Our original plan was to stay in Galveston until Monday and then head to San Antonio for two days before heading home. Well things didn’t quite turn out that way. We left Galveston Monday morning after a nice swim and headed toward San Antonio. The 4 hour drive went by quickly and we arrived around 2 in the afternoon. After checking into our hotel we decided to go check out the River Walk area. We opted to drive although it was technically close enough to walk. Boy am I glad. Only then did I start to realize the SWELTERING heat. Now I am from Arkansas and I never expected it NOT to be hot in Texas, mid July. But this was unreal! A quick check of the car thermometer indicated that the temperature was 112 and rising! Well I am much tougher than I was eight years ago when I first moved south so we decided to tough it. We found a parking spot and went to explore the River Walk which was amazing and almost indescribable.
The River Walk is this amazing little “city” under the city. The river which curved under the streets was lined with restaurants and shops and was a little reminiscent of European city life. We took a tour of the river on one of the little boats. Several restaurants launch dinner boats during the evening hours as well.
After the 30 minute boat ride concluded we went back up to the main street level and planned to go to the Alamo. We got back in our car to drive the 6 or so blocks to the Alamo. Boy was I ever disappointed! I know the Alamo was really important in Texas and American history but the way they have preserved this “monument” is really sad.
In the movies, the Alamo is always in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by covered wagons, soldiers and seemingly endless fields and desert such as in this picture of a MOVIE SET from a film that featured the Alamo.
In this image, taken from http://www.xanga.com/alecknightman you can see that the Alamo is quite literally smack dab in the middle of the City!
Here is an overhead view. The Alamo is in the Center. (photo source unknown)
And here you can see what is directly beside the Alamo. A hotel and A DILLARDS!!!????! WHAT?!??!? That just leaves a little something to be desired.
I don’t know, maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the frustration of knowing my vacation was soon ending but I was left feeling really jaded. We decided NOT to go through the Alamo. Instead we haded over to Market Square where we ate at a really delicious Mexican restaurant called Mi Tierra Cafe that was recommended by a friend back home. The Frozen Margarita was fabulous as was the Enchiladas Verdes de Pollo which was 2 chicken enchiladas topped with a green tomatilla sauce, Monterrey jack cheese and sour cream. Of course also served with beans and rice. YUM-O!
San Antonio is a great city just not in the sweltering heat of July. Given the opportunity to return during the early spring, the fall or even during the Christmas holiday I think it would be a wonderful place to visit. So the following morning we packed up our stuff and headed back to Galveston to finish our vacation knowing we would get exactly what we expected: sand in our hair, bellies full of briny water, sun-burned skin, and a great sense of pure relaxation.
