2023 Texas Adventure – San Antonio

Part Three of my blogs focused on my recent Texas Adventure will share my stories and photos of San Antonio.

On the fourth day of my Texas Adventure – Thursday, April 20th – I got up, had a nice breakfast, and left Galveston behind. I headed out about 7:30 am on the approximately 4 hour drive to San Antonio. It was a long and tiring drive, but I made it fairly easily with one pit-stop break and one gas refill break.

I had booked a 48 hour Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour and River Walk boat tour combo, so I drove straight there…..or, tried to, that is….I easily got to the general area, but couldn’t figure out where to park. I found a place to pull over and call the tour company to ask what I should do. The girl was very helpful and told me I could park in one of the public lots for about $25-30 a day or park in a metered spot for about $6.00 per day. Well, duh – I chose the metered parking, but when I pulled into a spot and went to pay for the parking, it had a two hour limit! I knew that wasn’t going to be long enough to do the boat ride through the River Walk and at least one round on the Hop-On-Hop-Off….let alone any spots I might want to hop off or do any wandering around after. By then, I was tired from the long drive and frustrated by all the driving around looking for a way to park. So, I went to the hotel to check in, freshen up, and get my second wind.

My San Antonio hotel was the LaQuinta at the airport. It was my least favorite of the three hotels I stayed at during this adventure. Don’t get me wrong – it was a very nice hotel and given the right circumstances, I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again. It just wasn’t my favorite – the location wasn’t ideal, although, it was just a couple minutes from the airport, it was a good 15 or so minutes from downtown. Also, the bed and pillows were a bit hard and lumpy – I slept well, but the other hotels had VERY comfortable beds and pillows. The breakfast looked amazing with one important exception — I’m not a typical breakfast eater — I usually just want a bagel or biscuit and a piece of fruit to hold me through the morning and early afternoon. While the eggs, waffles, etc. did look really good, it wasn’t what I was interested in and they didn’t have ANY bagels or biscuits and only plain white bread for toast – they did have bananas, though! The other two hotels had exactly what I wanted!

I got settled in and caught my breath. I called the girl at the tour company, again, and she gave me a GPS address that would get me to the $6.00 per day parking spots. Now that I was no longer tired and frustrated, I drove right to the spot, parked, and it only cost me $1.50 because it was a partial day by that time. Score! I walked a couple blocks to the tour place, got checked in, and waited for the next bus.

The weather was amazing and the seats on the top of the open top double decker bus were a perfect way to see downtown San Antonio. I got off at the River Walk stop to take the boat ride…..

The San Antonio River Walk is so beautiful — lots of great things to see and do all along the river. I am glad I included the boat ride with the Hop-On-Hop-Off tour – it allowed me to see the entire River Walk from a 30 minute boat ride without having to walk the whole way. I did a bit of exploring off the boat, but I would have missed parts of it if I had to walk the whole way.

The River Walk is a city park with two sidewalks that stretch and wind along the San Antonio River. The park is one level below street level and is lined with shops, restaurants, and other attractions.

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Our tour guide was funny and very knowledgeable – had some interesting stories!

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In the distance is the Tower of the Americas – a 750 foot observation tower and restaurant in downtown San Antonio.

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Some of the bridges the boat passed under were too short for our tour guide to fit under — he had to duck to avoid getting whacked in the head and knocked off the boat! He made a big deal of it whenever we came upon one of the low clearance ones! hahaha

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The Five Bells – representing the five missions of Texas, including the Alamo, which is located near the River Walk.

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We saw a private tour of Red Hat Ladies getting on their boat — bet they had fun!

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When the boat ride ended, I spent a little time on the River Walk and then returned to the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus to finish the loop. The following photos were from the bus before and after the stop I took for the boat ride:

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The River Walk from street level

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“Homeless Jesus” (also known as “Jesus The Homeless”) is a very powerful sculpture by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz. It shows a figure asleep on a park bench – the figure is fully cloaked except for his bare feet with visible nail holes. It is described as a visual translation of Matthew 25:40 “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”

There are over 100 casts of the sculpture around the world. The original is in Toronto, Canada. The one pictured here is in San Antonio, TX. I first saw it in Dublin, Ireland.

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After I finished the bus loop, I strolled around the area around the tour place. I stopped for a bottle of water and rest a bit and saw a FABULOUS t-shirt in the window of a shop. I HAD TO HAVE IT!!! So, I went in and asked the clerk and we found it and I bought it! I can’t wait to wear it with pride…..the four legends!!!

Ain’t it great????

So, my first day in San Antonio was quite full…..long drive, frustration, relaxing beauty, lots of sights to see…..and I was finally ready to wind down and crawl into bed!!! But…..I had eaten anything since my breakfast in Galveston!!! What to eat….where to eat??? I was really beat, so wasn’t interested in researching a good place to eat and didn’t want to go somewhere that I’d have to find and then take time for a big meal….and I was surprisingly not all that hungry!!! I decided that there must be someplace near the hotel – it was at the airport, so it seemed like a safe bet. I got there and noticed a What-A-Burger right next door! Hhhmmm – never ate at one of those before – we don’t have them around here! I usually have a strict policy against fast food joints when I travel…..and no national chains, if at all possible – I prefer to find local places that boast local cuisine. But – I was ready to call it a day and I had heard great things about What-A-Burger, so decided to give it a try!

It was “OK”…..nothing to write home about (although it appears I AM writing home about it)! The sweet tea was disappointing and the burger was “fine” – kinda blah….onion rings were good! Bottom line — I only ate about 1/2 of it, if that much, and I would never go to another What-A-Burger, but it was enough to say I did eat something and that’s good.

Next up — a separate blog post on The Alamo — I had tickets to go there the next morning and was really looking forward to it — it did not disappoint!!! Watch for that post coming soon!