Last time, in Part 1, we explored the world of Fangs & Halos in Houston and how it all fit into the story. This week we’re going to San Antonio.
Marcus Lancaster takes Lilly, Isobel, Jesse, and Baron to San Antonio to get away from Hurricane Rita. Three weeks after Katrina landed in New Orleans, the Gulf Coast was really gun shy. Another big hurricane spooked the entire city of Houston. Almost 2 million people hit the road to Anywhere But Here. That resulted in massive traffic gridlock on all major and most minor roads out of the city. Hotels were full all the way to Odessa and Midland. Gasoline was almost non-existent, it was 100 degrees, cars overheated, everything was closed including restaurants, and it was, to say it simply, a major cluster fornication.
Marcus doesn’t do things like that. He has a fleet of aircraft and fingers in a lot of industries. He piled everyone onto his 737 jet and flew them over to San Antonio and put them up in a hotel suite. He then takes off for Switzerland and a command performance with the Vampire Council (more of that coming soon).
The hotel I based the group in is the richly appointed, historically significant Menger Hotel in downtown San Antonio. The hotel was built in 1859 next to the brewery that William Menger had opened on the grounds of the battlefield for the Alamo. During the Civil War, it served as a hospital and the dining room was a mess hall for troops. After her husband died in 1871, Mary Menger and their son William kept the business running. She bought land adjacent to the hotel to build an addition to house more travelers and, with the coming of the railroad in 1877, added water closets (bathrooms).
Also in the hotel is a reconstruction of the English pub in the House of Parliament, with a solid cherry bar, cherry-paneled ceiling, French mirrors, and gold-plated spittoons. This one’s history is of the visitors, including Teddy Roosevelt before he became president, when he was leading the Rough Riders in 1898. There’s another story about Carrie Nation, the famous prohibition activist. She came to San Antonio in the early 1900s and yelled in the bar. There’s a wedge-shaped place in the cherry bar that has been patched that stories say Carrie Nation did with her hatchet but that’s thought to be a myth.
The room the group stays in is the King Suite. Located in the older wing of the hotel, it was the home of Richard King who was the owner of the famous (and huge) King Ranch in Texas. His suite, number 2052, is a two room with the sofa in the sitting area and a bedroom with a bath. The couch in there is a small, antique type thing that Jesse has a lot of problem being relegated to.
Then there’s the bar that Jesse goes out to, having a little fun since Marcus was away. Bonham Exchange, 411 Bonham, is just a few blocks from the Menger. It’s housed in the historical Turner Hall, built in 1891. Since its opening in June, 1981 the 25,000 square ft club has dancing, dining, shows, and is the place to see and be seen. Primarily a gay club, it’s open to anyone who wants to come and have fun. Jesse leaves this bar and goes around the corner onto what is labeled 3rd Street but is really mostly an alley. He and Nicholas go out to the crepe myrtle trees just down the street where the trees cover a recessed metal door. This is where the attack takes place. Across from Bonham Exchange is the Central Fire Headquarters, where the ambulance that takes Jesse to the hospital is located.
Other Places in San Antonio
Georgia May Freeman’s house in the Denver Heights Neighborhood. This is where Gregory is living with his grandmother while working at the Menger. A white clapboard wooded house with a 3-ft chain link fence in front and an open back yard, mostly dirt. There are oaks on one side of the yard in back and one in front. Grandmother Georgia likes to sit outside and watch her neighborhood. Gregory says she probably knows everyone in that neighborhood. I do have an address for it but the people who live there aren’t part of the story so I’m leaving this detail out.
Walgreens—7802 Wurzbach. This is the drug store Gregory goes to pick up the pregnancy test for the people in the King Suite. Isobel has sent him to pick it up and he doesn’t want anyone he knows to see him buying one so he goes that far away.
University Hospital—4502 Medical Dr.—This is the hospital the John Doe gets taken to after someone found him in the alley behind the bar. Jesse is here in the ICU without a name until Isobel sees him on TV. This is also where the attempt to kill him takes place.
That’s San Antonio Texas in the Fangs & Halos Series. Next time, we’ll explore New Orleans and the other places in the Fangs & Halos series.