The Rest of the (HOT) Week

Amber and family had graciously pup-sat Aidan and Jake while we were away, and when we returned we took Zoe with us, since they were heading out the following day to Prague to visit Jan's family.

So we now have Aidan, Jake, Zoe, and Charlie together!

And the week was a hot one.

So all our walks (minus Charlie who has zero interest) were in what little cool morning air we could find ahead of the sunrise.

 

the wildfire haze Friday morning

The Menger Hotel

The Menger has expanded over the years. It takes up much more of the block than it did in its early days. But it sits upon hallowed ground where the Battle of the Alamo took place.

It's hosted Presidents Ulysses Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, William H. Taft, William McKinley, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Lyndon Johnson, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Generals Sam Houston and Robert E. Lee were also guests.

this is actually the new portion of The Menger

It once didn't extend this far down the street

in the primary lobby are several cases of memorabilia

this particular set of postcards caught my eye, and although it's at an angle and shot through two sets of glass, here they are a bit larger to view:

 the above is captioned "The Lobby" and I was thinking, how on earth could they have gotten rid of all those columns and closed in the atrium? 

Then I wandered further, and discovered the original lobby, still in place, just not where the main doors are any longer. That's where I spent the rest of the time, enjoying all the antiques and narrower hallways.

Those doors above were the main doors for a long time before the expansion

The Alamo Suite in the old section likely has windows looking out over it.

In 1887, Hermann Kampmann (the architect's son who inherited the place) added new saloon area to the hotel designed from study of the House of Lords Pub in England.  The Menger Bar, with mahogany everywhere, sterling silver, and fine china became a magnet for the wealthy and powerful. Teddy Roosevelt recruited the men who would become known as the Rough Riders here. The hotel opened in 1859 . . .  not the bar.