My San Antonio Stroll

Oh wow! I love, Love, LOVE San Antonio! I could totally live there!! There is so much to do and the Riverwalk is fantabulous!!

I was glad my pater pop (aka-my father) was able to join me for the weekend. Weeks of traveling alone has its advantages and disadvantages and I was certainly ready for some company. He flew into San Antonio and I drove in from my meeting in Austin.

When I got in town we headed to the Alamo...it seems odd that it is smack dab downtown surrounded by highrises. There was an interesting monument nearby (see slideshow) and upon closer observation I noticed someone decided one of the men needed facial hair (a moustache to be exact). The picture didn't pick it up so well.

Then, we moseyed around and came across a double museum, The Buckhorn Musuem and The Texas Ranger Museum. We went into the Texas Ranger Museum which was interesting. There was a replica of the car Bonnie and Clyde were captured in and stories of various Rangers including a Ranger by the last name of Walker...presumably the real Walker, Texas Ranger? I had my dad pose in front of the Buckhorn Museum door because he was born in Buckhorn, Missouri (podunk, boothill Missouri town). It was funny when the ticket guy asked where we were from and my dad responded with "Buckhorn". They just kinda looked at him and said, "Huh?" Another interesting sidenote...the entryway ceiling had antlers hanging down (see slideshow).

Then we headed down to the Riverfront for dinner and a riverboat cruise. We went to the Saltgrass Steakhouse on the Riverfront because I had talked so much about the steak I had at the Saltgrass in Austin. I must say our cruise operator was HILARIOUS and after overhearing other operators give tours as they went down the river, I am assured we had the best.

On Saturday, we headed to the El Mercado/Market Square/Farmer's Market and window shopped. Yes, Miss Piggy went to the Market (see the slideshow). We had lunch at Mi Tierra in Market Square on recommendation from a local. It was great food and decor.

In the afternoon we headed to visit the 4 missions (San Jose, Concepcion, San Juan, Espada). San Jose and Concepcion are the two to visit if you are in a crunch for time. San Juan and Espada are kinda farther out and there is less to see and do. It figures that my camera batteries would die with no replacements at the best of the missions (San Jose) so, I had to resort to my camera phone (which explains the poorer quality of pics). I managed to find a Walmart before we headed to the other missions. We took a tour with a park ranger around San Jose (since the missions are National Parks). The tour was quite informative and interesting regarding the conversion of the natives to Catholicism and Spanish culture. Either I have forgotten what I learned in school about the missions or I slept through it.

That evening we headed back to the Riverwalk to catch a show at the Aztec on the River (a large screen renovated silent movie theatre with a Wurlitzer organ) and to eat dinner since we heard there was going to be a Day of the Dead (a Mexican holiday that I thoroughly remember learning about in school...whew...I'm glad I remember something!!!) coffin parade down the river. We made sure to get a great table overlooking the Riverwalk during dinner at the Lone Star Cafe (delicious dinner) yet, the parade was pathetic. It ended up only being a couple of barges. We watched Adrenaline Rush at the Aztec on the River which was a movie highlighting people obsessed with extreme sports (skydiving and freefalling off cliffs). I still want to paraglide...

Anyway, that summed up a great weekend in San Antonio. I definitely want to go back. I didn't even have time for the King William Historic District or Southtown which I hear are cool parts of the city.

One last sidenote...I booked the Best Western Sunset Station on Hotels.com for our stay in San Antonio. This was a superb selection due to proximity to a trolley that takes you all around downtown San Antonio for $3.75 a day (with unlimited hop on/off privileges) and the clean, renovated rooms. The cost and service of the hotel was excellent as well. HOWEVER, all that said...bring some earplugs. Seriously, I can sleep through just about anything...I live next to airfield of an international airport and by railroad tracks. But, between the trains and motorcycles outside the hotel it was insanely loud!!! I slept better the second night though. Amazingly enough, even with that in consideration, I would still go back to that hotel.