Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips on the river walk area
I fly out of Tyler Friday am to Houston for a 2 hour lay over then on to San Antonio thru AFS for a conference til Sunday
they are putting us up at a hotel on the river walk and say they will give us time to explore too so I am looking for things close by to see and do or info on the restaurants there.
Any suggestions?
San Antonio River Walk area??
Be sure to check out the Spanish Governor's Palace it is very interesting.
Also the Japanese Tea Garden at Brackenridge Park, and of course the Alamo.
Josephine.
Stay in the areas where the people are and don't venture too far off the path. If you're only mode of transportation is by foot or taxi, it's too far to go to Brackenridge, but if you have a rental, Brackenridge is a great place to visit. Be sure to ride the kiddie train! So much fun even for an adult. If you ride the train, you can get off at the Witte Museum which is also fun. The zoo is right across from the train depot and Sunken Gardens. It's a wonderful zoo!
Near the Alamo and the Riverwalk, be sure to visit the Wax Museum and the Circus Museum. The tree should be up in Alamo Plaza. That's always a fun thing to see. Also, walk around the Gunther Hotel, an historic hotel right next to the Alamo. On the Riverwalk, take the boat ride to see a lot of the Riverwalk area. You can also go up the Tower of the Americas and wander through Hemisphere Plaza. There's also La Villita, a great little "village" of shops. Be sure to ride the trolly to downtown and visit El Mercado and eat at Mi Tierra if you have time. El Mercado is like an open air Mexican market and has lots of great little shops.
I'm not a fan of most of the restaurants on the Riverwalk. IMHO, they're overpriced. LOL
It depends on what you like. There's plenty in walking distance to do, especially this time of year with the holidays (although usually it's sort of more balmy for being outside).
There's a nearby neighborhood, King William Historic District, that is interesting in a different sort of way from the spanish/mexican influenced downtown. Lots of 100-year-old-ish restored homes, many with lovely yards and christmas decorations.
I think the mission aqueduct system is interesting, but since you're from a part of Texas where it rains regularly, maybe that wouldn't be as amazing. A couple of the missions have small projects going for native plant landscaping or demos of what vegetation would have been typical when they were active, but I don't think any of that is far enough along to be worth all that much of a side trip. The bookstore at Mission San Jose does have some good resources on native plants and ecosystems, as well as some pretty calendars and postcards and such.
Have fun! It's all good...
Um...don't know how comfortable you'd be outdoors for extended periods of time. Check this:
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=San+Antonio&state=TX&site=EWX&textField1=29.4577&textField2=-98.5054&e=1
This message was edited Dec 3, 2009 12:24 PM
When you're tired of Mexican food, go to Shilo's Deli, 424 E Commerce St.
Good food in a great atmosphere! Do hope you have a break in the weather.
thanks all I don't know how much free time we will have but I do know they are giving us money for lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday
I sure wish the parking fees at Houston international airport weren't so high I would say I could visit with someone on my 2 hour lay over there today ...get in around 11:30 and leave at 1 for San Antonio
Were you even able to fly out of Houston? Who would have thought that would be the area that got all the snow!
Well I made it...I didn't fly to Houston as at 10 they told us the flight was canceled ....the pilot that just came from there didn't even know til he walked in the door ...LOL so I got a flight to Dallas then to San A
some of the people with AFS were stuck in Houston on the plane for SA ? for 5 hours
so a number of us got in late
3 otehr gals and I walked the river walk some last night after our meetings got done and went to the Alamo then stopped and ate supper.
WOW what a display of lights ....was great to see and so nice to be outside even in the cool air after being in meetings all day.
If anyone is interested in being a host family or liaison for AFS exchange students please holler I have names and email addies to people all over the US to connect ya to and if ya do it there is a tax deduction for it as a volunteer
plus the enjoyment of making a bond wtih kids form all over the world that will last a life time.
I made it home as planned but my bag is not here so hopefully they will call me when the last plane comes in at 10:30 and say it is here so I can run get it ...lucky the Tyler airport is only 5 min away from home.
That is why I now take the train. No waiting, no arguing about whether I'm reading the map correctly or not, no getting stuck in airports. The feed us and we have a place to sleep. I'm glad you finally made it.
Lisa