Hangin' at the Hemisfair

Last week I took you on a trip to sunny California. This week I'm going to take you to equally sunny San Antonio, Texas...in 1968! So jump in the time machine, cause HERE WE GO!!!!!

Well now, that wasn't so bad, was it? It's now the summer of 1968. A new World's Fair has opened...the Hemisfair! I went there with my family that summer. Here are a few (not great) pictures!

This is my aunt, my two cousins, my uncle, my dad and me (brown shirt) by the Riverwalk. I'm not crying, the sun always bothered my eyes in pictures for some reason. I'm fairly sure that there's not a natural fabric in any of those clothes. 

Here we have my cousin, my aunt, my mom and myself. Note that these are "picture spots" much like at Disneyland. Also note that the adults in my family seem to all be secret agents. 

I'm actually in this picture. No...really! If you look just past the right leg of my picture-hog cousin, you can see my right foot! I think that was the puppet show in the background...but I'm not sure.

My dad and I are posing in front of some sort of alien monolith. My dad has found a communicator and is chatting with the little alien guys. Or....we're in front of a sculpture and that's his....uh....I don't know. Let's stick with the first idea.

A not great picture of the Tower of the Americas. (insert fanfare) Also, the sky ride is in the background. As a kid, I had no problem with riding the sky ride, but that tower scared me to death! I remember that night they had to practically drag me on the elevator. If not for the fact that I was starving, and food was on the top, I might not have made it. I had fried chicken. It was good.

Now flash forward a few decades. After my wife and I were married, we realized that although we didn't know each other as kids, we both went to the Hemisfair that summer! We might have actually seen each other. Who knows? Therefore, when I saw this little item came up on eBay, I bought it for her:

This little Tower of the Americas is actually kind of rare...and they usually go for a hefty price. I don't know why. It's cool, though.

Later, we picked up the following items here and there...

Nothing says "World's Fair" like whiskey! Actually, this is a pretty cool piece that is kind of tough to find with the top and labels.

The back side of whiskey! The details are nice, I think.

Ok, so there really are not two Tower of the Americas, but how else would you have both salt AND pepper? These are pretty common, and pretty neat!

So there you have it! You can still go eat in the Tower's revolving restaurant. It's now run by Landry's. I'm not sure if they have fried chicken. Maybe my wife and I will take a little trip and find out. It's fun to have a childhood link with your sweetie!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!