Judi Morgan, San Antonio, TX Real Estate

I spent a lot of time on the San Antonio River Walk back in August the week before my daughter's wedding. There were guests in town for the wedding and most of the dinners and partying were held on The River Walk.

                                                                                 

After one of the dinners, a group of us decided to take a leisurely walk down The River Walk.  As we approached the Hyatt Regency Hotel, we heard the music -- Jazz Music.  We decided to go in to The Landing, to listen to the music of The Jim Cullum Jazz Band.  They are a 7 piece Classic Jazz Ensemble and play at The Landing Tuesday through Saturday beginning at 8:00 pm.

We enjoyed the music so much, we decided to meet at The Landing the following evening after dinner.  Don & I arrived early in order to try to save some seats inside.  It was Saturday night - we should have made reservations but hadn't thought of it.  To make reservations, call 210-223-7266 after 3:00 PM.   When the others began arriving, there weren't enough seats available for everyone inside so we moved outside on the patio.  There was a Jazz Duo out there and they were very good.  We enjoyed the evening listening to great Jazz Music, visiting and sipping on "the best margaritas on the river walk". 

Whether you  live in San Antonio or are visiting, I highly recommend The Landing at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on The San Antonio River Walk.  They also serve dinner - go here to view their menu.  We're looking forward to going back, so if you happen to see me in the crowd, don't hesitate to stop by our table to say hello.  I look forward to meeting you. 

 

When buying or selling a home in North Central or North West San Antonio, TX, you deserve local expertise and advice.  Judi Morgan provides full time, professional real estate services to buyers, sellers and military transferees in San Antonio, Stone Oak, Canyon Springs, Shavano and Shavano Park, Castle Hills, Rogers Ranch, Helotes, Sonoma Ranch, Alamo Ranch, Red Bird Ranch, The Dominion, Leon Valley and more.

Copyright 2008. Judi Morgan, All rights reserved.

 

There are a number of professional sports franchises in San Antonio, TX. The San Antonio Spurs organization is very well known. A lot of people don't realize that the organization also owns a WNBA franchise, Texas League Baseball team, development league basketball team and a minor league hockey team. Whew!!!! That's a mouthfull.

This post will concentrate on the WNBA franchise. This is a good time to talk about them since they are getting ready for the playoffs.

The San Antonio Silver Stars WNBA team is one of eight original founding teams. They were originally based in Salt Lake City, Utah and were known as the Utah Starzz. They moved to Texas in 2003 and are the sister team to the San Antonio Spurs. Peter Holt is the owner. The Silver Stars play at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

The team started play in Salt Lake City in 1997 and continued until season end in 2002. In 2000 they posted their first winning season but did not make the playoffs. In 2001 they made their first playoff but were swept in the first round by the Sacramento Monarchs. The Starzz made the playoffs again in 2002 and beat the Houston Comets in the Western Conference semifinals. They were swept in the finals by the eventual champion Los Angeles Sparks.

The NBA divested itself of the WNBA franchises in 2002 at the end of the season. Peter Holt purchased the team and moved them to San Antonio. The first four seasons in San Antonio they didn't make the playoffs. 2007 brought big changes to the team. Becky Hammon, Ruth Riley & Sandora Irvin were acquired in trades. Helen Darling was selected in the Charlotte Stings dispersal draft. Camille Little was drafted in the second round and Erin Buescher was signed during the off season. The team retained key players such as Marie Ferdinand-Harris, Vickie Johnson, Shanna Crossley, Kendra Wecker and Sophia Young. The new look Stars became instant contenders. In August 2007 they clinched their first playoff berth since relocating to San Antonio. The Stars beat the Sacramento Monarchs in the Western Conference semifinals then lost to the Phoenix Mercury in the Western Conference finals.

The 2008 Silver Stars have once again clinched a playoff berth. The season will end this week and the playoffs begin. We are still looking for home court advantage for the playoffs. This time the Stars will bring another championship to San Antonio? They will be the WNBA World Champions? Wish them well.

