Dallas 2003

Note: This travelog was written in 2020, so many details have long been forgotten since we took the trip.

	Friday, June 6, 2003: We flew to Dallas, picked up a rental car, and immediately drove south. We were passing Austin's capitol building shortly after noon, ...
	... and enjoying Lone Star Beer in San Antonio by 2:00 PM. We had lunch at the famous Casa Rio restaurant on the San Antonio River Walk.
	After lunch, we walked from the River Walk up to the street level where they keep the Alamo.
	This display is right across the street and shows a portion of the original adobe brick wall foundation built for the Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo) in 1750.
	Speaking of the Alamo, there it is right behind us. This is when we learned that the Alamo is just a little building surrounded by very large buildings in the middle of downtown San Antonio.
	Every photo you ever see of it is very carefully cropped to fool the viewer into thinking it exists on a wide-open, wind-blown Texas prairie.
	False.
	Here's the plaza in front of the iconic building, ...
	... and here's the front itself up close.
	This plaque is titled "Defense of the Alamo" and tells you all about the battle in 1836.
	There's a moat of sorts surrounding the Alamo, ...
	... and it is filled with these very ferocious koi.
	Photos weren't allowed inside the Alamo so here's Tom outside the Alamo.
	Cactus! Our little mascot friend, Orchy, hadn't yet been invented, but two years later, he lost one of his arms here when he was visiting with our friend Heather. This might be the tree.
	After our visit, we headed back to the River Walk. Here's a little hummingbird enjoying one of the many flowers along the way.
	This passageway had a series of cascading pools leading down to the river.
	Here's the River Walk again.
	We passed Casa Rio again, with its colorful sidewalk umbrellas.
	Here's a peek at the fish in the river below.
	As we were heading back around 5:30 PM, we got a better shot of Austin's capitol building. When we returned to Dallas, we checked into the Fairmont Dallas for the weekend.
	Saturday, June 7, 2003: At 11:00 AM the next morning, we were dressed up in our finery and sitting in St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church for John and Lea Anne's wedding.
	It was great fun to see so many of Debbie's former colleagues from her days working at Image Sciences 15 years earlier.
	Of course, we had to take several group photos.
	Debbie was quite taken with this Southern magnolia (magnolia grandiflorus) tree.
	Look at that gorgeous bloom. Look at it. Look.
	The reception was held at Avanti Fountain Place. We all toasted the bride and groom.
	The groom, John, said a few words.
	Someone was nice enough to take a picture of us.
	Here's a trio of handsome gentlemen: John, Todd, and Jim.
	John gets a kiss from his lovely new wife, Lea Anne, while chatting with his former roommate, Todd.
	Debbie enjoyed catching up with John's childhood friend, John C. She had met him several times when visiting Houston with John in the 1980s.
	Debbie's former boss, Neal, was there, ...
	... as was former colleague, Carol.
	Every moment was captured on videocamera.
	Jon, Roger, and Laurie were standing by to blow bubbles ...
	... at the bride and groom.
	Lea Anne tossed her bouquet.
	Here's Lea Anne with her groom, ...
	... and here's Debbie's groom.
	It was a beautiful day to be outside enjoying the antics of this fantastic fountain, a favorite of Debbie's since she first moved to Dallas in 1987.
	The spigots create a variety of patterns by varying the height and intensity of the water coming from each one.
	Fun-loving Laurie couldn't resist ...
	... and got thoroughly soaked.
	Other wedding guests joined the kids playing in the fountain too.
	Later that evening, we joined Jim, Susan, Todd, and Mitch for dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Greenville Avenue, just like old times. Mitch was killed in a car accident in July 2004, so we're grateful to have fun memories of him.
	After dinner, we headed up to John and Lea Anne's suite at the Fairmont.
	Even after a full day of wedding festivities, they still found the energy to throw a great party for their friends.
	We got to see former colleague Jon, ...
	... Pam with the amazingly beautiful hair, ...
	... and Clark (plus Mitch again).
	It was just like old times, except that we were all older and greyer.
	Good times.
	Group photo!
	Alcohol!
	Chug!
	Before heading out around 11:00 PM, we left a note to our host and hostess. How did Harold's name get on there? Ask Todd. It's always Todd.
	Sunday, June 8, 2003: We headed to Black-eyed Pea for lunch. This is where the Black-eyed Pea originated - just a couple of blocks from where Debbie and all of these people used to work back in the 1980s. This was a different location, but it was still just as good. We also spent some time at NorthPark Mall, a favorite of Debbie's from way back when, and the Container Store.
	We drove out to Las Colinas to kill more time before our evening flight. Of course, we had to see the famous Mustangs of Las Colinas.
	Wait for me! ** THE END **