Final Thoughts on Bilbrey Tour

In my initial entry on this Bilbrey tour (see "Bilbrey Tour to San Antonio"), I discussed at length that we were taking this short tour to see if such trips were something we were interested in taking. In reality, we really aren't interested in taking short trips such as this one with a tour company -- we would rather do short trips on our own -- but we are really interested in taking longer trips in this fashion.

So, how did the test go?

Traveling with a tour company offers many, many benefits, such as

• Someone else does all the driving.
• Someone else does all the planning.
• Someone else handles your luggage.
• Someone else handles all the details, such as getting tickets, finding parking, securing seating, etc.

It was nice to sit back and let someone else handle everything. I've always done most of the planning and so forth for our trips, and I tend to get a bit frustrated these days trying to make everything work, trying to find hotels, planning length of trips, routes, and so forth. When Bilbrey picked us up in San Angelo, we gave them our bags, found a seat on the bus, and didn't worry about much after that. At each stop (hotel, restaurant, museum, etc.) they dropped us off at the door and picked us up at the door. They handled our luggage at hotels, even delivering everything to our rooms. When we were set to check out of a room, we simply placed our bags outside our rooms at a designated time, and went on our merry way.

Bilbrey tour bus dropping us at the entrance to the Institute of Texan Cultures, with the Tower of the Americas in the background. Look closely and you will see Miss Donna bottom center.

We did not have to stand in lines to buy tickets for anything as Bilbrey took care of all of that. They made such arrangements for the Institute of Texan Cultures, the Tower of the Americas, the Peddler Show, the Christmas boat parade, and everything else. We did not have to tip anyone. In fact, the only money we spent was for gifts we picked up while shopping or for additional snacks, such as ice cream at the SAS store or coffee and pastries in Fredericksburg.

Donna and I getting ready to enjoy lunch atop the Tower of Americas

When we arrived at the Drury Hotel (parked right in front at the main entry, I might add), our escort went inside while we remained on the bus. She returned shortly with our room keys. All we had to do was enter the building, catch an elevator to our floor, and find our room. When we left a hotel, we simply placed our bags outside our room at a designated time, then climbed aboard the bus, which would be waiting right outside the hotel entrance.

Murals in the lobby of the Drury Hotel. It was originally a bank building.

At restaurants, we pulled right up to doors. We were given specifically designed meal options, complete with salad and desert. We'd enjoy our meal, then leave and reboard the bus (no tip required). 

I can't emphasize enough how great all of these benefits are. They really take the nuisance out of travel. Of course, you pay for such perks, and whether or not this has value is up to each individual.

But as with everything in life, there are some negatives.

You surrender a certain bit of freedom when you travel with a tour company. You work on their schedule. On this particular trip, we were kept busy. There was very little down time for us to enjoy on our own. We did manage a few free moments our second day to visit San Fernando Cathedral. I do think longer trips schedule in some free time, but this short trip was pretty jam packed with activities. We were kept hopping, and I was amazed at the stamina of some of the older folks.

You also end up doing some things you normally would not do on your own. Donna and I, for example, are not shoppers. We normally would not go someplace like the Peddler Show or the SAS store. However, I have to admit that I enjoyed the SAS store. There were numerous interesting items to see, and I enjoyed the relaxed time there. We sat in the ice cream parlor section of the store for quite a while as I enjoyed an ice cream cone. We were joined by other members of the group, and we enjoyed getting to know one another. One lady that visited with us that morning was on her 27th Bilbrey trip, so she had a lot to share. We learned a great deal from her.

Donna and I in the ice cream shop section of the SAS store in San Antonio.

I was not that comfortable on the bus. I wish there was a bit more room, as I did not have enough leg room to stretch out much. I tend to stiffen up pretty easily. When I'm confined to a tight space for very long, I become quite uncomfortable. When we began our trip, we drove non-stop from San Angelo to Kerrville, which took about 2½ hours. I was really uncomfortable the last hour or so of that leg of the journey. When we travel by car, we stop every two hours or so to refuel, grab a drink, or use the facilities, and this gives me the opportunity to move about. But when someone else is in charge, you travel on their schedule. I could have stood up on the bus while in motion, and probably should have, but I'd rather stop, get off the bus, and walk around on stable terra firma.

I do think we'll take other trips with Bilbrey. It's a good company, and it is local to West Texas, being based in Abilene. They travel all over the U.S., and they offer a few trips abroad as well. Personally, I am most interested in a trip to New England to see fall the fall colors, and I'd like to visit the Pacific Northwest at some point. These are trips I do not feel up to planning myself, so a tour company looks like a good option for this. And there are other tour groups as well. King's Highway is located in Lubbock, and they offer a few trips, though not nearly as many as Bilbrey. And there is also Collette, which has extensive tour packages going all around the globe. Collette usually makes one or two stops at our clubhouse each year to provide information on upcoming travel packages. In fact, a lady down the street is taking a trip to the Netherlands with Collette in a couple of months.

But we were impressed with Bilbrey. It is a family-owned business. The founder of the company recently passed away, but her children continue to be involved with the business. Bilbrey is coming to San Angelo on January 9 to provide information on tours for the upcoming year. We'll probably attend, even though they will send us a tour package for 2019 anyway. We'll see what is in the works, then sign up if anything looks interesting to us. If there is nothing in their plans that suit us, then we'll load up the car and take off on our own.