Thursday, November 17, 2016

Day Trip to San Antonio

We had a really busy, fun weekend over here showing my mom and stepdad around Austin. We even had time to fit in a day trip to San Antonio, which is just about an hour south of us. I've only been to San Antonio once before this trip when I was about 13, so it was fun to be back and see everything again as an adult.  Actually, all I really remember from my first trip was that it was really, really, really hot. This time, the weather was pretty much perfect- high 70s and blue skies. We visited three major destinations and made it back to Austin all before dinner time! 

The Alamo


Our first stop was the most famous of the sights in San Antonio- The Alamo. We walked around the grounds a bit, read up on the Battle of the Alamo, and visited their extensive gift shop- complete with fudge and a bunch of stereotypical Texas merchandise. Shockingly, we resisted and didn't buy anything. There was an older man giving a history talk in one of the courtyards, and he deserved an Oscar for his engaging (and perhaps unintentionally hilarious) performance. I recorded a bit of his talk on Snapchat but sadly forgot to save it to share here and now it's gone forever. RIP. 
My mom and me by the fountain on the Alamo grounds.
San Antonio struck me as much older than I remembered it 15 years ago, probably because I was so young, and there were tons of beautiful old trees around the city. The Roomie and I unintentionally matched this day...fail.

The security guard in the non-ironic cowboy hat in the bottom left of this picture is my favorite.


The Riverwalk


Next, we headed a few blocks over to the Riverwalk. Because it was a Monday, it was pretty quiet and some of the restaurants were closed. We walked down the river a ways and caught one of these boat cruises. My most vivid memory of visiting San Antonio as a kid was sitting on one of these boats and being so unbelievably hot that I wanted to jump in. 
I didn't know this before our boat tour, but a few scenes from Miss Congeniality were filmed on the stage to the right. Our guide's two daughters were scheduled to participate in dance recitals later this week on this stage, which is pretty much the cutest thing ever. An outdoor dance recital in November is not something we ever could have had in Minnesota! We always got stuck in high school gyms and the recitals lasted the better part of a century.

We ate at this cute Mexican restaurant with the colorful umbrellas, which are pretty much synonymous with the Riverwalk. There was a mariachi band that serenaded a table near us, but unfortunately never made it to ours.

Mission San Jose


Before heading back to Austin, we stopped at Mission San Jose, about five miles south of the city. This historic Catholic mission was finished in 1768 and is one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen. 


Photos were prohibited inside the sanctuary, but here is a picture I found online of the front:



The doors to the mission were so pretty. I was scrolling the tag on Instagram and saw some AMAZING wedding photos in front of these doors. I love that such an old and historic building has been preserved so beautifully over the years!


That about sums up our day trip to San Antonio...it was definitely worth a visit! 

2 comments:

  1. I generally agree with you about nearly everything, Laura, but in my experience the fact that the mariachi band doesn't quite make it to one's table is not "unfortunate!"

    ReplyDelete

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Welcome! I started Laura and Peter Down Under in July 2014 when my husband and I moved from the States to Melbourne, Australia for his job. I blog about expat life, our travels, food, and whatever else comes to mind. Follow along on our adventures Down Under!

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