Oh Cripe.....Tripe!

View of the restaurant from the boat

We got to San Antonio and did (or tried to do) all the usual San Antonian things….we again took the boat through the River Walk (always fun) and wound up eating at the oldest Mexican restaurant in San Antonio, which had really good food. We tried to get to the Japanese Tea Garden but couldn’t get near the place because it’s right near the zoo and this was a) Easter weekend and b) school break.  Not a chance of getting a parking spot.  

She forgot to bring her insulin :-)

We went to Gruene (pronounced Green) to look for the old German town but all we found was an old German bakery with what turned out to be old German bread.  We even went to Buc-Ees and drooled over their wall of candy and had some ice cream dots.

Of course, we had to go see a Mission (I’ve been in more churches in the past 6 weeks than I have in the past 50 years). 

After that, we all felt the need for ice cream and the GPS led us to a funky little ice cream shop that mercifully had no children in it.  There was a big sign out front announcing the availability of “fresh Menudo”.  Being naturally inquisitive, we asked what it was and the lady told us it was beef tripe in a spicy tomato sauce, which is very VERY popular with anyone who has a hangover.  Unfortunately, she was sold out.  But, as luck would have it, she had a little bit left over in her fridge and she very kindly warmed it up for us and brought us a bowlful with 4 spoons.  Floating in the bowl was an oily red sauce with pieces of a rubbery grey substance (which turned out to be tripe), a greyish-brown gelatinous something attached to a bone (which turned out to be pig’s foot) and some white fatty-looking blobs (which turned out to be hominy) It’s hard to describe the aroma:  probably the closest would be the smell you get from a baby’s diaper first thing in the morning.  And that kid has been sick!

Anyhow, Jackie and I tried a spoonful and I’m proud to say we didn’t hurl.  Carm just about tossed her cookies when she poked at the bony thing.  Auntie Rita just said no.  I almost gagged when I bit into the white hominy blob….. bad idea.  After a minute, the lady told us we weren’t eating it the right way – it was better with lime.  It really wasn’t. 

What we can’t get over is the fact that she was sold out of Menudo, which means that she either makes minute menudo batches or else there are a lot of very hungover Mexicans living in the area.  And believe me, you’d have to be really hungover to want to eat that stuff.

We tried, we really tried….but I think Menudo is off the Menu for now.

Full moon over the campground