Hotel Havana

As I've already mentioned, we met a Director of Jerry's bank for dinner and a show in San Antonio.  At their recommendation, we stayed at Hotel Havana - a 27 room hotel originally built in 1917 by a local grocer as a "residence hotel" for his buyers, when they were in town.  After our last experience at the Hilton Palacio del Rio this was a welcome change! 

Hotel Havana

Mismatched antique furniture, old chandeliers and beautiful hardwood floors and walls - just a fun experience compared to the normal chain hotel.  It's located on the north end of the Riverwalk, about a 10 minute walk from the madness of the tourist traps.

We had a nice dinner, followed by a testosterone-laced guitar fest by Eric Johnson in a local club, owned by a friend of Scott and his wife.  Eric Johnson is apparently a big deal among the guitar set and he CAN play, both blues and some serious rock guitar.  You know the saying, if it's too loud, you're too old ... well, apparently I'm too old!  Actually, it wasn't the volume of the music - it was the standing up (for hours) and the HEAT from the open patio doors.  Regardless, we had a good time.

Saturday morning we were up early for a long walk on the Riverwalk ...

Artist's Exhibit Under Freeway!

Lily Pond Along the Riverwalk

followed by breakfast at Ocho.  Let me tell you, if you are ever in San Antonio and happen to stay at the Hotel Havana, go immediately to Ocho and order the Havana Jo's Banana Bread for breakfast.  Toasted, warm banana nut bread topped with a blob of crunchy peanut butter, sliced bananas and a drizzle of honey.  Yummy!

Jerry Checking In

Ocho

After our "official walk", we headed back over to the brewery area, where we had seen the show, so I could take a few photos of the Pearl Brewery.  My Dad's sister, Aunt Bunt, worked for Pearl her entire career and this logo was a fixture in our house, and our Beaumont grandparent's house, for as long as I can remember.

Cheers to Aunt Bunt!

Pearl Brewery Stables

Texas Transportation Company

We had another dinner on Saturday night at Paesano's on the river and after walking into the heart of the tourist area, we were even more happy to be staying at Hotel Havana.  It was very quiet, but I will admit to being awakened about 2am on Sunday morning to what we thought were gun shots ... ha!

Sunday morning we were up, out of the hotel and on I-10 headed home by 6:15am.  We needed to get back to check on Denny.  When we arrived, both he and Elvis were fine and happy to have us home to let them out on the back patio.

Confessions of a Bad Cat Mommy

For about a year now, Denny has struggled in his relationship with Elvis.  Admittedly, Elvis can be a royal pain, but the change was somewhat sudden - usually the sign of a health issue.  Because he is such a trooper, and his only obvious health challenge is allergic sneezing from time to time, I attributed this "crankiness" to other changes in our home.  Little's death had a serious impact on Elvis, they were the very best of friends.  Last July we lost Ike, which had a big impact on Denny since they were "patio buddies".

When I say they struggle, I'm talking about sibling rivalry ... crankiness ... two kids in the back seat of a car ... he's touching me ... he's looking at me ... he's following me ... he's repeating everything I say.  Of course, Denny's negative reaction DELIGHTS Elvis, who is always looking for a game of Greco roman wrestling!

Time has gone by and I've tried a variety of tactics:  redirect Elvis' attention - except sometimes he's not doing ANYTHING to Denny; I've shouted, I've swatted them with dish towels, I've spoken softly telling them to be sweet, I've put them both in kitty time-outs ... Denny more than Elvis in recent months.  I've even taken to offering them nightly treats, sitting inches apart, eating out of my hand, so that they associate being close with receiving a treat.

As I've worked on the sibling rivalry, I've noticed days where Denny was "off" - nothing drastic, just not himself and these were the times when he had less patience with Elvis and his antics of wanting to snuggle or wash Denny's head.  After two days of Denny being "really off pattern" - not going out on schedule & not being interested in certain things - I was getting worried.  Then one morning Jerry called me and said "something's wrong with Denny".  For Jerry to have noticed it, I felt I needed to haul him in to Dr. Rose - looking perfectly normal with NO OUTWARD SIGNS of illness.  Gotta love that!

