Las Vegas - February 2011

I almost thought George Strait was going to skip his Super Bowl weekend show in Vegas this year.  They didn’t announce the ticket sales until later than usual.  I guess he had too much fun touring with Reba McIntyre and LeAnn Womack that he decided to keep touring with them.  This year we would have slightly better seats and would get there in time to see LeAnn.  There was a miscommunication on the start time of the concert last year that we missed most of LeAnn’s performance.

San Antonio Wknd - March 2008

Another George Strait related trip!  We went to San Antonio for a weekend getaway and to see the George Strait Team Roping Classic held at the San Antonio Rose Palace.  Mike's aunt and uncle were also at the event, which made it more enjoyable.  They got to the arena very early in the morning to secure good seats on the benches!

We flew in Fri afternoon and got to the arena by 4pm.  We went to the Riverwalk to explore Fri and Sat evenings as well as Sun for a few hours before flying back home.  We stayed at the KOA (TA Review) to have a camping experience on our "rodeo" type weekend.

Next time we go back, we definitely want to stay downtown.

Downtown San Antonio

Both the Riverwalk and The Alamo are downtown.  The Riverwalk is a beautiful walk area along the river with lots of restaurants, shops, and hotels.  The area is very green with plants and flowers, which is a nice break for the brown, desert, dry conditions of the rest of the city.

You can take a river tour on boats that are constantly going by filled with people.  You can eat dinner on these boats also by making reservations at participating restaurants, Cafe Ole, for example, offers these "floating dinners."  There are mariachi bands, especially at nighttime, that are going through the restaurants playing for guests.

We were in town over the weekend they were celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  There was a very small parade that went down the river with floats of bagpipe players and other locals dying the river green.

The Alamo is also downtown, very close to the Riverwalk.  We spent some time going through some of the museum areas.  It was lit up various colors at night, which may have been due to an art festival that was in town the same weekend.  I'm not sure if it looks like that at night all the time.

There was so much going on downtown and you can walk to everything.  We never paid more than $10 for parking while we were downtown.  There are tons of garages and lots.

The San Antonio Rose Palace

The George Strait Team Roping Classic (GSTRC) has been held at the Rose Palace annually for several years, but started somewhere else.  This year was the 26th year of the event.  I'm a huge fan and have always wanted to go to see George rope!

We were lucky to have family there that has been going to the event for at least the past 10 years.  They sort of explained things to us and saved us seats.  People get there as early as 5am to start lining up for seats!!  I'm so glad we didn't have to get there that early, but it was very nice of them to save us seats.

The event starts on Fri about 10am and goes ALL DAY LONG!  They have hundreds of teams and they have to narrow it down to the top 50 teams for the finals on Sat.  We heard they can go as long as 2am if necessary.  We got there in time to see George Strait (GS) and his son rope.  They didn't do so well, but it was pretty neat to watch for a GS fan!  After his run, GS comes back up the arena so all the fans can touch his hand and take pictures.  We left by 7pm, so we could go find our KOA.

Things also start at 10am on Sat and are usually finished by 1-2pm.  They had "cowboy church" Sat morning also before the event.  Before things start on Sat, GS comes out and talks a little to thank the sponsors, participants, and fans.  After the winner is announced, they set up the trucks and trailers that they win and take lots of pictures with GS.

There were a few options for food on site.  One place had sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers.  Another had BBQ brisket that was just okay.  There are also several vendors selling things like cowboy boots (I got a new pair!), clothing, jewelry and furniture!

We had a great weekend and I would like to visit San Antonio again!

Vegas Wknd, George Strait - February 2008

I am a HUGE George Strait fan. So serious that I 


am a member of his fan club, I have every CD ever 


recorded (which is over 30 if anyone was 


wondering) and I go to see him in concert once 


(sometimes twice) a year. Being a member of the 


fan club allows me to get tickets a day before the 


public. So, we usually are within the first few rows 


off the floor.

George Strait started playing in Las Vegas on Super Bowl weekend a few years ago.  We try to go every year, but in 2007 we skipped Vegas and decided to see George at Stagecoach in Indio, Ca.  I decided I really look forward to the tradition of going to Vegas on Super Bowl weekend for the concert.

This year, his newcomer opener was Sarah Johns.  We had never heard of her before, but she did a good job.  The second opener was Josh Turner.  I really like his voice!  We had great seats, I’m a member of George Strait’s fan club, so I get first pick at seats.  Our seats were close to where the performers walk in to get to the stage.

We have been to Vegas several times and Superbowl weekend 


tends to be busier and more expensive.  We usually decide to 


stay one night because of these reasons.

Every year, we try to stay and eat somewhere different.  This 


year, we decided to stay at The Venetian and eat at Emerils 


inside MGM Grand.  This trip to Vegas was one of the best I've 


had in a while.

LODGING:

The Venetian (TA Review)- We had reserved an off-strip hotel to save some money, but then I got a great rate at The Venetian 2 days before our trip. 

This is one of my favorite hotels that we've stayed in in Vegas.  The rooms are nice and the service throughout the hotel rocks!

RESTAURANT:

Emerils’ New Orleans Fish House - We usually eat in the MGM Grand before the concert, because that's where the concert is held.  We were a little late (15 minutes) for our 5:30 reservation, but we still had a table when we arrived. The wait for those without reservations was an hour and a half!

We sat and were immediately greeted by a server who took our drink order. Our actual server came by and explained a few options on the menu to us. He said that although he doesn't like salmon, the BBQ salmon was really good. Mike ended up ordering the salmon and I went for the Ahi Tuna. We also ordered BBQ shrimp for an appetizer.

The food was delicious. I don't like salmon either, but after sampling Mike's dish, I wished I had ordered it. We agreed it was the best salmon we'd ever tasted.

Stagecoach, Indio, CA - May 2007

Over a weekend in May, we drove out to Indio (about 2 and 1/2 hours from San Diego) to go to a country music festival, Stagecoach . It was the first year for the festival. As you'll soon discover, I'm a HUGE George Strait fan. We usually go see him every year in Las Vegas, but when I heard about Stagecoach and the opportunity to see him and other favorites, we sold our Vegas tickets and bought tickets to Stagecoach.  We even splurged for VIP tickets and had access to a VIP section.

We decided to camp out there instead of getting a room, so that we could be right there and not have to worry about traffic everyday. We were able to go in and out, which helped on Saturday, so we could change in the afternoon. The desert is hot during the day, but once the sun goes down, it can get a little cold.

Well, it wasn't really camping; it was just pitching your tent amongst hundreds of other people. You couldn't even have a campfire! I had my fill of porta-potties for a while!!

There were 4 stages at the festival. One of the stages was under a large covered area and had bluegrass bands. We spent a lot of time in that tent hiding from the sun listening to some cool bands. 2 of my favorites were Abigail Washburn and The Grascals. If you like bluegrass, check out their websites for samples.

The Grascals have a more traditional sound. Abigail is very unique, she has an awesome voice. She lived in China for a while, so she has incorporated her knowledge of the language into some bluegrass music (Listen to "Song of the Traveling Daughter") and it sounds really cool!

Bela Fleck (from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) was also with Abigail playing in her quartet. I first heard of Bela Fleck from him traveling with the Dave Matthews Band, who I used to see in concert a lot.

Saturday, we saw Willie Nelson, Alan Jackson, and the one and only George Strait. The were all fabulous! For George's oncore, we moved up front to watch him closer. A lot of people had left for some reason.

We don't know if we'll go back to Stagecoach in the future, it might be back to Vegas, but we had tons of fun.