My first visit to San Antonio, Texas, was back in 1994, when my son graduated from Air Force Boot Camp. I flew from Atlanta to San Antonio in November of that year. When I boarded the plane in Atlanta, it was winter. When we landed in Texas, it was almost 80 degrees at eleven o’clock at night.
Since my son could not leave the base before the graduation, his girl friend and I had a whole day and night to kill before we could see him. I decided to do drive to Luckenbach, the town made famous by Waylon and Willie.
Luckenbach is approximately 75 miles from San Antonio. The drive is quite pleasant, through the countryside of Texas. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes to get there. The town of Luckenbach consists of a ramshackle old dance hall, a post office/general store/saloon, and a stand of trees alongside a rutted dirt road. Not much there other than a great history, and a souvenir stand. It was fun to go, though, and know that I had been in the same place as Willie Nelson had once been.
We made our way back to San Antonio with enough time to visit The Alamo before heading back to our hotel for the night. The Alamo was very interesting to visit, and re-live the history of the place. The mission is still standing after 300 years!
The next day, we made our way to the parade grounds at Lackland AFB to watch the graduation ceremony. It was a very proud moment for me to see my son march by. After the ceremony, the Air Force treated the new graduates and their guests to a San Antonio Spurs basketball game at the Alamodome. The guys were required to ride the bus provided by the Air Force, and we followed in our rental car.
Finally, on our last day in San Antonio, my son was allowed to leave the base. We went downtown to Riverwalk, then to Landry’s Seafood for dinner.
I was sad to leave to go back home. I really enjoyed my visit to San Antonio. I have been back several times, and each time I discovered another place to explore.
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