken and this would be the one night that the hotel would go up in flames. So, our THIRD room is issued, and because of my previous two room problems, I first look at the sink and smoke detector. The latter of which is missing. Only the housing and the wire connector hanging from the ceiling are present. At this point, we decide that the possibility of burning to death isn't that bad, and we just live with the situation as it is. If that were the only issue we would have been fine. But of course as you probably guessed, the fun does not end there.

I need air conditioning to sleep. It needs to be cool and comfortable in the room. At 3AM after not being able to sleep, I adjust the thermostat to 60 degrees and reach up to feel hot air blowing from the vent. I get up at 7 after about 2 hours of sleep and we head home, eager to put this adventure behind us.

I would like to say that the Holiday Inn people were pretty cool, and did refund my money for the stay, but it would have been nice to just get what I thought I paid for instead.