A busy day of sightseeing...

It's Sunday. All three of us had a pretty good night of sleep despite the all night partying on the Riverwalk. We started our morning by taking the city bus to a tourist trap called Market Square. It is basically an indoor/outdoor swap meet that is straight out of Tijuana. As tempted as we were (or not), we didn't buy any trinkets, except for a couple pair of sunglasses. After about an hour at Market Square, we hopped on the city bus and headed to the Alamo. We really didn't know how the city bus system works, but the locals must have figured it out, because we had no trouble finding people to tell us what bus to get on. The Alamo is located in the middle of town. If you are in to the history of Texas (which we are not) you would find it interesting. We waited in line for about 20 minutes to get in. There were a few pictures and artifacts to look at, but not much. Matthew threw a fit in the middle of the "shrine," so we figured it was time to move on.
From the Alamo we walked to the Rivercenter Mall to find something to eat. We had a sandwich and walked back to our hotel.
At the hotel I tried to figure out a bus route to get to The Witte Museum. The museum is located about 5 miles from where we are staying. After about 20 minutes of trying to figure out all the transfers I gave up, and we decided to take a cab.

The museum has a temporary exhibit that has several hands-on models of Davinci's inventions.
I never knew that he played a role in many of the machine's that we use today. On the left you will see a picture of Jeanette and Matthew standing in a model of an armored tank that he drew plans for. One of the flaw's of the armored tank was that it was designed to be pulled by a team of horses. Unfortonately, horses are not bullet proof.

After leaving The Witte museum we walked through Brackenridge park towards the zoo. We didn't go to the zoo, but we did take a ride on a miniature train that takes you

On the way back to the hotel we couldn't find any taxis sitting around, so we decided to brave the city bus system again. We hopped on a bus that seemed to be headed towards downtown, but it made a turn away from where we needed to go. We hopped off the bus, and couldn't figure out what bus we needed to get on so we ended up walking about a mile back to the hotel.

around the park. Matthew loved it!

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I was off to the opening night keynote and reception for the NECC conference. I could not believe how many people showed up for the keynote. There were at least 10,000 people in this huge ballroom. I have a picture of the crowd that I will try to upload tomorrow.

When I returned to the hotel from the keynote, Jeanette, Matthew and I went to an Italian restaurant on the riverwalk for dinner. I have never been to an italian restaurant that had a mariachi band, but I guess we are in Texas. We finished the evening with a riverboat tour. I didn't get any pictures of that, because it was really too dark to get decent pictures.

Tomorrow is the first full day of the NECC conference (aka Nerdfest 2008). Jeanette and Matthew are planning on going to the Children's Museum. We will try to meet up for lunch. I will also be attending a reception in the evening for Smart Exemplary Teachers. It's basically a reception for a bunch of nerdy teachers who are advocates for using Smartboards in their classrooms. I can't wait!

Note to self...next time pack more underwear

We made it to San Antonio with no problems. Our flight was on time, our luggage didn't get lost, the taxi drive new exactly where our hotel was, and we were able to check-in three hours early. The temperature here is not much different than Phoenix, after you factor in the humidity. Jeanette and I decided we should have packed at least 2 or 3 pairs of underwear for each day. It looks like we will be doing some laundry.
We arrived at our hotel around noon, and had lunch at some local place. Nothing special, but the guy at the restaurant told us about a local Mexican restaurant that we should try. After lunch Jeanette and Matthew took a nap, while I went over to the convention center to check-in. This conference is going to be huge. Over 13,000 people are registered to attend. I walked around the conference center to get my self oriented with where things will be over the next few days. The were still setting up the exhibit hall.
After walking through the convention center for almost 2 hours, I strolled down the Riverwalk and found a CVS to buy some milk and water. The Riverwalk was packed with people wandering as aimlessly as I was. The river is lined with dozens of restaurants and shops. If it wasn't for the smell coming from the restaurant food, I think the somewhat stagnant river water would make the riverwalk a little unpleasant on a hot day. It should be neat to see what the Riverwalk looks like at night. Our hotel is on the Riverwalk, so we can sit on our balcony and watch the action. Right now this entire area has been taken over by technology nerds (like me...but even nerdier if that is possible).
I'll try to update this blog each day to keep everyone posted, and to act as a journal for our trip.