Back in January, the Delta strain of Covid had been subsiding and most reasonable folks were thinking that we had turned a corner…until Omicron began to take over the news cycle. With this strain causing a headache here in New York, we decided to take our winter escape somewhere warm and where Covid wasn’t as much of a problem. Our choices came down to Florida or Texas. Having been to Florida a few times, we were angling for something different. With that being the case, Texas was it, as we figured that it would be new and different for the both of us. Once we determined the direction of our trip, we had to decide where in Texas we would visit. And after some brief discussions, we selected San Antonio based on the amount of things to do/see in proximity to each other.

A internet search showed we would be able to fly right from our local airport via American Airlines with just one connecting flight to San Antonio. It’s always really nice to be able to fly from home and not have to drive 2+ hours to an airport. Our first flight left at 0530 bringing us to Charlotte by 0800. From Charlotte our second flight left at 0900 and arrived in San Antonio at 1114. Both flights were uneventful and thankfully on time. Once we landed, it was a short walk to the Via bus stop where we grabbed the #5 and used their goMobile app to pay for the 30 minute ride to San Antonio. The bus let us off and would pick us up about a half-a-block from our hotel (Holiday Inn) which was perfect. We decided to skip renting a car on this trip to save some money, figuring if we wanted to go a longer distance we could always take an Uber/Lyft. For shorter distances we would walk, and for those intermediate distances…downtown San Antonio has Bird scooters which are electric scooters you activate and pay for with an app and can take pretty much anywhere.

Our first afternoon found us walking around, looking in shops and exploring the area. We stopped at a restaurant called Playland Pizza which had some pretty solid wood-fired pizza as well as ice cold margaritas. We relaxed for a bit, enjoying the sun and atmosphere, before doing some more wandering, finally heading back to the hotel around 5. After a shower, we called for an Uber to take us to the AT&T Center so we could see the Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder. Neither team were expected to be very good this season, but we figured it would still be a fun experience, which it was. San Antonio won pretty handily, and one of their players even had a triple double. After the game we hailed and Uber and went back to the Hotel area for a few laps on the Riverwalk., and a nightcap at the Esquire Tavern, which supposedly housed the longest wooden bar-top in Texas.

The next morning we slept in before going out to for breakfast, except we discovered the weather was going to be very windy and roughly 5°C/42°F…not the warmth we had hoped for. Grabbing a coffee and breakfast sandwich from a nearby shop, we beat a hasty retreat back to the hotel to reassess our plans. Originally we had thought to explore The Riverwalk, but the temperature made that idea quite unreasonable. Our new plan had us visiting a local park, with a stop at a small aquarium to kick the adventure off. Grabbing the nearest pair of Bird scooters we headed off, zipping in and out of traffic. The aquarium was nice, but nothing too special, and we were through it in less then an hour. From there we walked to Hemisfair Park, taking pictures of the fountains and statues, but it was too cold to be outside for long. We hurried to the Tower of the Americas where we knew we would be inside and out of the cold and wind. The Tower is a 750-foot (229-meter) observation tower-restaurant and was built as the theme structure of the 1968 World's Fair. At the top we checked out the panoramic views of the city, which were pretty nice. For some reason I decided to poke my head outside to look over the edge, which I instantly regretted because the wind at the top of the tower was even worse than at ground level. Skipping the restaurant in the tower, we struck out toward the Riverwalk and found Irish coffees and Baileys Irish Cream Glazed doughnuts, which held us down until dinner.

Getting up the following morning it seemed the unusual cold from the previous day before was a one-off. With temperatures set to be 11°C/52°F, we started out walking to the historic Market Square for a breakfast. Coffee and pastries in hand, we meandered through the shops. From here we backtracked to the historical Spanish Governors Palace before continuing on to the historic San Fernando Cathedral where we saw the crypt of Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Travis, who were the leaders of the Alamo Garrison. With a brief stop at the hotel to drop off our jackets before heading to the Alamo, we spent the first half of the afternoon wandering the grounds and looking at the exhibits and artifacts. Pee Wee Herman bicycle jokes aside, the place and the history behind it are impressive. From here we grabbed an Uber to visit Mission Concepción, and Mission San José, which along with the Alamo, were part of a string of Spanish missions in the area. We closed out the day with some amazing steaks at the Saltgrass Steakhouse, before taking a few laps on the Riverwalk and calling it a night.

The second to last day we decided to take it easy and stay close to the hotel. The weather was sunny and around 15°C/60°F, so we bought tickets for the River Walk boat tour which took about 35-40 minutes. The guide pointed out historical sights and tourist hotspots, telling us facts and funny stories. One of the places was “Selena Bridge,” where a romantic scene from the movie Selena was filmed on an arched stone bridge, located between N. Saint Mary’s Street and Navarro Street. The rest of the day was spent on the Riverwalk, going into the shops, restaurants, and museums, including the Briscoe Western Art Museum, which had art and artifacts from the old American west . We had our fair share of margaritas and generally spent the day relaxing. We finished off the day with an awesome dinner at Casa Rio, where I had the Flauta Plate, followed up with a few more laps on the Riverwalk.

On our last day we got up early to walk along the San Antonio river to the King William Historic District to look at some of the houses. Now the “Riverwalk” most think of is limited to the tourist area, but the river itself is lined with a walkway that runs for miles. We walked on this section for about 25 minutes to the historic district and spent another 45 minutes wandering around looking at the houses. Grabbing a pair of Birds, we rode through the city to the Pearl District, which is the former site of a brewery that has been converted to an area full of shops, restaurants, bars, with spaces for outdoor music and farmers markets. The place was bustling with activity. We grabbed some martinis from one of the shops and wandered around before grabbing lunch from a kiosk and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the shade listening to music from one of the bands until we were ready to head back to the hotel to pack and get ready to head home.

Overall the adventure was fun and worthwhile, regardless of the length of our stay. It was especially nice to be able to be outside in the evening, without being cold, strolling along the Riverwalk, and with so many options to stop at for a drink or dinner. The experience left me wanting to see more of Texas, that’s for sure. At some point we will be back, but until then, our brief getaway will have to do.