San Antonio, TX, Alamo, Mercado (November 16, 2014)

Sunday morning, we went in search of the Alamo. Not having been to San Antonio before, we didn’t realize that it too is just across the street from one of the Riverwalk entrances. The Alamo was much smaller than we expected, and it was right in the middle of town. We weren’t all that impressed, but we do realize that it is the history rather than the building itself that attracts the tourists. 

A Chihuly display along the Riverwalk near the Alamo.  Gorgeous!

The Alamo, of course!

The grounds of the Alamo

Along the Riverwalk

We enjoyed the beautiful grounds around the Alamo, and then headed over to the Marcado, which is between the Riverwalk area and the highway. It is probably about eight or nine blocks, so you can easily walk there, but a few of those blocks are a little sketchy depending on the time of day. The Marcado is a combination of inside and outside shops, with some food carts, and a rather large restaurant and bakery called Mi Tierra.  

El Marcado

You can’t miss Mi Tierra, it is big and popular, and right in the middle of the Marcado. That was where we had lunch. We thought the food was quite Americanized, or maybe it was just TexMex, which we are not used to, but the place is worth seeing. 

The waiting Area, decorated just like the restaurant itself.

The pastry display

If nothing else, just go inside and take a look at the bakery. It’s pretty amazing. If you’re staying for a meal, you’ll probably have to stand in line, just to check in with the hostess. After lunch, it was back to the airport to return our car and head home from a much needed break.

Port Aransas, TX (November 15, 2014)

On Saturday morning, we woke up to rain in San Antonio, so we got on the Ipad and looked at the weather around the area. Port Aransas, TX was overcast, but not raining, so we decided to take a road trip down to Port Aransas, a place that Steve’s grandparents used to winter. It was about a 3 hour drive. 

What a great little town out on South Padre Island. You can get on to the island on the south-west end via a bridge, but the only access from the north east end is a ferry. The island has many beautiful public beaches with fishing piers and a huge rock jetty. There are a lot of seafood restaurants in Port Aransas, but the favorite of the locals appears to be anything fried. When lunchtime rolled around, we searched for a seafood restaurant that might have some healthier options, and found a little place called Iries Island Food. It is a very tiny, casual place, which appeared to be family owned and operated. It is only open until 2:00 pm., so go early or you’ll miss out. We ordered their crab cake sandwich and a cilantro-lime shrimp salad to split. They were both terrific. This is definitely a place we would go back to. 

After lunch, we toured the town and the beaches and then headed back to San Antonio. 

 Back in San Antonio, the rain had cleared, so we got dressed up for a nice dinner at a steak house called Beaudro’s. We used google maps to find it using their street address. When we got there, it was a little hard to find from the street, because their main entrance is on the river walk. The meal and service were both fantastic. We would definitely return to Beaudro’s again. We walked home along the river walk, and once again enjoyed the beautiful views.

San Antonio, TX (November 14, 2014)

By mid-October, Steve had been back to work for a mere two weeks, and we were already looking for something fun to do. We found some cheap flights to San Antonio, TX! So we decided to take our first post retirement mini-vacation. We were trying to figure out what to pack for a November trip to San Antonio, so Steve talked to our friend, Alan, who travels to Dallas often. He said for Steve, jeans would be fine everywhere, but for me, all women in Texas wear black leggings. So the black leggings made the packing list. We headed out on Friday night after Steve got off work. We got into San Antonio at about 11:00 pm, rented our car, and headed to our hotel. 

Our hotel was the Holiday-Inn Express Riverwalk.   The location was incredible!  It was nice and clean. Our room was a king suite, so had a king sized bed and a sitting area with a gorgeous floor to ceiling view of San Antonio. Our hotel was on the San Antonio Riverwalk, so of course our first night out was on foot, checking out everything on the river. It is beautiful, with trees, bridges, shops, restaurants, and bars, with wonderful concrete paths along every arm of the river. The only disappointment for us was that we were there just a little too early. All of the trees along the river had been strung with Christmas lights, but they weren’t turned on yet. That would have been quite a sight to see, but certainly didn’t dampen our trip. 

Street view of the Holiday Inn Express Riverwalk

Daytime view out our hotel window

Nighttime view out hotel window

We stayed out, at Waxy O'Connors Irish pub with a live band, right across the river from our hotel, until late in the evening to make the most of our first night away. 

Andra enjoying a libation at Waxy O'Connor's Irish Pub

The Riverwalk at night is beautiful!

 As we headed back to the hotel at about 3:00 a.m., we were following two other women who were dressed exactly the same as I was, in a red pea-coat and black leggings. I totally fit in!  Thanks Alan!!

Black Leggings in Texas, I Think So!

Such a fun night in a beautiful new city.  Looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.