Tootsie on Tour: San Antonio, TX

**Disclaimer: The content of this post reflects my own personal views, opinions, and experiences.
This post does NOT express the views or opinions of my employer.**

The venue: The Majestic


(stock photos)

Covid Tests to Date: 64

TL;DR TikTok: CLICK HERE (I guess DreamWidth does not support much embedding, I can't get a single thing to embed here.)

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We took a charter bus from Austin to San Antonio.
It was only about a 2 hour ride, but we needed to give the hotel time to prepare for us.
So there was a planned rest stop at Buc-ee's.

(stock photo)

Have you ever been to a Buc-ee's?
If not, you should go at least once in your life.
This is Americana at it's finest.

It's a southern US chain, founded in Texas, with only 41 locations (that's a LOT more than they had even a few years ago).
It was founded in the early 1980s, and from the start it was intended to be an excessively large gas station.
But I have no idea why it is filled with such WEIRD STUFF. Example TikTok: CLICK HERE

Need a bikini covered in cartoon beaver logos? Buc-ee's.
Jalapeno fudge in the shape of the state of Texas? Buc-ee's.
How about an entire deli dedicated to jerkies, dried on-site? Buc-ee's.

I was surprised to learn that many of our cast members--some of whom have been touring for decades--have never been to a Buc-ee's.
I have encountered them before, but that's because I've driven cross-country more often than most.
So it was great fun for me to watch my colleagues have their first Buc-ee's experience.
And despite having been there once or twice before, I was also quite overwhelmed.

I managed to exercise SOME self-control and avoid the soda fountain and fudge island and brisket-carving station.
But I just HAD to get something from the massive jerky deli. I picked out two sticks of cherry maple beef jerky, and two regular turkey jerky sticks. And then I couldn't resist the fresh candied almonds (they were only $1!) and a jar of pickled quail eggs.
I mean how often do you see pickled quail eggs??

There were many more things that I wanted but I held off and escaped with my treasures.
Back on the bus it was a sea of cartoon beaver hats and bandannas, and the smell of brisket permeated the air.
I can only assume that everyone had a blast.

We moved on to San Antonio where some of us had rooms ready and some of us had to wait, but not for very long.
I got my room after about 15 minutes of waiting, and it was wonderful.
This is an "extended stay", so there's a full kitchen and microwave.
There's also a complementary breakfast, and we are right downtown in easy walking distance from many awesome restaurants and shops.

Per usual, I evaluated the fridge and then hoofed it to the nearest grocery, this week that's an H.E.B.
In addition to my usual meats and veggies and fruits, I found pineberries, freeze-dried peaches, and bison jerky
(dried meats are big in TX I guess). Join me in sampling all of my fun weird stuff this week!


After filling the fridge and unpacking, I joined Bobby (bass), Yael (trumpet), and Curtis (woodwinds) for dinner at Vegan Avenue, a chic little restaurant on the outskirts of town. Bobby has a strict vegetarian diet, so early on in the tour I had asked to share a meal with him because I thought that his options for eating out with the cast might be limited, plus I'm always interested to try new foods!

We enjoyed vegan mozzarella sticks, which while they didn't nearly have the texture of mozzarella cheese, were tasty all the same.


And these fries with faux meat and guac and other fun toppings. They were really good! The "meat" texture was close to the real thing.


There were also teriyaki cauliflower bites, but I found them to be kinda soggy.

For dinner I got the pozole since we're in Texas and the only real change to this traditional dish was the use of jackfruit in place of the meat.
Otherwise the ingredients were the same: hominy, ancho chile broth, diced onions, mushrooms, lettuce, tostadas, and lime juice.
It was really good, especially the tasty hominy and jackfruit bits.


We had a nice time eating together outside and chatting about this and that.
The tour is more than halfway over now, and soon some of us will leave or the tour will change.
It was nice to enjoy this moment together as covid losens its grip on the United States, and as the winter chill leaves the air, and as we all prepare for the next step in our lives, whatever that may be.

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I woke up way too early because I was excited about visiting La Panaderia!
It's a lovely bakery less than a block from The Majestic.

Oh no. This is less than a block from me ALL WEEK.

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