San Antonio, TX (USA)

We got up around 0800 so we could have breakfast at the hotel. I had discovered that there was a shrine to St. Therese of Liseaux in the city and, since Mollie and Erin were doing projects on her, I decided we should go check it out. On the way, we passed USAA Headquarters - I should have recognized Fredericksburg Road... It wasn't hard to find the Shrine and we spent some quiet time there to give the girls a chance to explore the artwork, gardens and school (across the street). We then turned west and drove over to Sea World. From our previous experience, I thought they might open the park early (see NOV 2009). Unfortunately, that wasn't the case - and we ended up standing in line until noon. I guess some local schools were out this week too - there were plenty of kids. However, it wasn't nearly as busy as our last visit. We were able to get good seats for every show and ride on roller coasters as fast as we could get back to the gate (no wait). There was a new show - "Azul" - that was definitely one of our favorites we have ever seen at Sea World. It featured a clown who got everyone in the crowd wet and performed amazing stunts with brightly costumed water performers (jumps, flips, high-dives). The show also had plenty of birds, Pacific White-sided Dolphins and Belugas. We really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we split up - Brenna, Mollie and I checked out some educational shows (the Sea Lion story, the Shamu story and the Beluga Story) that told us how the park is able to train the animals from a young age. Brenna and Mollie sat in the "splash zone" at the Shamu story and got to watch a funny three-year-old orca through the glass - he smiled at them and did funny tricks on his own (under the watchful eye of his mother). Later, the older orcas fin-splashed Brenna (and several unsuspecting park guests). I remembered that you could get wet in the splash zone, but this was the first time in a while that I saw people get SOAKED!!! After several shows, we met up with Nicky to let her take Mollie trick-or-treating with furry friends in the Fantasea. When we visited last year, the same area was full of Christmas characters. Brenna and I rode on the Steel Eel and Great White roller coasters - several times. We explored around the Howl-o-Scream area, too. That is, after all, why we came down here in October! We remember how much fun we had at the same event at Busch Gardens (see SEP/OCT 2005). Before the festivities opened, we were able to see where the "scare zones" were. We all had dinner at Mango Joe's (near the Alligator Alley). We got free Halloween items (I guess they weren't selling well). As it got dark, we ventured into the Scare Zone where the spooky clowns were - so we could visit the Penguin House and home for rescued animals (including pythons, tarantulas and lizards). The clowns saw that Mollie was scared and were nice to her. We did see them chase several other people around the park, though! Around 1900 we were over at the dolphin feeding area and saw Nicky and Erin feeding the dolphins. By this point, Mollie had her fill of the park and was getting nervous about running into scary creatures in the dark. So, we spent a little while looking for a good souvenir - and found some. Nicky took Erin and Mollie back to the car while I took Brenna - who said she wasn't scared - to the zombie part of the Scare Zone. We sat on a bench and watched the undead wander around near us - Brenna had her fill pretty quickly. I wanted to take her farther in, but when she heard about the wherewolves there she said she was ready to go. My legs were thoroughly exhausted by the time we got to the park exit (2230). We saw a (real) skunk on the path back to the car - luckily he ran off... Drive back to the hotel went OK (took TX-1604 to I-10). In the room, I thought everyone would doze off immediately - but the Texas Rangers were three outs from putting the Yankees out of the playoffs. So we watched that and cheered when our hometown ball-team won their first pennant. The World Series is coming to DFW!!!