San Antonio, My Favorites

San Antonio is one friendly place.  The population is 63% Hispanic and they love their city.  Every local that I interacted with was Hispanic (or Latino) with the exception of two people.  And I went to a lot of different places in the city.  The cabbies, shop owners, waiters, my bus driver, the little lady at the bus stop, the enthusiastic Alamo reenactor...just friendly, welcoming and helpful.  So this is the quality that most stood out to me in this city.   After spending a long weekend there, I wanted to offer up my top five San Antonio recommendations.

1. Walk the city streets.   I would probably say this for most cities but especially in this city.  It would be easy to stick entirely to the River Walk.  I walked the streets until my feet hurt.  People walking their dogs, sitting in the park (or sleeping) heading off to work, taking a smoking break, eating breakfast, stocking soda machines, consulting maps (like me), pushing baby strollers...the general hum of a city.  I always want to feel this in any city or town.  Here's what I saw.

     Good coffee and breakfast food, Mumford & Sons playing and a stack of Currents to check out the local art/music scene---160 East Houston Street

Taco Garage?  Not a very good restaurant name.

Chilling San Antonio style

2. The Alamo--300 Alamo Plaza

The Alamo is right in the middle of the city and very easy to locate.  Originally built as a Roman Catholic mission by the Spanish, the Alamo was  the site of many battles, namely the Battle of the Alamo when the Texans battled the Mexican Army in 1836.  There are history exhibits in the Alamo itself and in the gift shop. Admission is free but there is a 55-minute audio tour available for $5.00.  I regret not doing this as it included dramatic readings, eyewitness accounts and sound effects.

The Alamo, originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero--I had a very hard time getting a good picture of the Alamo and wish I had another chance.  I'd go at sunset and also hope for less of a crowd.

Alamo Gift Museum built to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of The Battle of the Alamo

The Alamo Gardens

3.The River Walk is eight miles long and includes a mix of restaurants, public art, and museums.  Unfortunately most of my time on the River Walk was in the most commercial area.  I would take much more time to explore the length of this beautiful path if I could do it again.  There is an audio tour available here (and can be accessed through a smart phone) http://www.visitsanantonio.com/visitors/play/history-heritage/index.aspx

  The water taxis run up and down the San Antonio River along the River Walk.

4. The Missions--There are five missions that were established by the Spanish Empire and four of them are along the San Antonio River (the fifth is The Alamo).  I went to Mission Concepcion on the city bus.  The bus driver was very nice and seemed disappointed when I only went to one mission.  But it was fantastic.

Mission Concepcion--807 Mission Road at Felisa Street--#42 bus if coming from downtown

I only went to this first mission as I was on my own and you do have to hop on a city bus to get to each mission.  But it was easy to get there and the architecture was amazing.  The whole Native American conversion thing was hard to stomach though.  Live and let live, I say.

Original frescoes are still visible in many of the rooms.

5. Food and Drink

We ate at a couple of nice places along the River Walk but my top pick is Rosarrio's.

Rosarrio's--910 South Alamo Street

We made the mistake of trying to follow South Alamo from downtown but the street stops and starts up again.  Consult a local.  It was not far from downtown and it's a nice walk.

I had tasty fish tacos, my husband had great fajitas and the homemade chips and chipotle-flavored salsa were delicious.  All of the salsa in San Antonio seemed to be of this smoky variety that was really good.  

And the margaritas were oh so lovely.  My husband really enjoyed them after that long walk.

This just spells fun.

San Antonio we loved you. You wore us out, but we loved you.

One tired cowboy.

Me walking off into the sunset in my new hat from Paris Hatters, you guys are awesome!  Thanks for the Bob Dylan story!!

Good bye old San Antone.  You blew a lot of my Texan stereotypes.