GO SILVER STARS GO!!!!!

When buying or selling a home in North Central or North West San Antonio, TX, you deserve local expertise and advice. Judi Morgan provides full time, professional real estate services to buyers, sellers and military transferees in San Antonio, Stone Oak, Canyon Springs, Shavano and Shavano Park, Castle Hills, Rogers Ranch, Helotes, Sonoma Ranch, Alamo Ranch, Red Bird Ranch, The Dominion, Leon Valley and more.

Copyright 2008. Judi Morgan, All rights reserved.

Hurricane Ike is in the Gulf of Mexico, gaining strength and heading towards the Texas Coast. It's approximately 410 miles across!! I just received an email from a friend forwarding a News Release from the City of San Antonio Office of Emergency Management. It suggests that we prepare Emergency Kits for our homes, cars and work; and lists supplies needed in case of an Emergency.

After Hurricane Dolly, I spent about 30 to 45 minutes in my master bedroom closet when several tornadoes were sighted heading towards my neighborhood. Luckily, none of them touched down on the Northwest side of our city - but a neighbor watched one of the funnel clouds as it went over my street! I'm hoping we don't have to worry about that again. The neighborhoods that were damaged when the tornadoes did touch down are still trying to recover and make their repairs. I was on the phone talking to Deb Brooks, checking on her, when my husband called to tell me to get in the closet - he was driving to work and listening to the news and eye witness reports of where the tornadoes were . I called Deb back later, and we finished our conversation. :)

They're predicting that we, in San Antonio, could get as much as 6" of rain and winds could be up to 74 miles an hour! There will be a flash flood watch - please watch out for the low water crossings - they are marked and the barricades are there for a reason - there's a fine if you move them and if rescue workers have to come out and rescue you - you will be charged $600 plus the fine!

Now, make your list and go out to your local grocery store, home center and pharmacy. Put together your Hurricane kit and hope you don't have to use it.

When buying or selling a home in North Central or North West San Antonio, TX, you deserve local expertise and advice. Judi Morgan provides full time, professional real estate services to buyers, sellers and military transferees in San Antonio, Stone Oak, Canyon Springs, Shavano and Shavano Park, Castle Hills, Rogers Ranch, Helotes, Sonoma Ranch, Alamo Ranch, Red Bird Ranch, The Dominion, Leon Valley and more.

Copyright 2008. Judi Morgan, All rights reserved.

My daughter was getting married and her fiance's family came in from all different parts of the country to celebrate the special event. Most of them stayed at hotels along the beautiful San Antonio River Walk. I spent a lot of time on the River Walk getting to know Randy's family during that week. What a wonderful reason to spend time enjoying one of the most popular and one of my favorite features of our city.

It was Friday night, Don (my husband) was at work so I went down alone to have dinner and visit with Randy's family. They took care of all the details, decided on the restaurant, made the reservations and called me around noon to tell me what time to be at the restaurant and where it was. As it turned out, I had never been to this restaurant - I had heard of it by name but figured it was yet another Mexican Restaurant on the River Walk. Wrong!!!

Since we had eaten at a Mexican restaurant the night before, one of their criteria was that it not be a Mexican Restaurant. They found Dolores Del Rio Ristorante which is on the River Walk near the St. Mary's Street Bridge. The restaurant is very small - probably only seats 40 guests maximum. The service was wonderful and the food was outstanding. There were 20 of us - so we took up ½ of the restaurant. We shared a couple bottles of wine and nibbled on a wonderful garlicy flat bread that was irrestible. When the waiter came to take our orders, he suggested they bring out 2 or 3 large bowls of salad (family style) and we could have as much or as little salad as we wanted. Perfect choice - the salad was made with fresh baby spinach and a nice light oil & vinegar & garlic type dressing - he also brought out more of the wonderful bread. They had veal marsala on the menu but not chicken - 2 of us asked if they could prepare chicken marsala for us, sure, no problem. A bowl of spaghetti, topped with tender chicken breast and topped off with 2 jumbo size grilled shrimp - it was delicious!!! Topped it off by ordering several desserts to share (we were all way to full to finish a dessert for each of us). The tiramisu we ordered was cold, creamy, topped with a chocolate sauce and absolutely delicious....mmmmmmmm.

