Let me preface this blog entry by wishing Lauren Sos a very happy birthday. Happy birthday, Lolo! Hope to see you online again soon! Also, congrats to Steve and Shannon Mackey- the ultrasound on his site shows a strapping young lad, who will no-doubt be out on the field haulin' hay in a matter of years!
My first day in San Antonio was pretty laid-back. I was up around 10 and knew that this was my day to knock out week 2 of my class. I checked out of the hotel and sat in the parking lot, working on my paper and getting that uploaded for the team to digest during the day. With everything done around noon, it was time to explore. I parked at the RiverCity mall parking lot and got out to stroll around, with no particular plans. This would be a laid-back day.
I strolled down to the Riverwalk to see what that was all about, and did quite a bit of window shopping. I must have walked 4 or 5 miles in total before walking to the IMAX theater to watch a movie about the Alamo battle (to get another primer before visiting the building). I then went back to my car and used a free wi-fi connection to Priceline myself a sweet deal at a hotel. Instead of the typical $240/night charge, I was in at $79. How sweet is that!? The place was old-school, part of that historic rennovation of the city of San Antonio all those years ago. I checked in, dumped my stuff off, and got some food at Rita's, a Mexican place well known for their Margaritas. I sat right on the Riverfront, which had some excellent scenery. The margaritas were awesome.
Still buzzing from the Margaritas, I went back up to my room to sleep it off. (rough life.) When I woke up, it was homework time again, so I called Tuesday pretty much a waste of a day. It didn't matter. I didn't have a schedule here...this was my day to chill, and I had the room for 2 nights. I called it a night early and hit the sack.
On Wednesday, I was up at 9 and walking around the city. I had left my car in an overnight garage, so I wasn't too worried about it. I picked up some food for the road and stowed it away in the car on my way to the city. First stop was the Riverfront mall to do more shopping. I then walked to the Tower of the Americas to see what the city looked like from 770 feet. This tower is the 2nd biggest in the USA, second to the Stratosphere in Vegas and preceeding Seattle's famous space needle. The view was great, despite the crappy weather.
Once I was done with that, I was walking along the street and saw a boat tour of the Riverwalk below me...I pointed at the driver and he motioned the "yea, come on down!" gesture, so I came down and hopped on the boat. The tour driver barraged us with lame jokes as we navigated the city. The views were terrific and I got some really nice shots of the city from the boat. The tour was great. Make this your first thing ever if you come to visit San Antonio. The tour introduced us to Casa Rio, the oldest Mexican place on the water. That was my next stop.
The food there was delicious. I had some more margaritas and the salsa there was oh-so-hot. Yum. Salt makes spicy things spicier, didja know? I never made that connection. Salt is a flavor enhancer, I knew...but it didn't occur to me that it would enhance spice. Duh.
After lunch, I continued walking to the Alamo and went to take that tour. It was a smaller tour than I expected, but I guess it was cool. The history was more impressive when I was staring at the outer walls the day prior. The walk didn't take too long. I headed to the theater to watch Hitch- a great movie that I guess technically is a chick-flick...it was great. Check it out.
When I was done with the movie, I walked down to the Riverwalk to see the sights at night. The sights at night on the Riverwalk are awesome. I was still too full from lunch to have dinner down there on the water, so I made my way back to the hotel to check on our group paper.
