Must see places in San Antonio, Texas: The Alamo and the River Walk!
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| The River Walk, San Antonio, Texas |
Growing up, one of my favorite things to do was watching NBA games on television. Anytime a team would play the San Antonio Spurs (the great Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili), I would get to watch the beautiful city. Two of the things that were always featured were the Alamo and the River Walk during commercial breaks.
I have always wondered what it would be like to walk the famous River Walk and to visit the Alamo. Despite visiting over 30 states in the United States, Texas, up until our ongoing cross country trip, was one of the states we had not visited.
Just because of the Alamo and the River Walk, I made sure the city was included as a destination on our cross country trip going from North Carolina to California. On the morning of December 16th, we checked out of our hotel in Galveston (Texas), then headed out to San Antonio.
Just five days prior, my wife and I had met our friends in downtown Houston for a quick get together. Among the things we talked about were places we must visit during our cross country trip, and the topic of Texas-specific attractions came up.
One of those attraction tips was Buc-ee’s, a gas station that is also a huge grocery store with ready made hot foods! (Yeah! My favorite kind of place, with inexpensive but tasty foods). Buc-ee’s holds two world records: 1) the world’s largest convenience store at 66,335 square feet and 2) the world’s longest car wash at 255 feet of conveyor. We could not pass up the opportunity to see what Buc-ee’s is all about!
About 2 hours into our drive to San Antonio, we were slowly but surely getting the first warning of an oncoming hunger pangs. We kept seeing several road signs for Buc-ee’s as soon as we got on the I-10 heading westbound.
We finally decided to stop by at one of them to satisfy our curiosity, hunger, and also to fill up on gas. We pulled into Buc-ee’s and found the parking lot almost full, despite the fact that the parking lot was a sizable one at that.
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| Buc-ee’s! |
After filling up our car with fuel, we parked at a spot that had become available when a car pulled out. We walked inside and found the mascot, Bucky the Beaver, greeting visitors. We were so lucky we saw one!
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| Bucky the Beaver! |
After browsing the store, we settled on a burrito stand, and picked up a chicken fajita burrito and a vegetarian burrito for lunch. We ate inside our car as there wasn’t a dining room. Both burritos were simply incredible! They were not dried out like some burritos sometimes can be, and they were delicious, with the perfect combination of meat (in my chicken burrito), vegetables, sauce, and the tortilla.
We also picked up two premade southwest chicken salads, a sugar free mints that taste like cotton candy, as well as white cheddar flavored popcorn. We figured we were set up for dinner that night, without scrambling to find a place to eat.
We left Buc-ee’s and continued our drive to San Antonio. Along the way, we noticed the impossibly expansive and flat landscape, suitable for ranches. It’s the kind of landscape I remember from watching old westerns, with its desolate stretches of nothing but desert-like land that seem to stretch for miles into the horizon.
We saw plenty of cattle ranches along the I-10 corridor, with their black angus, and on occasion, some longhorns, practically a local institution! We definitely saw more cattle than humans, and the fact that the I-10 seemed to go straight forever, without a turn anywhere, helped us view these cattle without getting into trouble.
As cattle ranches gave way, we noticed a slight gain in elevation. We noticed the appearance of distant hills, which would eventually give way to mountainous terrain. It almost reminded us of Arizona or Nevada from the distance.
There’s nothing quite like driving for long distances with only the scenery and your own thoughts pushing you forward to your destination. The land that is the Americas is vast, with so many varied landscapes. Just when you think the same terrain would go on forever, something else comes up, jarring you to take in the new scenery.
We always marvel at how lucky we are, living in the United States with its incredible beauty, diversity, and natural resources. We’re always at loss for words at so many incredible places we’ve visited, and will continue to visit in the years to come…
After drifting in my thoughts for some time, I gathered my thoughts as our Google Maps told us the exit for the city was coming up. After roughly 15 minutes, we arrived at our hotel in downtown San Antonio, the Fairfield Inn & Suites, around 3 p.m. We were taken aback by how busy the city was and how busy our hotel was. The lobby was packed with arriving guests, and with those guests who had already checked in.
We were tired from the trip, and we thought correctly to buy those southwest chicken salads to be eaten for dinner. We definitely didn’t want to venture out after a long and tiring drive looking for a meal…
The next morning, while we were eating breakfast at the Fairfield Inn, we met a family of 3 (grandparents and their granddaughter) who was visiting the city over the weekend. We thought the granddaughter was really sharp, with great manners. We chatted several minutes about living in Texas, of San Antonio, and about her future plans. We wished her and her grandparents fun weekend and safe travels.
Afterwards, we headed out to the downtown area, to finally see the Alamo and the River Walk! We knew there weren’t much parking right near the Alamo, so we instead opted to park about 2 blocks away from the River Walk area. We found plenty of parking spots at around 10:30 a.m.
We headed towards the River Walk first, just to get a sense of what it was all about. Early on, the day was cloudy and rather chilly. We walked down to the river, and started walking along the walkway. Maybe because of the lack of activity, lack of people, or lack of sunshine, but the River Walk wasn’t quite what I had imagined.
