I got up at a reasonable time and headed out from my hotel.
This sign appealed to me for some reason.
It is not a long drive from Houston to San Antonio. About 3 hours. Which for me was a blessed relief. That meant that I didn't have to get out really early and that I wasn't going to be in the car for forever! Yippee!
On the way, there were signs for a place called Buckees. Kinda like the Wall Drug signs in South Dakota. Buckees, though, was modern and not kitschy enough. And no postcards of Buckees! Oh well - I had fun stopping there anyway.
I arrived at the Saucer around 11:15 and went in. My last experience at the San Antonio Saucer, about three years ago, had not been optimal. I had sat on the sofas and was frozen by the air conditioning. And I just hadn't been happy.
This time, I was determined to make a better experience for myself. I got in, scoped out the place again and chose a totally different seating location. They have two rails where people can sit, that straddle the beer garden and the bar area. It is almost a perfect seat. But not quite. I sat there anyway, plugged my laptop in and asked my server, Lesley for some water.
After chatting with Lesley and with the manager on dutie, Katie, it turned out that Frank would be in about 5.
So I decided to hang around there until he showed up. I had a beer, and then went for lunch at Pei Wei.
Apparently Pei Wei is the fast food version of PF Changs. Yummy stuff!
After that I went for a wander - since I was in a small land o' malls. Ended up buying a clickable felt tip marker for future calendar signings. Yippee!
Got back to the San Antonio Saucer, only to discover that my seat had been usurped. So I found a second one that I ended up liking even better - at a bench in the beer garden - nearly a 360 view! More like 270. And a new server - Dani Lane.
Frank eventually came in and we chatted for a bit.
He is working on his 30th plate. Eeek! Truly does one about every 70 days. The Saucer is on his way home. He is not an air traffic controller who stops by on his lunch break as I had heard. He does work for an airline, though. He hasn't decided yet whether or not he is going to the GABF as he often goes to Oktoberfest in Munich at about that same time. I met two of Frank's friends as well. Also top beer knurds at the San Antonio Saucer - around 10 plates each I think.
Two of the servers from the Calendar were working that night and I managed to get both of their autographs!
As I was getting ready to leave, a nice pair of people sat next to me. Fairly new to the whole plate thing - 35 and 40 beers or so towards their first plates. They didn't even know about the Calendar (I grabbed them each one and autographed them) or that Frank hung out at their Saucer. John and Ashley.
After my fun in San Antonio, I headed on up to Austin to my nephew's house. Arrived just in time to go to dinner with Joanna - great South American Restaurant and yummy food that Joanna enjoyed with relish (not the condiment).
Then it was off to bed for me! Long day despite the small amounts of driving!
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