Phannie

Phannie
Photo taken near Monument Valley, Utah

Monday, November 14, 2016

Lunch at Guenther House and Dinner with Travel Bug Susan and Bob

At Travelers World RV Park, San Antonio, Texas...

We rather enjoy touring historical homes that open their doors to the public so, after church, we were eager to have lunch at the Guenther House in downtown San Antonio. This lovely old house was built on the San Antonio River in the late 1800s by Carl Gilmar Guenther, a German immigrant who founded on the site a successful flour mill that later became Pioneer Flour Mills and still thrives today as the oldest family-owned business in the state. The mill originally used the flowing river water for power, hence its location on the riverbank. Guenther raised his seven children there, and the house continued to be used by the family until the 1940s. It was eventually opened to the public as a museum, gift shop and restaurant.



Here is a view of the patio seating in back of the house:



We ate inside, ordering an egg-bacon-sausage-biscuit breakfast for me and southwestern quiche for Sandy. Expectations for a good meal were high after several recommendations but, alas, not all was well on this visit. My breakfast was almost cold when it arrived, and nothing on the plate was memorable. Especially disappointing was the sausage, which was little more than a tasteless hockey puck, and the biscuit, a spongy and unidentifiable blob with not nearly enough shortening; this should have been an amateurish embarrassment for Pioneer Flour, whose name was lavishly mentioned on the menu. The chef should have trained under Sandy's mother and grandmother, who definitely knew how to make a proper biscuit.



On the other hand, the quiche was quite good, although slightly overcooked. The final nail in the coffin was the meal's wildly inflated forty-dollar cost. I tried vainly to justify having chosen to eat lunch here by telling myself that the tour of the house had been free. Perhaps another visit would provide a different experience, but I just don't think that's in the cards. However, it gives me just a tiny bit of comfort to ban the Guenther House Restaurant from being listed on my Favorite Restaurants page.

We had an experience that evening that made up many times for the unsatisfactory lunch. Inviting us for dinner were none other than Bob and Susan, the distaff member of the couple being better known to our RV blogging community as the author of "Travel Bug Susan." We had met these fine folks a few years ago at an RV Dreams rally in Kerrville and had been following their widely-read blog ever since. 

Bob and Susan had been fulltiming for a few years before discovering San Antonio and re-entering the workforce after settling in this RV park. Bob is an accountant and Susan works part time here at the park office. Susan served us some excellent turkey chili, and we enjoyed the fellowship immensely, learning a new board game in the process.



It's always a neat pleasure finally to interact with our fellow bloggers, whom we think we already know by having read so much about their travels and experiences. This gives us the benefit of a start in our relationship from a point way beyond that of being mere acquaintances but, indeed, friends. And thus it has been with all the bloggers whom we've met over the past ten years. In fact, I have been inspired to begin another blog page listing those that have transitioned from cyber friends to personal friends. I'll have it up and running pretty soon.


Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.


11 comments:

  1. Nice to meet up again with fellow bloggers, too bad about your over inflated lunch,you sure are not going back there.

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    1. I never dreamed when I started this blog over ten years ago that we would meet so many fine people as a result. I hope our experience inspires others to keep a journal like yours and mine, George. As we reach the end of our traveling years, its value will be incalculable.

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  2. Too bad about the disappointments in such a beautiful home. On the other hand, they can't all be good recommendations or we wouldn't know how to choose! :)

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    1. That's very true, Patsy. One thing's for sure: By keeping a record like this, I will know where NOT to go in the future. If it winds up being useful to someone else, well, that's all the better.

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  3. Sadly we found out that we visited a place they were at but not until we left.

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  4. Sounds like over all a great visit to one of our favorite cities as well! We love to read of your "orgasmic " descriptions of restaurants!
    And we better make your favorites list😇

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    1. We love San Antonio, and I'm like you, Jackie: I can hardly wait to see what I write about a restaurant! Ha! And, of course, you will make the list; I'm counting your FB posts as your blog!

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  5. Thanks, Mike, for the shout out on your blog. I'm a bit remiss posting my blogs for the weekend. Hope to remedy that tonight.

    We had a blast getting to know you better and playing Qwirkle, although it got pretty quiet during the game as we used our available brain power to figure out our next moves.

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    1. Ha ha! I guess I was the quietest one of all since I got "whupped" in that game. It was loads of fun, however, and our visit with you guys was the favorite part of our trip.

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  6. Always fun when we cross paths with fellow bloggers.

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    1. Hi, Erin! As I'm putting my blogger friend list together, I am reminded of our very pleasant visit with you and Mui at Gulf Waters. Safe travels to you two!

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