Cougs invade San Antonio, attempt to forget actual game

Note: I'm using the Internet tube to publish a bunch of articles written for newsletters that never appeared in newsletters. This is one of them, written in fall 2009.

Despite the consistent awfulness of our favorite college football team, a bunch of us traveled to San Antonio in October 2009 to watch our Cougars take on a little-known school from the Midwest, Notre Dame.

(Why was WSU playing Notre Dame in Texas? The athletic department made something like $1.5 million to be the Fighting Irish’s punching bag. Seems reason enough to me.)

Nate Stockman, B.J. Rusunen, Chad Andres, the Plasters and us rendezvoused in San Antonio for the action. We stayed in condos within walking distance of the Riverwalk and had a very enjoyable stay in Texas, aside from the part where the actual game took place.

We spent most of our time there on the Riverwalk, which was a wise choice. There are tons of great bars and restaurants on the river, and it’s a beautiful setting.

The Cougars’ bar of choice for the trip was a place called Dick’s Last Resort. I have a feeling someone saw the slogan — “The Rowdy of the River” — and figured it was perfect for Wazzu fans.

As one might expect, there’s good Mexican food to be had in San Antonio. Our best meal of the trip (and perhaps our lives) was at Mi Tierra. Our good friend Dave Andriesen (a native Texan) told us not to come back if we didn’t go there, and we’re glad we followed his recommendation. It was spectacular.

Also in the dining department, Nate came back to the condos one day with cinnamon rolls from a place called Lulu’s, which had been featured on the Travel Channel. They were huge, and delightful. It was so good Brea and I got one on the way to the airport and brought it back to Spokane with us.

The WSU Alumni Association did its usual excellent job with the pregame gathering (or, in other words, it was all-you-could-drink beer again), and technically a college football game took place afterward at the Alamodome.

Football game aside, we had a very good time in San Antonio. Our only regret was not getting to Austin; the rest of the group went there Sunday, but we had to travel back home that day.