I have
been itching to take a trip…
any
trip...
to
anywhere for quite some time now.
It’s
really hard to make plans when I only have a regular weekend but Labor Day gave
us, bankers, a long weekend and I wanted to take full advantage of it. I have
been dying to use my Marriott reward points so I planned a long weekend trip to
San Antonio and talked my Mom into going with me. Lincoln was working nights so
this was the perfect time to get away since he really wouldn’t miss me TOO
much. LOL
I had been
to San Antonio a long time ago and faintly remember going to Sea World but I
don’t recall much else. I thought it would be a nice trip and there would be
plenty of sights to see so I booked the hotel and put together a mock itinerary
for us.
After throwing down our bags and Mom
putting on our walking shoes we headed out to eat lunch and roam the Historic
Market Square area.
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| San Fernando Cathedral |
On our way
we stopped at the San Fernando Cathedral which was our view from our hotel
room. It is said to be the oldest known cathedral in the U.S.
We at lunch at la Margarita and it
was pretty good. Our waiter was a really funny older Mexican guy and of course
I over stuffed myself. I was miserable for the next hour or so.
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| clockwise: Mom and I at lunch our first day, the menu, our burgers that evening, the restaurant we ate at the fist night, the restaurant we ate at the second night, and last is the sign of the restaurant we wanted to try but was closed on Sundays |
This part of San Antonio is like a
Mexican Canton and it was so full of life. I forget how Mexicans are so fun and
colorful as people and a culture. They were dancing in the streets, kids
running all over, and just an all-around fun fest. I found Lincoln and myself a
San Antonio t-shirt for souvenirs and Mom found a few things for the boys too.
Mom and I
people watched a whole lot on this little trip and OMG some of the women we saw
I was like WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THINING!?
I’m not a
fashionista by any means but I certainly know what is appropriate for any age
and let me tell you….middle age and up women have been watching too much
reality TV or something. Their idea of what is appropriate is so off base it’s
unreal.
Point in
case…
This lady
had on VERY tight white short, a lace, again too tight, sleeveless top, and
flipflops!
This is
only one case out of many. I am really going to try to keep this in mind as I
age and even now because there is a fine line to looking attractive and looking
just wrong.
After the
Historic Square we decided to rest our food, cool off, and take a quick nap
before our night of fun began. We were pooped! Between walking in the heat and
getting up so early to travel we were pretty exhausted the entire weekend.
Once we were refreshed from our nap
we headed out to walk up and down the Riverwalk and enjoy just being there. We
planned on taking a river cruise after dinner so we talked about what we wanted
to eat. I wanted something light and fresh after the heavy Mexican lunch so we
settled on an American cuisine at a restaurant called Republic of Texas. It was
right on the Riverwalk and the breeze was so nice. We enjoyed a long supper
watching everyone walk and boat past. Our waitress was again really nice and
Mom and I both settled on some really good hamburgers. Not the light meal I was
wanting but it was really good. There was sort of a theme for our food for the
weekend each day we had Mexican and burgers. LOL It worked for us…when in Rome!
|
|
River
cruise we went on Saturday evening
|
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| Bridge dedicated to Selena |
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| me on the bridge |
A poor
little duck was trying to rest by our dinner table and he was all snuggled into
himself and he kept dozing off then getting woken up. LOL It was pretty funny
to watch so we had to take a picture.
After dinner we headed back to the
walk to get in line for our river cruise. The wait wasn’t too long and the
cruise was really nice. It’s a good way to see the entire Riverwalk without
walking 6 miles and you also learned so interesting facts about the river and
San Antonio.
After the
cruise I think we were both pretty pooped and relaxed so we made our way back
to the room and were showered and under our cozy comforters by 10:30. We needed
our rest for our big day coming up.
Sunday morning we got going pretty
early to beat the crowd at the Alamo. We walked on over and actually were a tad
early since it didn’t open until 9. I couldn’t wake up so we got some coffee
and Mom a Diet Coke at a little convenient store/coffee shop. The Alamo was
cool but not really what I had expected. It was way smaller than what I would
have thought but it was neat seeing all the artifacts and we got a lot of
pictures for my brother who loves history.
Once we
were done with the Alamo we walked over and through HemisFair Park to go to the
top of the Tower of the America’s that was built for the world fair. On our way
through the park we stopped to take a few pictures at some waterfalls and
fountains.
The ticket
to get in was a bit pricey at almost $11 but it included the ride up, a 4-D
movie about Texas, and the armband you received lasted all day so if you wanted
to go and view the city at night then that would be cool. We just went during
the day and then viewed the movie. It was really neat and you could all the way
around and view the city from all angles. The only downfall is there is only 1
elevator that takes you up and back down so you have to wait a long time and
they only let on 7 people at a time. Sort of unorganized but whatever.
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| Tower of Americas |
Once back
on the ground level we went into the 4-D movie which gave an overview of all
the areas of Texas. Your seats moved and they squired air and water in your
face for effect. Mom got the crap scared out of her when a fake snake struck
the back of your neck and also its tail slapped the back of your legs as it was
leaving the screen. I laughed so hard. I would go back to wear those super cool
glasses. LOL After the tower we walked the llloonnnggg way back to find some
lunch.
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| Torch of Friendship |
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| Texas Ranger Saloon and museum |
We planned
on eating lunch at a German restaurant that I had read about and also that Mom
spied in a magazine but once we got there it was CLOSED! We were so ready to
eat a big juicy Reuben sandwich but had to settle for Fudruckers. POO! We are
so used to all things being open on Sunday we didn’t even check to see what
their hours were. There is always next time and I think that eating at that
restaurant constitutes a trip back. I hadn’t ever eaten at Fudruckers but it
definitely didn’t disappoint. Their cook to order burgers were flavorful and
very juicy for a chain restaurant. They also had a super fancy coke machine
that had every customer dumbfounded. After lunch we just wondered the streets
back to the hotel. We had done pretty much everything downtown there was to do
and wanted to do so we headed back to the hotel for yet another rest before
dinner.
One of the
buildings that I had spied all along ended up being a piece of our cruise. As
soon as you come from underneath a bridge if you look directly up at the
building it looks just like a brick wall. The way it was built gives the
illusion that the wall is freestanding. It was really neat and I tried getting
a picture that would capture the illusion.
We decided
to eat supper at the famous and original first Mexican restaurant on the
Riverwalk, Casa Rio. We had to wait for a table for almost 45 minutes but it
went by fast since we were visiting and people watching. The weather wasn’t as
nice Sunday night as it was Saturday night, it was pretty warm and muggy still
so thankfully we got a table inside. The food was ok. Their menu was pretty
minimal and to be so well known I was really expecting more. I’m glad I
experienced it but probably wouldn’t go back. After dinner Mom wanted to walk
to the far end of the river down where the mall is to see if there was a live
band. There wasn’t but it was a nice walk to a part we hadn’t been yet. On the
way back we stopped and got a 4 buck ice cream…again I don’t recommend it and
headed back to the hotel.
We were up
and gone by 6:30 Monday morning and were home by lunch.
All in all
it was a great trip and Mom and I had a lot of fun. We probably walked 20 miles
in 2 days but it was nice all weekend hot but not unbearable. I’m glad we spent
that time together especially since school was fixing to start and life was
going to be getting busy.
Mom
suggests the next girl trip we take it be to Eureka Springs, Arkansas!
That should be fun.
