Day IV - Monday, December 26th, 2011
Fort Stockton to San Antonio, TX
Fort Stockton is really a small town but we didn't realize how small it was until the next day when we get to see it in daylight. When we arrived, it was already dark so we just stayed in the motel room at night and ate whatever that's left from our stash.
The location of the motel, even though it was on "main" street, was sad because I couldn't get good 3G service and that itself felt like a big handicap for me. With much effort, I was able to locate a Chinese buffet restaurant that we could eat for lunch -- I know in the middle of nowhere in Texas! We read all the reviews (four in total) about this place and that seemed like the only decent place around that received good reviews and ratings. Sure worth a shot as it felt like a while since we had a good complete meal (we could only hope).
As we started to check out, I entered the address on the GPS, we barely drove quarter of a mile, we noticed that the restaurant is just right next to the motel! We drove into the lot only to find that they were still closed with a sign posted that they were closed for Christmas. So the dilemma was we do not know if they will be open day after Christmas. So we decided to wait and drove around town since it wasn't too long until they're scheduled to open.
Fort Stockton is not big at all, definitely a small town with one main road where most motels are located. We completed our tour of the town within minutes and found ourselves back at the Chinese buffet parking lot. Finally, a small SUV pulled up to the lot filled with Asians with wondering faces. I figured they had to be the staff and SW approached them to confirm that and whether they will be open for business today, they confirmed our doubt.
Our next doubt was - since they just got in, how are they going to pull off serving buffet as they were already late... Well they pulled it off, nothing fresh of course, most of the foods were just reheated and the trays were coming out on the buffet station fairly quickly. We quickly grabbed the first things served - fried rice and fried chicken on sticks which wasn't that bad at all. Also got some salad. I smuggled some chicken for Bobbie as well :)
The staff were around our age, except for one, who we thought may be the owner/manager. I was relieved we get to eat fulfilling and somewhat satisfying food for Christmas before getting back on the road. It's still funny to find this Asian buffet in the middle of nowhere and they just serve passerbys most of the time. These were the only two shots I took while waiting for food, as you can see we were the first guests.
Back on the road we go -- trip to San Antonio will take approximately 4.5hours, was mostly uneventful. Since we left Ft Stockton at a decent time, we arrived to San Antonio around 5PM and checked into the motel. As usual, we dragged all our stuff out and was planning to relax for a little while. I went into the bathroom and noticed there were a couple of bugs. I just squished and threw into the toilet. Front desk called to ask if everything was OK, so I pointed out about the bug we found. He apologized and immediately told us that he could transfer us to another room which we were more than happy to accept.
I drove to the office and got new keys, thankfully, it was only a few doors down, so we just moved everything into our new room. Got everything settled, relaxed and we have great 3G service in the area. After reviewing the places on Yelp -- the choices were endless, with much consideration, we finally decided to try this place called The Monterey which undoubtedly have a surplus of great reviews.
Unfortunately, we found out that the restaurant was not open due to the holiday, so we opted for 2nd option which was Mexican restaurant also closeby -- less than two blocks away. This restaurant was jam packed! We asked how long the wait would be, the hostess said it would be about 30mins or so, since we were hungry and wasn't ready for another disappointment, we agreed to just wait.
Our wait was much less than 30 mins and we used it wisely to review the menus so when the waiter approached, we were ready to order -- I started off with margaritas, I ordered pozole and SW ordered enchilada and we both shared a plate of ceviche as well. Complementary chips and salsas were served.
The pozole (soup) was really good that came with a side plate with dried oregano, radishes, etc. I read rave reviews about the salsa but it was eh so so for me. The ceviche was really good as well, they have bite pieces of fish and nice slices of guacamole as you can see from the picture. Didn't take too long to inhale all those food and we were out the door in about an hour of dining time.
Since the night is still young and we have our tummies filled and we are in a lively and exciting city, we made an easy decision to romp round town, our usual spot - downtown and naturally we bumped into the popular attraction -- River Walk. SW's camera is great on low lights while mine was god-awful.
We have no idea the Alamo was so close to the River Walk too! It's a shame that we couldn't go in and explore, as if we have the time anyway. The square was big and full of people and as well as shops and other attractions.
Quick snapshot around the square
A quick stop at the railway station with the train all decked up for the holiday
And we spent the remainder of the driving around town and snapping away
We got back to the motel a little after midnight and Bobbie who we left at the motel was glad to welcome us back. San Antonio is definitely a lively city but we can't wait to get to our final destination.
