<– Day 23 – Mon. May 4th: Keeping Austin Weird | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 25 – Wed. May 6th: Beyond San Antonio’s Riverwalk –>
Ann and I at the Alamo
We left Austin today bound for San Antonio. We tried detouring into the historic old town of Gruene, but found it more tourist trap than historic site, so we continued on to San Antonio.
We arrived in San Antonio so early that we had plenty of time to head down to the Alamo and play tourist. The last time Ann was in town was during her basic training. She didn’t remember the Alamo grounds as being so lush nor could she remember seeing so much tourist -based entertainment (wax museums, Ripleys, etc). I was expecting the Alamo to have a much more sacred feel, but it’s set up to run LOTS of people through it.
As you can see there were no lines while we were there, but it is clear they are ready to handle large crowds.
The back side of the Alamo.
The surprisingly lush gardens within walls. I was expecting a more desert-like area.
Guinness Book of World Records, Tomb Raider, Ripleys, Wax museums and other entertainment were a sharp contrast (and just across the street) from the Alamo.
Our next stop was the Riverwalk for some early dinner. That was a pretty great place. We enjoyed some mexican food at Casa Rio, the oldest restaurant operating on the riverwalk.
The river walk is lush in some spots. Paths line both sides of the river. Walls or businesses border the paths. It took a lot of decades to get this far, but the original dream of building a walkable river to bring tourists seems to have worked well.
Entering what might be termed restaurant row. Multiple Mexican restaurants line the river on this side.
Our seat at Casa Rio. We had a great view of the oncoming tour boats.
Example of tour boat going underneath one of the walkways.
After dinner and a few drinks to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, we took a half-hour cruise to explore all of the riverwalk areas. Yes, it is a pretty touristy thing to do, but we learned a bunch and had fun doing it.
This mosaic was a gift to San Antonio from Mexcio as a part of the 1968 World’s Fair.
There are some enormous hotels that have been built along the river front.
This shopping mall is also right on the river front.
Following our boat tour, we decided to walk one of the nearby churches. That’s when the storm we’d been expecting all day let loose.
It might have been raining, but we got the shot! The photo was taken using my wife’s new selfie-stick. She’s pretty proud of that purchase. Now that selfie-sticks are getting banned in places, don’t be too surprised if we get kicked out of somewhere.
After we left the church, it started raining even harder. We were both pretty amused.
Yeah, we got wet, but it was warm, so we found it amusing and all part of the adventure. We decided to grab a ride back to our motel and retire for the evening with a bottle of wine.
On Wednesday we have a couple museums, along with Market Square, to explore.
<– Day 23 – Mon. May 4th: Keeping Austin Weird | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 25 – Wed. May 6th: Beyond San Antonio’s Riverwalk –>
Oh, the ol Alamo. Not our finest hour in history but you know the old saying, “if you can’t beat them, design a multi billion dollar river walk, line it with beautiful gardens, top notch restaurants, 4 star hotels, shopping malls and make it into a top tourism destination in the country!” Ok, maybe that’s not exactly a direct quote, but I sure enjoyed our visit there when we went too. It is striking how lush this particular area is though, never quite expected that either. The Alamo building itself looks in very good shape still. Glad you went on a boat ride. Yes, it’s a little touristy, but still a nice time. The new selfie stick is awesome, did you get the model with the built in umbrella? You can use it to hit the peple that are trying to kick you out of the places that have banned them! There may be some irony there…anyways, I’m glad you guys had a great visit!
Dave, if you ever bump into me and don’t have your selfie stick I’ll be glad to take your picture with Ann.
Todd: A stick with an umbrella … uh oh, don’t tell Ann. She’s be wanted another one!
Steve: Thanks for the offer! We promise not to bump so hard you end up in the emergency room. We did run into a couple folks who didn’t have their selfie sticks, so we offered to take their photos. It’s a fun way to meet people and learn a little about them.
Did you guys get to see the basement? 🙂
Brett, we didn’t see any basements. But, we got wet enough that we went back to the motel.
you two look like movie stars! have a safe trip.
Dave, we are stars in our own minds 🙂