So we go and they draw blood, they take urine, they poke and prod and Denny is his sweet, reserved self.  He doesn't so much as meow.  Dr. Rose is baffled.  She looks in his eyes and says she's looking for signs of broken blood vessels, which would indicate hypertension.  His eyes are dialated - which I attributed to white coat syndrome - but she said they were dialated too much.  Eyes are normal, but she wants to check his blood pressure anyway.

I don't know much about cat blood pressure - of course they have a systolic and diastolic reading like humans, but vets seem to only focus on the systolic numbers, or the high ones.  Normal BP for a cat ranges between 110 and 160 with ideal BP being about 125.  Denny's blood pressure was 210.  Not good.

REALLY not good.  He is at high risk for a detached retina (causing sudden blindness) because of the tremendous pressure in the blood vessels.  No wonder he has no patience with Elvis - he feels like his little head is fixing to explode!

My sweet Denny with a headache!

The timing of this kind of thing is never good and we had to leave town that afternoon to meet a Director of Jerry's bank in San Antonio.  I'm torn about what to do, but decide I need to go and trust that Denny will be OK.  We leave them home alone and I'm checking the cat cams every chance I get. 

The whole trip I'm feeling TERRIBLE about punishing him with "kitty time-outs" for being cranky with Elvis when he has obviously been very sick!  Not a good move on my part.

Denny did fine while we were gone and they were both OK when we got back on Sunday morning - although we did cut our trip short and leave SA about 6:15am on Sunday morning so we could get back and check on him.  Jerry was driving like a bat out of you-know-where to get home as quickly as we could - it was a record three hour trip!

On Monday, the tests came back normal on thyroid and kidney function - the two biggest causes of high BP in cats.  There was protein in the urine which is another indicator of kidney disease, but subsequent testing came back false.  At this point, Dr. Rose said she didn't want to drug him for high BP because you don't want it being lowered too much.  She wanted to check it again in 5 days - it was 170, which is better, but not in the safe range.  Game plan now is to check him again in another 3 weeks and see if it's still elevated and then come up with a game plan.

By this time, it was obvious he was suffering - not feeling well and not enjoying anything he normally enjoys, so I decided to break out the Bach's Rescue Remedy.  For a few days I was giving it to BOTH Denny and Elvis and now I'm just giving it to Denny.  He seems much improved - his ears aren't red and hot and he has been much more happy and "bouncy" - more like his normal self.  We will see what happens at the next appointment.

Obviously, there is something causing the high BP and we'll have to figure it out over time.  Dr. Rose feels that we are seeing these spikes in BP because he is in the beginning stage of kidney failure - something that's not normally revealed in blood work until about 2/3rds of function is already lost.  Of course, there's nothing to be done about his kidneys other than encourage him to drink water and keep him happy and eating.

So say a little prayer for my Denny - hopefully we can get his BP down to a safer level without putting him on the full BP meds - and hopefully his kidneys are going to keep cranking for many years to come.

Galveston, Oh Galveston

Between work, more work and a little travel, we haven't been to the beach for a weekend with the cats in a while. My birthday weekend was a great opportunity, so we headed south.  Took a long walk on the beach that Saturday and saw an amazing display of pelican fishing prowess!

The fish were running that day and the pelicans were fishing in pairs - it was wild.  I'll never understand how they can dive bomb and hit that water head first without breaking their long necks, but they are fishing machines when they get a chance.

We celebrated a beautiful sunrise Sunday morning on the balcony:

Also put down our new outdoor rugs, which were immediately christened with cat hair by the boys.

I love this photo of Denny yawning - he looks kind of crazy!

