This weekend was another ‘bank holiday’ as people at home would call it.

“The Fourth of July is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.”

And what a weekend it turned out to be!

We kicked off the long weekend with dinner out. We were sitting chatting and Col said ‘Where do you fancy?’, perfectly contrary as always, I asked him the same question as my response. We both took a second to think of where we wanted to eat and we both replied ‘Chilis’ at the same time. So Chilis it was.

Neither of us could finish our meal – I guess that’s a testament to us eating smaller portions and eating better. But it was tasty and we both enjoyed it.

It’s one of my favourite things to do, eat out with Col that is. I love sitting at a table with him, no distractions, no tv, no laptops, nothing but the two of us. He’s my favourite person to talk to and it’s actually something we’ve lacked since we stopped eating out so much. So much so that we made a new ‘rule’ in the house that for weekdays we have to eat at the dining table with the TV off and it’s working out quite nicely for us.

When we’d finished our dinner, we headed to the cinema where we took in a double feature.

My first ever double feature was last November when New Moon was released. A group of us got together and watched Twilight and New Moon back to back, you buy your large popcorn and drink, free refill in between movies and just change screen when you’re done.

I enjoyed it so much that I suggested it to Col for the day he had to take me back to re-watch New Moon (cause I had to leave early the first time as I was sick) and we had lots of fun. This time the selections were all Colins (cause I’m nice like that! 😉 LOL!) and he chose ‘Grown Ups’ and the ‘A Team’.

The first show was jam-packed! So much so that we had to sit only a few rows from the front, but it was hilarious. What a film! We laughed obnoxiously the whole way through it – which is fine, given how obnoxious Americans can be during Comedy movies. If you’ve never seen a comedy in an American Cinema add it to your bucket list – it’s worth it. Col loves it too and usually ends up with sore sides, he’s laughing so hard! It was a good film.

The A-Team was much better than I expected it to be…I was never really in to the original series, I guess it was before ‘my time’. But I thoroughly enjoyed this re-make, the special effects were great and of course, Bradley Cooper makes almost any film worth watching 😉

It was a really great night. On the way home however (I drove), we weren’t amused to discover that the car shut off the AC and brought up a coolant warning. We thought the mechanics put in coolant, apparently not. So, I drove to Walmart where Col picked up coolant (and oil in case the mechanics didn’t add oil either) and a bulb for our front headlight which needed changing too. Since it was too hot for me to sit in the car, I went in with him. I think that was my first mistake! haha! I came out with a patriotic 4th July quilt in a tote and a matching throw pillow that was on clearance.

Saturday morning, Col did the car while I started to tidy the craft room a little and we decided pretty much on impulse to pack an overnight bag and head up to San Antonio for the night (thank God for reward points!).

We packed a bag, filled the cooler, filled the tank and grabbed some ice before we hit the freeway and were on our way. It was a pretty easy drive, quicker than both Austin and Dallas and we got there by dinner time.

We checked in, unpacked, decompressed, picked up some tourist flyers and got a game plan together. The hotel surprised us, it was small, only 4 floors but the room was pretty big and we even had a microwave and a fridge!

Our first port of call was the Riverwalk, we picked up a couple of tickets for the little riverboat tour and stood in line for a while. It was hot and we’d stupidly left our water in the car so Col picked up an $8 bottle of water to keep us hydrated in the San Antonio sunshine.

It was lovely!

The tour lasted about 35 minutes and our tour guide, although a little hard to understand was very good at filling us in on the various factoids about San Antonio.

When we were done on the riverboat, we were both pretty hungry and decided that we should have dinner.

We originally put our names down in an Italian that we’d been recommended to try by some random strangers at a hockey game one night, but the waiting time was over 30 minutes and we just couldn’t last! Instead, we ate at a little Mexican place along the riverwalk that had no wait. It was tasty, a little greasy perhaps but it was good.

After dinner we headed back to the Hotel and en route we got to see a variety of fireworks displays across the city for the 4th July.

Next year I’m under orders to go up to Amber in Iowa so we can have a ‘proper’ 4th July complete with giant marshmallows and a fireworks display!

On Sunday morning we got up and enjoyed a complimentary breakfast – not much by way of diet friendly food but Colin enjoyed it all the same!

When we were done, we headed to the Texas Ranger Museum and the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum where we spent a few hours wandering around.

I did find the animals to be a little freaky. They were all way too life like and it was freakishly quiet so you’re walking through rooms filled with stuffed, mounted animals whose eyes are all on you…I won’t lie, it creeped me out somewhat!

It was interesting though and we enjoyed looking at a number of the displays and reading interesting information about the animals. The lamb with 8 legs seemed to be Cols favourite!