40 4 40 #19 San Antonio

This is the latest in a series of blogs journaling my attempt to try 40 new things before I turn 40 in March. You can read all the entries using the label 40 4 40.

I have lived in Texas for 9.5 years but have never been to San Antonio. I went THROUGH it when I moved from CA to DE in 1997. I have no recollection of even realizing I was there though. Maybe it was dark?! So, I decided that a trip to San Antonio (SA) would be a fun new thing. I contacted a friend who moved to Waco a couple years ago to see if I could pick her up on my way. SO glad she went with me!! SHE actually knew SA and besides getting to reconnect with her, she knew where to go and what to do once we go there!!

Because I'm weird and adventurous (let's go with that) I chose to make this a one day trip. SA is a 4+ hour drive from my house. It's about the same to Houston where I would go for a baseball game and come straight back home. So no problem!! Another reason I was glad to pick up Cecilia in Waco is it broke up the trip. She was about an hour and 45 minutes from home. Then another 2.5 hours later we were in SA!! YAY!! Good conversation made that last part go very quickly!!

We started out at Market Square for lunch. I hadn't even thought to go there but it was fun and yummy, so thanks Cecilia!! We ate at Mi Tierra. It was festive and fun and quite delicious!!

the outdoor market square

waiting for our table at Mi Tierra

The atmosphere at our table

From Market Square we took the Trolley to The Alamo.

On the Trolley

Our Trolley

At the Alamo, no pictures are allowed inside the buildings. Cecilia grew up in Texas but had forgotten much of her 4th grade Texas history. I realized how much I never knew!! Also, how did I ever forget the date of the fall of the Alamo? It was 3/6/1836...

First glimpse

The well that they built 

Perhaps I shouldn't look happy? 

From the Alamo, we walked through the Mall, via the riverwalk, to the main section of Riverwalk that is pretty much the most famous part of SA, other than the Alamo. I was VERY concerned with how narrow it is, and non-guard-railed. How do more drunk people not fall in regularly?!?! I took A LOT of pictures. Here are a few from our initial walk.

 

See? Walkway, water. No buffer!!

We actually ate dinner under one of those umbrellas!

 We decided that the best way to see it all in a short amount of time was to take the boat cruise. SOOO glad we did!!! Saw some great sights, learned more about the Riverwalk, etc. I always thought it was made to make a shopping/eating area for tourists. That was an afterthought!! Here are pics from the ride...

Our tour guide Samantha

ducks everywhere!! 

Aztec Theater

It's not really flat. Just looks like it :)

 

 

A gift from Portugal. They're also into St. San Antonio.

Outside the mall in the middle of the river.

Tower of Americas (Hemisphere)

On the boat!

Honestly, I don't remember most of what Samantha told us but it was all fascinating :)

After the boat ride, we walked a little more, did some shopping, and then got a table at Casa Rio. According to Samantha, it was the first restaurant and started the Riverwalk trend. It was cold but it was quicker and more exciting so we ate ON the riverwalk. So imagine water, table, people walking to and fro, restaurant. Crazy!! There was actually a rail between the table and the water. While we ate our tortilla soup (we weren't really hungry after our large late lunch), it got dark enough to see the lights. The pics don't really do it justice, of course.

 
We knew we needed to head out so we went back to street level and spent about 5 minutes trying to decide how to get to the Trolley that'd get us back to the car. It was quite funny. I swear we walked in circles. And the button that you push to walk talked to you. Mostly, he angrily said "WAIT". Whatever! We knew we could get to the Alamo fairly easily and that's where we got off so it was bound to go back the other direction. Right?!

It did. Sort of. The driver suggested we go to the other side of the road though to save 20 minutes of driving around with him. But he wasn't positive that there was actually one in front of him. So we got back off and walked across the street. This gave us the opportunity to see the Christmas tree in front of the Alamo all lit up. And the Alamo at night.

The Trolley driver came back to get us (5 minutes later - he just turned around) and didn't charge us since he made us stand in the cold :) So nice!! The car was still there and we headed home. We were both exhausted but happy!!

Of course, on the way home we had to stop at a Texas institution - Buc-ees. I had only heard of this place. It's a VERY large gas station. MANY MANY pumps and a GIGANTIC store. It's mascot is a beaver. And it can be found on everything!! I bought a LARGE Dr. Pepper and a present for Slugger and made the long drive home. I was home before midnight so not too bad, considering all we'd accomplished!!

From the doorway inside the store...

Slugger loved his toy :)

And, yes, I want to go back to SA when I have a whole weekend!! We didn't go anywhere near the Missions. So, plenty still to do!!!

And, I'm almost halfway done!!!!