Isaac had written a professional journal paper and would be presenting it at this conference in San Antonio. So we decided to make it into a vacation, arriving the weekend before. His sister and brother-in-law flew in for the conference as well, and together the four of us had a great time catching up and eating tasty food together.
I knew nothing about the city, but after our trip was a sure thing, I began asking friends and coworkers for recommendations. Again and again, I received two answers: the Alamo and the Riverwalk. In retrospect, they were two of the city's highlights, and definitely its two most distinctive features.
To my surprise, the Alamo is in the heart of the city, surrounded by tourist attractions like a wax museum and souvenir shops. There is a law that prevents any building from casting its shadow on the war memorial, which give the Alamo grounds a wonderful verdant park feeling different from anywhere else we visited in the city.
You're not allowed to take pictures within the building itself, but I think it is well worth a drop in. I walked through on a quiet morning - especially touching to me were the flags which lined the inner walls, each tagged with a number representing the victims of the Alamo and their home states or countries. From what I saw, Tennessee and then Kentucky had the largest number of people there, but I was surprised to see flags from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Scotland and England too.
Most of the city's landscaping featured arid plants like the cacti and palm trees above, so I was surprised to see mature stretching oaks shading the Alamo's gardens. I wish Isaac would have been with me, the park bench below is just begging for a happy couple to sit on it!
The Riverwalk is the San Antonio river with a series of canals built off of it. In some parts it provides scenic alternative through the business district and in others it lends a festive atmosphere to (and at times treacherously narrow walkways through) the restaurants and bars that squeeze up against it. Everywhere it provides depth and much needed green contrast to the surrounding city.
Over our handful of days there, we walked many miles along the calm waters, as it more or less cuts through much of the city and is a much more relaxing stroll than the streets.
I was excited to spy the USAA building perched along the edge of the river. After seeing San Antonio listed in the footers of so many of the bank's documents and websites, it made me happy to see the building in person. Isaac first spied USAA ATMs too, another first for us.The city has a pretty rich military history, being home to an air force base and to a medical training center for all branches as well. Sadly, I can't remember anymore than these fuzzy details from our taxi driver's informative introduction as we rode into the city.
Another highlight we found for ourselves was the Pearl district. An almost defunct brewery and its surrounding neighborhood have been revitalized and turned into millennial central (our cabbie's assessment, perfectly accurate).
We walked up the riverwalk for 45 minutes, stopping to eat lunch at The Luxury, an outdoor restaurant made up of train boxcars and tin roofing.
Then we emerged onto the streets of Pearl, our eyes greeted by astro turf littered with a menagerie of dogs, children and a couples' yoga class.
I'm joking a bit with my description (which is totally accurate but kind of snobby sounding). The area was much more inviting than the touristy parts of downtown San Antonio, with more interesting restaurants, independent shops and consumer friendly prices too.
Another favorite we happened to walk by after lunch one day was the San Fernando Cathedral.
It is one of the oldest active cathedrals in the U.S. and is beautifully situated on the calmer side of the San Antonio river. It's here that the Alamo heroes were laid to rest with this beautiful and simple memorial.
I want to share just a few more favorites from our trip:
Seeing Isaac's name in the conference booklet (halfway down the page, T40.7).
Observing grackles. These birds are about the size of a crow, but can make a broader range of sounds like a mockingbird. They are clever and rude and very entertaining to watch.
A bakery called La Panaderia serving European style pastries but with a uniquely Spanish style dough which they long-culture for 48 hours. You walk through with a tray and tongs picking your own breads just like so many Asian bakeries, but the atmosphere is much more modern and warm.
This fun cocktail Isaac tried - a prickly pear cactus margarita.
The charming small Italian restaurant where we ate dinner the night before I flew back to Louisville. It was delightfully fancy (our waiter had an accent, there was a tray of fruit slices for our water, a rolling cart carried an entire wheel of parmesan cheese, anchovies were mixed in with the olive oil) and the meal was slow paced and perfect.
The restaurant is within the historic Fairmount Hotel which is over 100 years old. It was actually moved several blocks down the street after the Marriott bought it and and wanted to build a high rise hotel on its land (where we happened to stay for the conference's duration).
The weather was wonderfully warm while we were there, a welcomed break from our many snowy and icy days back home. It rained a bit, but for the most part was in the upper 60s and sunny. I still had to tote around sweaters though, in part because of a cool breeze, but mostly because Texans love to blast cold air conditioning!
Below is our hotel view looking west over the city. We had a wonderful time catching up with family, exploring a new city and just getting out of our end-of-winter working rut. I remember sitting on our bed looking out the tall windows at the cityscape, trying to enjoy the view but already thinking ahead to our next countdown back home. That one will have to wait for next month's blog!
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