Sweet "D"

Amazing Acapulco

Two years ago, we stayed at Casa Tres Palabras with the Dallas Brewers and had such a good time we bought the trip again at a charity auction last fall.  Arthur and JoAnn Keller came with us and we had a blast.

 

We arrived in ACA at 2:30pm on Thursday, June 27th and were greeted at the airport by Fredo, our villa houseman, and Cecil, our "new" driver. It was great to see Fredo again!

 

Acapulco Bay from the Palapa

The house looked exactly the same and we enjoyed a welcome snack - and margarita - under the big palapa, then relaxed and unpacked.  This year, we vowed to spend more time at the villa, so we had a delicious Mexican fiesta, with bananas foster, prepared by the cooks. You've all seen photos of our first trip to Casa Tres Palabras, so aside from a few stunning views I'll try to focus on new activities.

 

Sunset Behind the "Big Pool"

Friday morning I was up early for a run, then a long walk with Jerry down the hill.

Making Our Way Down the Hill

 

Fabulous Orange Blooms on these Trees

Morning exercise was followed by breakfast of French toast con tocino - Zach, we missed you! After our massages, we swam and sunned with served lunch under the palapa.  Late afternoon, we enjoyed shopping "the market", which they delivered and set up in our main room.  

 

Blooming Cactus at the Villa

Friday night, we had dinner out at Zibu with a stunning view of Puerto Marquez.  The food, the view, the music were amazing!

 

Arthur & JoAnn

Jerry, Studying the Wine List at Zibu

There's really nothing like the sight of Acapulco Bay at night.

 

Night Lights

Up early again on Saturday morning for a run, breakfast and half-day of touring.  We returned to Capella de Paz, since Arthur & JoAnn had never see it.

 

Jerry, Nan, JoAnn & Arthur - Puerto Marquez Behind Us

On our way back down the mountain, we stopped at Villa Largovista.  An incredible, old Acapulco villa with stunning views ... it's for sale, but out of our price range.

 

Villa Largovista - Courtyard & Front of House

Open Portico with View of the Bay

What a Pool!

On Top of the World

Back of Largovista with Capella de la Paz Cross in the Background

I had to include this one ... as we were walking through the kitchen we see this.  Hmmm ... OK.  Gotta respect a cook who has no intentions of calling 911 - she'll just take care of business herself!

Mexican drug lords, be damned!

For anyone who visited Acapulco in the 80's - or for anyone old enough to have purchased Bain de Soleil products during that timeframe - no tour of Acapulco would be complete without a stop at the Villa Vera.  Two years ago, it was shut down (never repaired after a storm), but we were happy to learn that it is being remodeled and will soon reopen.  In spite of Cecil's negotiating, we were not allowed on the property!

Red Clay Courts of the Villa Vera

On to The Flamingo Hotel - or what's left of it.  Growing up, JoAnn and her family traveled to Acapulco every year and they even stayed at The Flamingo during it's hey-day.  The hotel is being renovated and they've recently purchased John Wayne's old home nearby, with plans to rent it out to tourists ... for a price.

Blue Pacific Crashing into the Rocks at The Flamingo

Cecil, our driver, talked the manager into taking us back to see the original home of Johnny Weissmuller, purchased during the filming of Tarzan and still owned by the Weissmuller family.  Casa Tarzan wasn't much to look at by today's standards, but it was cool to see.

Steps to Casa Tarzan from Lookout Point

Weissmuller Home

We followed our morning tour with a questionable lunch at Paradiso - more on this later.

Beautiful Beach with Big Waves

JoAnn is HOT!

More swimming and sunshine that afternoon with a shrimp dinner at the villa that evening. Montezuma's revenge ensued in the wee hours ... could have been the my sensitive stomach and several days worth of margaritas OR more likely, something I ate!

 

Definitely not up early for the morning run - Jerry had to make his long walk down the hill without me.  The toast I had for breakfast stayed down, which was a victory.

