Houston to San Antonio
Texas really is a big place !
Along the interstates, all the exits are marked by the mileage from border to border. So, for example, exit 5 would be 5 miles from the border, starting from the west. As we are travelling east to west, the first exits we get to are basically the length of that interstate from border to border. From memory, Alabama’s first exit we came to when we entered the state was about exit 115 – so 115 miles from border to border. When we got to Mississippi it was about exit 230. The first one in Texas was exit 880 !
San Antonio river walk
We got the wet weather they were predicting today. We left Houston in pouring rain and the rain was stop start for most of the way to San Antonio.
The map today is not actually correct as the original plan was to head up to the state capital, Austin, however with the rain we got to La Grange (as in the ZZ Top song) then headed back down to the interstate. We then thought we might try to head into the hills in the region above San Antonio – the landscape for our trip so far has been as flat as a tack really – but when the next down pour came we decided we wouldn’t see anything anyway so just went on to San Antonio.
Bridge over the river walk
Arrived about lunchtime and our room was ready so after checking in we decided to head to the Riverwalk Mall – at least that would be out of the rain. Liam has been desperate to try “Whataburger”, a mainly Texas burger chain he had been told were “the best burgers ever”. So we tracked one down and had a Whataburger for lunch. Liam was suitably impressed with his burger but I would have to say as burgers go it was more “So What ? – a Burger”.
Outdoor theater on the river walk
As we finished lunch there were glimpses of blue sky and we headed down to the “River Walk”. The San Antonio river meanders through the town and in the center of town they have created a loop of the river with a walk along it on both sides. The canal actually ends up in the Riverwalk Mall.
A lot of the big hotels back onto the walk and there are a lot of restaurants and cafes in sections as well.
Restaurants on the waters edge
It is very picturesque and with the trees overhanging it drops the temperature from the streets above by quite a bit making it very pleasant in the hot weather. The rain was continuing to hold off and a bit more blue sky appeared so we headed to the main attraction in San Antonio – the site of the Battle of the Alamo – where frontier legends Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett went down fighting off the Mexican Army.
The Alamo
The Alamo site is quite a big area and not just the little building you see in photos (like below). This building is where the “last stand” took place and the few women and children that survived took refuge.
The original area they were defending was a large rectangular area with outer buildings and walls and some of these are still in tact. The building in the picture is going through quite an extensive restoration process. At the back of the building is a large garden area which is beautifully maintained.
There was still a fair bit of cloud around but the afternoon turned out quite pleasant – still hot – and we managed to get through with no rain. About 4pm we headed back along the river walk and then to our hotel to put our feet up for a while.
Boats on the river at night
For dinner we went back down to the river walk to find somewhere to eat. It was a popular place and there were lots of people around. We settled on a restaurant called La Paloma and had a pleasant meal looking out onto the walk and people watching. We even had “3 Amigos” moving through the tables at various restaurants serenading the patrons (for tips of course !).
Whether it had been the rain during the day or maybe it is just a night thing but there were now boats making their way up and down the river – some doing tours and others set up with tables and chairs for dinner.
After a browse through the shops, we headed back to our hotel for the evening.
We are watching the Weather Channel and the weather forecast is a bit better for tomorrow so we are looking hopefully at a fine day. It is a “harvest moon” tonight and being out in the expanses of the national park clear night skies would be a sight ! Being out in the “wild west” I’m not sure how our internet access will be so there could be a delay with my Big Bend NP post but stay tuned ……..