Fleas...

No, Izzy doesn't have 'em.  Me, either.

With today being a play day, Joan wanted to go to Traders' Village.  We've seen it many times from the highway.  It appears to be a big flea market.

Oh, no - it is much more than that: they bill themselves as "America's #1 flea market."  I'm not in the market for fleas, but this was on her list...

No idea if that #1 status is based on size, the number of years they've been in business, or the number of fleas they have for sale.  But, it is huge.  Their information says they open at 10:00... we arrived at 10:15...

We heard on the loud-speaker: "Attention vendors, it is now 9:30 - you need to move your vehicles out of the shop area and into vendor parking.  We will be opening in 30 minutes."

I looked at my watch again... yep, now 10:20.  They must be operating on flea market time; quite a few booths that weren't open.  No idea if they would be open, or if this place has slipped from its "#1 status."  We walked around for about 45 minutes.  It reminds me a bit of going to Progreso, Mexico, except everything is nicely paved (unlike the dirt streets in Progreso) and there were no dentists or pharmacies here.  But, they had all that same crap that is offered in a Mexican border town, and then some...

Yes, there were carnival rides there (above); and several booths selling knives, stun guns, and pepper spray...

This booth seemed to specialize in black t-shirts, although there are a couple red ones in the mix...

This booth was selling caskets...

"Help me load this on top of the car - Grandma is gonna be so surprised!"

We made a purchase; no, not at the casket place.  Pretty sure we could have gotten the same thing at a mall and not paid $4 to park.  But, it would not have had fleas on it.  ;-)

Since our entire experience at Traders' Village took less than an hour, we decided to head for downtown San Antonio and take in the River Walk.  Yes, we have done this many times... we have our favorite Mexican restaurant and enjoy going on one of the boat tours.  It was a beautiful day today - not as hot as it has been, a pleasant breeze, and plenty of shade available on the walkways by the river...

This boat coming at us seemed to have a bit of a list...

Not sure if it was some big folks on the foreward starboard side, or if the boat had an issue.  I think I'd wait for the next boat.

There is an Art Fair going on today...

Plenty of booths set up on both sides of the river.  More views...

Plenty of other tour boats and water taxis on the river.  None of these were listing like the one I mentioned earlier...

I asked Joan how many trips she thought these guides would drive in a day... "Assuming an 8 hour day, a half-hour trip, a break here and there - I'd guess about 10 trips a day."

That would be tough, saying the same thing over and over, and pretending that it is funny each time.  ;-)  No doubt, the tips would be good, though.  No hunting for whales that may have left the area... no concerns about how far you can get with the time allowed... nobody asking about how to use the head... no real schedule to keep: it is a short loop and you drop off passengers and pick up passengers - no particular time of departure.  Hmmmmmm... no, nevermind.

It is a pretty trip...
 

Plenty of restaurants on both sides of the river...

These lights were pretty from the boat...

Part of the Art Fair, this booth was under one of the many bridges - it shows off the lights.  They were less impressive up close (plastic) when we walked by them later.

After the boat ride, we walked along the river, to this restaurant...

Good food (Mexican) and a nice view of the river, with some excellent people watching.  Lots of people walking all around the area.

We lucked out with parking: found a spot on the street right by the River Walk.  Plan B was one of the parking lots: a few blocks away, they are $10 for the day; close by, they are $10 for the first hour, $5 for each additional hour.  We paid a meter and spent way less.  Even had a view from our parking spot...

No other running or shopping either of us wanted to do.  Time to head back to the coach.  Tomorrow, we head for home.