On television, it looked so much more vibrant, full of energy, and radiantly beautiful. I felt bit let down by it at first. Regardless, we walked several blocks seeing different sights, including historic buildings/sites, and ever more trickle of people.
We had a timed entry to the Alamo Church, so we slowly headed towards it after about 30 minutes of wandering the River Walk. Tip: Go to website ‘thealamo.org’ and be sure to make a reservation online prior to your visit. Otherwise, you may not be able to get in!
The Alamo is sometimes referred to as ‘Thermopylae of Texas’, thanks to its similarity to the Greek battle of Thermopylae, where a small band of warriors died fighting a much bigger army. Unlike the Greek version, none of the warriors who fought at the Alamo, lived to tell their stories. Note: Those Texans fighting at the Alamo were fighting for independence from Mexico.
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| The Alamo, San Antonio |
We arrived at the Alamo Plaza area and took in the sights. A big Christmas tree greeted us, and we noticed a decent sized crowd had gathered at the plaza. We promptly lined up at the entrance to the church, and we walked inside.
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| Statue of Davy Crockett, who died at the Alamo |
The building felt exactly like an old church, and smelled musty. We slowly walked around reading various plaques, and placards. It was truly a history lover’s dream to visit the Alamo and learn about its history.
Our visit to the Alamo Church lasted about 15 minutes, after which we made our way to the courtyard. We spent few minutes at the courtyard looking at the San Antonio skyline, then headed outside the Alamo for the River Walk.
We were starting to get hungry so we looked for a restaurant near the River Walk. We found a neat little cafe called ‘La Villita Cafe’ serving breakfast and lunch. We went inside and lined up to order food. We ordered hot coffees, chicken wrap, and ham & cheese on a croissant.
We enjoyed our delicious meal with aromatic and tasty coffee. It was a perfect beverage on a chilly morning in San Antonio!
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| La Villita Cafe, San Antonio |
After our meal, we stepped outside and saw the day had become sunny. It made everything look so much more beautiful, especially the River Walk. As we walked towards the River Walk, we heard a band playing Christmas carols. We couldn’t pass that up!
We watched the band play across the river from the amphitheater. There were limited seating available, so we decided to stand. The sun had come out fully and it was graciously warming us up. We listened to the Christmas carols while tanning under the San Antonio sun.
We were so grateful we got to watch and hear a local band playing live music. Had we gone back to our hotel after the Alamo, we would’ve missed all the good stuff at the River Walk!
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| Concert at the River Walk! |
The band played their final Christmas carol, and the crowd dispersed. We were one of them. We headed towards what we thought was the busier part of the River Walk, heading towards the direction of the Alamo.
We were right in that decision, as we saw so many more people compared to just an hour prior. The River Walk looked so much more inviting, and it looked just like what I saw on television during those San Antonio Spurs games.
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| The River Walk with sunshine! |
We were so glad we walked towards that direction, as there were so many more restaurants with people sitting on the patio enjoying their meals, or people walking to and fro browsing for restaurants and shops. It was an awesome sight. The place really came alive and it was full of vigor and energy. We loved it after seeing the same River Walk an hour prior without many people in it.
The smells coming off of restaurants made my nostrils incredibly busy. I could not help but notice the smell of foods being grilled, smell of Mexican spices wafting through the River Walk, and the smell of lime and cilantro. All these incredible smells almost made me want to eat a second lunch. Wow, talk about attack on the senses!
We secretly lamented why we didn’t bother to find one of hundreds of restaurants right at the River Walk. Oh, well…Maybe next time…
That night, we wanted to try a Texas-based burger chain, Whataburger, as recommended by our friend. Luckily, the restaurant was only about a mile from our Fairfield Inn, so we stopped by and ordered a burger, fries, and a chicken sandwich.
We’re always suckers for trying local foods like Whataburger. You know what they say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do…” On my food critic scale of 1-5 stars, with 5 being the best, I’d give Whataburger a 3.5 stars.
It was a slightly better than an average burger from a burger franchise, comparable to a Wendy’s, in my humble opinion. I didn’t come away saying “Wow” after finishing my meal. But, on a brighter note, the meal itself was reasonably priced and filled up my stomach. That counts for something…
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| Whataburger, San Antonio |
In conclusion:
Our journey to San Antonio began with my love of NBA games. Watching all those shots of the River Walk during NBA games made me want to visit the city. We were so grateful we got to do that during our cross country trip.
We totally understand why the River Walk is so popular with locals and visitors alike. It acts as the true focal point of the city, where many locals (and visitors) gather to enjoy good food, people watch, and to take in some history.
We were so happy we heard a local band performing Christmas carols, and finally got to walk through the famous River Walk, and of course, the Alamo. These attractions are within easy walking distance from each other and are not to be missed.
Thank you all for reading and happy trails! We hope you keep up with us on our continuing journey across the great American Southwest and the American West!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
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