San Antonio

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.

We left out around 4:45 AM and headed down. We arrived at the Courtyard Marriott San Antonio Riverwalk around 11:30…perfect timing as to keep to our packed itinerary.

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.

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.

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.

OMG! see story below

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

 

Bridge dedicated to Selena

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.  

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.

Torch of Friendship

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.

Mom on the Selena bridge

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.