Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 9/24/2006 2:12:01 PM
What a wonderful, enchanted land San Antonio is! History so rich it seems to cry out in every building, with lush landscaping and an atmosphere that defines a city quite like no other.
San Antonio has to be, along with Las Vegas and New York, one of the easiest cities to vacation. It's pedestrian-friendly, very easy to get around, and many of the city's attractions are within walking distance of one another. We stayed at the Hyatt, which is right on the Riverwalk, and thanks to my Hyatt Gold Passport, I was given a room with a beautiful Riverwalk view!
The Riverwalk is fantastic. It sits below street level and meanders its way through a large section of downtown. There are countless restaurants, one right after another, with colorful umbrellas and tableseating right along the river's edge. Big tourist boats float up and down the river with guides pointing out some of the Riverwalk's most important features. The spanish architecture can only be described as stunning, with wonderful use of textures and color, enormous, elaborate tile mosaics, stonearch footbridges that provide a romantic backdrop for picture takers as well as access across the river, and wonderful, lush landscaping that seems to envelope you in this distinctly Tex-Mex-influenced area.
Sara and I immediately headed for Boudros, one of the Riverwalk's best restaurants, where we were seated at a riverside table and enjoyed the best guacamole I have ever tasted, freshly prepared tableside right in front of us! We also had a prickly pear cactus margarita, which is a beautiful magenta color and incredibly tasty! So tasty, in fact, that we ordered two, along with a second round of guacamole. It was the perfect way to start our trip, and in less than an hour I was completely immersed in the San Antonio experience.
We ate at a number of different restaurants during the 4 days we were there. My favorite was Rio Rio Cantina, where I had a horni presidente margarita, without a doubt the best margarita I have ever had. They also had the best salsa of any place we dined, and of course their food was terrific. We also enjoyed breakfast at Zuni Grill, which was so good we ended up going back everyday. There is nothing better than having your breakfast outdoors, and for me there is nothing better than breakfast tacos, which I had everyday. On Sunday we had their brunch which included migas - a combination of scrambled eggs, melted mexican cheese, onions, salsa, green chiles, and crumbled tortilla chips cooked with the eggs until it becomes just slightly soft and develops a sheen from the eggs. Put on a homemade tortilla and eaten like a taco, it was pure Tex-Mex heaven. Served with freshly squeezed orange and mango juice and I had found my own culinary paradise.
Toward the end of our first night we took a boat ride through the Riverwalk. We got the last boat of the night and I'm so glad we did. There were only 10 people on the boat, which allowed plenty of room to stretch out and look around with knocking knees with anybody. The lights along the Riverwalk, the aroma from all the open air restaurants, the beautiful scenery and history... what a wonderful way to end our first night.
Our trip to the Alamo was more than I expected on a historical level but less than I expected on an emotional level. It is one of those places that doesn't have any significant meaning unless you go there and actually learn from the artifacts and all information available. It requires you to actually take an interest, not just rush through the place like some kid wanting to get back to the hotel pool. I felt very sorry for one man who was very obviously into the experience, and the only thing his nag of a wife could care about was getting him out of there as quickly as possible so they could go eat at Taco Bell. Taco Bell! In San Antonio! People like that should just stay at home!
I loved Sea World! I think the Orlando Sea World is a more beautiful park, but the San Antonio vers
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