Sunrise on Another Beautiful Day

On Saturday, Fredo had mentioned us visiting a beautiful 16 room villa owned by an insanely wealthy Italian who own hotels in Italy and Monte Carlo.  This special place is managed by the same group who handle Beau Thierot's properties and Fredo said they would take us if we would like to see it and enjoy a day at the beach - or directly on the water, anyway.

 

So after another round of massages - my reflexology done upright, as I was fairly sure I would need a barf bag if I laid down for a regular massage - we loaded up for the big villa experience.  

 

Two words ... holy smokes! 

 

We arrived at the villa, which resembled a fortress, and Fredo entered the security code - the big iron gates swung open and we drove into a beautiful courtyard with several large "houses" that he referred to as "a few of the bedrooms".  This wasn't the house.  

 

An "Upper Bedroom"

We headed down a long path that wound through a landscaped area and he pulled a leaf off of one of the trees, rubbed it and handed it to us to smell ... clove. I'll be looking up how cloves are grown, but I didn't think it was a tree.  Color me clueless.

 

Winding Paths Through the Compound

Tropical Paradise

Down a flight or two of stairs, with various twists and turns, we arrive on a wide patio connected to a fantastic open air living room, dining room and kitchen with smooth adobe walls and brightly colored paintings.

Open Air Living Room - Side Entrance

Outdoor Dining/Reception Area

 

Front Entrance to Open Air Living Room

 

 

Open Air Dining Room

 

 

Detailed Painted Columns

We said "this house is beautiful" and Fredo said "this isn't the house".  Onward we go to a lovely pool area where Jerry thanks Fredo, telling him we are really going to enjoy it.  Fredo says "this isn't the pool we're going to."

 

NOT the Pool

And then we see it ... sparkling like a blue jewel just above the water.

 

Of course, it's the pool near the helicopter pad!

Cecil, Fredo and Hermes, assistant houseman, toted our lunch, bottled water, soft drinks and margarita mixers all the way down to the water so we could enjoy the day in the salt water pool and palapa.

 

JoAnn on Float, Arthur under Umbrella & Jerry on Lounge Chair

 

 

House Manager of the Big Villa, Cecil & Fredo

Cecil & Hermes - Margarita Lesson

JoAnn and me, waiting out a rain shower

Hermes, exhausted from mixing margaritas!

To the left was the private Las Brisas Beach Club

Las Brisas Beach Club

And two houses to the right was Villa Arabesque, built by the late Baron Ricky & Baroness Sandra di Portinova - famous for hosting Hollywood and political elite for many a year.

Villa Arabesque

Looking up from the beach area and salt water pool, you can see the main house.

THE House! - At Least Part of It

Boys will be boys, and Arthur and Jerry decided to swim in the Pacific - launching themselves off the bulkhead, swimming about 30 yards across the bay to this bridge and then realizing that there was a bit of current to contend with.  Judging the tide proved challenging.

Arthur & Jerry Swimming Under the Bridge to the Beach

You can't see it from the wide shot, but THIS is what the water looked like under that bridge.  Arthur got caught in the current and was smashed against the rocks more than once.  Neo-to-Go for those cuts!


Shifting Tide

Our last evening was spent under the palapa with a beautiful red snapper dinner prepared by the villa staff.  We were already discussing how quickly we could make another trip.

 

Monday morning I ran before the sun came up and was treated to a spectacular show.

 

Monday Morning Sunrise Over Acapulco Mountain

Jerry calculating staff tips!

After breakfast - French toast as our send-off meal - we caught a few more rays ...

Jerry & Me in the Sun Pool

Then we wandered the villa taking photos and dreading the airport process that would accompany our flight home.  This is a happy place and we can't wait to return.

 

Fredo & Hermes

Villa Tres Palabras - I Love You

Bless this house and keep all who enter safe.

Blue Skies & White Clouds

Both Pools with the Upper Balcony

Adios Acapulco, see you next time!