A Beautiful Day in San Angelo

I woke up this morning following a great night's sleep and was ready to explore San Angelo. After showering and dressing I joined Astro D and her mom for a nice breakfast and some relaxation time. About mid-morning Astro D and I headed out to do a little sightseeing. We first went to the International Water Lily Garden. Unfortunately there are no lilies at this time of the year, so we checked on Astro D's Lily Pad letterbox and took some pictures of some ducks (Muscovy Ducks) and then went on to search for a letterbox. Astro D had already found Where's Bob? but I hadn't and now I know exactly where Bob is. After logging in we decided to check out the Visitor's Center. It is a beautiful building overlooking the Concho River. We picked up some brochures for some interesting things to do in the area. As were leaving the Visitor's Center we passed one of the art in public spaces pieces. It was a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle covered in mosaic tile. So we stopped and took pictures and enjoyed the whimsy of the art piece.

It was lunchtime at this point so we headed back to Astro D's Mom's house and had a nice little lunch. After eating and cleaning up we all headed out. Our first stop was Eggemeyer's General Store. A great place for gifts, candy, cards and even household things. I enjoyed exploring the store. From here we went down the street to the Cactus Hotel. Built by Conrad Hilton in 1929, it is a beautiful old building. It is no longer a hotel but you can still check out the lobby and the Crystal Ballroom. Today there are some apartments on the upper levels and a few businesses on the ground floor. The building is used for special events as well. Worth the visit if you are ever in San Angelo. After this we drove around town and looked for art in public spaces. We found Paintbrush Alley, drove through and took a few pictures. Then we found Art Opens Doors Alley, drove through and took more pictures. Both of these alleyways are incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Our last stop of the day was The Old Chicken Farm Art Center. This is "A UNIQUE compound of galleries, artists studios, restaurant and bed & breakfast". We wandered around and looked at all the different art on display and checked out a couple of galleries. A very interesting place.

We had a full day of seeing the sights of San Angelo and now it was time to head home. We met some of Astro D's family at her mom's house and then we all went out for barbeque. It was a fantastic day and a great trip. We head home to Santa Fe in the morning. I hope the weather holds out - the forecast calls for snow!