There was a jazz group playing too - they were very good - we actually quit talking and listened to the music for awhile. I understand they also have belly dancing but we missed it.

I recommend the Dolores Del Rio Restaurant to local San Antonians and tourists visiting the San Antonio River Walk. I plan to take Don down there for dinner one evening -- probably in November for our anniversary. The menu is a little expensive but the food, atmosphere and service is worth it.

When buying or selling a home in North Central or North West San Antonio, TX, you deserve local expertise and advice. Judi Morgan provides full time, professional real estate services to buyers, sellers and military transferees in San Antonio, Stone Oak, Canyon Springs, Shavano and Shavano Park, Castle Hills, Rogers Ranch, Helotes, Sonoma Ranch, Alamo Ranch, Red Bird Ranch, The Dominion, Leon Valley and more.

Copyright 2008. Judi Morgan, All rights reserved.

Where was the first municipal golf course in Texas built? If you guessed San Antonio you are absolutely right. The world famous and accomplished golf course architect A. W. Tillinghast designed and built Brackenridge Park Golf Course in 1915. Brackenridge Park was one of his earliest works. In 1922, John Bredemus, a famous San Antonio Olympian, co-founded the Texas Open which was held at Brackenridge until 1959. The list of Texas Open winners is a who's who of the most famous golfers of all time, including Hagen, Sarazen, Hogan, Nelson and Snead.

After many years, the Brack fell into a state of disrepair. The Municipal Golf Association San Antonio (MGASA) was formed in early 2007 with the purpose of operating and managing the city's seven golf facilities. The non-profit corporation was funded with $9.4 million from the city to renovate and improve the courses that had lacked the resources over the past decade to make needed improvements. The MGASA in turn, pledged to borrow an additional $3.3 million to give all the golf courses a needed facelift.

In the spring of 2007, architect John Colligan of Arlington, Texas was chosen to orchestrate the restoration of the Brackenridge Park golf course. By using historic photos and aerials, John was able to re-establish fifteeen of the original 18 Tillinghast holes. By implementing Tillinghast concepts to the original design and by studying Tillinghast features from around the country, the redesign of Brackenridge will be a special tribute to the renowned architect.

Now this is wonderful news and we eagerly await the re-opening of this great course around November 2008. However, there is even more!!! The clubhouse at "Brack" will also be restored and it will be home to the future Texas Golf Hall of Fame. The adjoining Borglum, which was the first pumping station for the San Antonio Water System, will also be reopened as an art studio. The Borglum once housed the works of world famous sculptor, Gutzon Borglum. It was at Brackenridge Park that Borglum crafted the renderings he used to build the famous landmark we know as Mount Rushmore.

On your next trip to San Antonio, you might want to include a visit to Brackenridge Park and take a tour of this historic area. There are six other courses under the control of the MGASA and I will try to introduce you to them one at a time. Let me know if you are interested and I will post additional information on the MGASA improvements to the courses. I will post pictures of the "Brack" as soon as the course opens and I get to play a round.

When buying or selling a home in North Central or North West San Antonio, TX, you deserve local expertise and advice. Judi Morgan provides full time, professional real estate services to buyers, sellers and military transferees in San Antonio, Stone Oak, Canyon Springs, Shavano and Shavano Park, Castle Hills, Rogers Ranch, Helotes, Sonoma Ranch, Alamo Ranch, Red Bird Ranch, The Dominion, Leon Valley and more.

Copyright 2008. Judi Morgan, All rights reserved.