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San Antonio
We attended the most amazing event in San Antonio, Texas this week. It's not often you get to experience the feeling of being a tourist who has lucked into an event attended by only the locals. But, actually, on our type of trip, because we're not necessarily seeking out the tourist oriented destinations, it does happen.
We lucked into a very special event, where we seemed to be the only non-Texans. In fact, being Canadian, made us so special that we were treated almost like celebrities.
Having visited this city on several previous trips, we arrived on Thursday Jan 24th and were looking forward to a day, and perhaps an evening spent strolling along San Antonio's famous Riverwalk.
San Antonio Riverwalk.
But alas,the above photo is one from a previous trip. We never made it there this year.
On Friday morning we awoke to more cold rainy weather...making the Riverwalk seem not very appealing.
What would we find to do in San Antonio on a wet day? Randy had heard on the radio that today was the day of the annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast, a free breakfast to mark the start of the rodeo.
Now, before you think we got all excited about a free breakfast, you need to know that we are not early risers. Even when we do get up at dawn, we take our time before we get moving most days, so the free breakfast was certainly not calling us. It was the description of the "After Party" that had Randy interested. Free live music all day, 6 bands in total, starting at 9 am. The 9 pm headline act was to be Gary P. Nunn.
We aren't huge country music fans, but whenever we come to Texas, we've been known to drink a Lone Star beer and play some Jerry Jeff Walker tunes just to celebrate our arrival.
We knew that Gary P. Nunn wrote a lot of the songs that Jerry Jeff sings. His is not the usual mainstream country music. Many of his songs are about Texas, and most of them are funny and just plain fun. Our favorite is " London Homesick Blues," also known as "Home With The Armadillo." We had always hoped to catch Jerry Jeff Walker in concert sometime while here, so to have the opportunity to hear Gary P. Nunn, and for free, made for an easy decision of what to do on a cold rainy day.
So off we went to the
Leon Springs Dancehall
just north west end of San Antonio. The famous dance hall seats over 1000, and can host big shows.
Leon Springs Dancehall slogan.
The party was well underway when we arrived around 2pm. Most of the crowd were here to dance. We spent the entire day enjoying the fine bands, and watching some excellent country dancing.
The crowd at Leon Springs Dancehall
Gary P. Nunn on stage.
But how did we come to feel like celebrities?
When we first arrived we had met a lovely lady named Shelley who was on the door, as well as the event manager, Christi Lehman.
Shelley and Randy
Christi and Randy
These lovely ladies answered our questions about the event and seemed so impressed with the fact that we had come all the way from Canada, that we were given special treatment all night long. Because we had arrived early, we were able to attend with a donation to a charity. For those arriving after 4 pm there was a $15.00 per person cover charge which gave them a wrist band that would allow come-and-go privileges. We had given a donation, but were given the wrist bands as if we had paid, which allowed us to go back to our camper for dinner.
Within short order we were introduced to the owner of the company, Richard Ojeda, who gave us a souvenir Leon Springs Dancehall cap, and permission to stay camped in their parking lot for the night.
The moral of the story? When in Texas, especially in San Antonio, expect real down-south hospitality. Especially if you seek out the venues that are just a little bit off the beaten tourist path.
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