Day 3 The Big Day "Centennial Celebration for the Jingu House"

 The big day is here! We relaxed and then made our way to the river walk to the family luncheon also planned by Aria. We met at noon at "Casa Rio" for a buffet lunch with the family. This lasted until 3:00.  Aria and her family left around 2:30 for a river boat cruise.  We left shortly before 3:00 to go to the gardens.  Once there we found parking and walked to the pavilion.  Lots of activity and people as it was an all day festival with "animae" and vendors at the Mexican village below the gardens.  At 4:00 there were photo opportunities and a reserved room with air conditioning for the family in the Jingu House.  It was a hot hot day.  The room also had iced drinks for us which were very welcomed. 

At 5:00 there were Taiko drummers from Corpus Cristi and then the program began at 5:30 and lasted til about 7:00.

After the program we had a chance to talk with visitors and then finally relax and eat and enjoy the company of family. I was relieved to have my speech over and now could enjoy the night with everyone.  

Day 2 Friday October 9th Family Reunion

 We had a leisure morning at he airbnb.  Aria and family arrived last night close to midnight. This morning the kids entertained us.  We got ready to leave the house around 9:15 for the Maverick-Carter House tour at 10:00 downtown. Mike took the Sofia and Rocco for an adventure while Joce and Vicente, Aria, Daniele, Michael and myself went to the tour. 

 We had a good time at the tour which lasted 1 1/2 hours.  David Pesche' was there and brought his collection of Tea garden memorabilia.  We took pictures with two members of the Carter family. It was a very interesting tour with many overlapping connections between the Maverick, Carter and Jingu families. 

 

 At 2:00-4:30 Aria, Pati and I headed to the gardens to meet up with Jack Morgan for an interview. At 3:00 we met up with the garden ceo Mary Jane Verette and her team along with the cousins on the planning committee to do a walk through of the event on Saturday. 

at 5:00 we all headed to "Elsewhere" the gathering outdoor venue Aria had arranged for the family friday drinks and dinner. 

 

Day 1 Arrival San Antonio

 The flight went smoothly from Long Beach to San Antonio. We had a stop over in Dallas and then arrived in San Antonio where we picked up the rental car. From there Mike surprised me with a trip to the Cemetery where Granpa Jingu is buried. San Fernando Cemetery 3

1735 Cupples Rd. San Antonio.

 

 

 

 

 We stopped at the information booth to get directions to his gravesite.

After that we went to the Tea Gardens at 4:00. It was a brief visit as they close at 5 PM.  The gardens looked beautiful.

 Went to check into our Airbnb and soon after Jocelyn and Vicente arrived.  Mike and Joce and Vicente went to the market.

 

Around 6:30 Pati and Stuart arrived and we spent several hours catching up, laughing and eating and drinking. Stuart made us laugh with his Icelandic impressions and his funny video.