Deep in the Heart of Texas: Exploring San Antonio
I love to travel, and I love that even though my kids are adults, we still take family trips. But the ones that I enjoy the most, are where I get to spend time with them one on one. Once they grow up you just don’t get that time with them anymore as you’re both immersed in your own lives but travelling is the perfect way to make sure that happens.
In January my middle daughter Brynna was about to return to college for her last semester of grad school, so we decided that we’d take advantage of Spirit Airline’s cheap flights and take a trip, just the two of us. Because we only had a weekend, we wanted a direct flight within 3 hours of West Palm Beach, and one that left on Thursday after work and returned on Sunday afternoon. There were only two destinations that fit the bill – San Antonio and Atlantic City. I’d never been to either, but San Antonio sounded more appealing in January so off to Texas we went.
Because I’m a Spirit Gold member I get a free checked bag as well as a carryon, free seat selection, free wi-fi, free snacks and priority boarding. I let her use the carryon while I used the checked bag and then we waited to see where her seat was assigned so we could move my seat to be next to hers. All we had to do was pay for the basic flight which at Spirit was a whopping $56 round trip.
For the hotel I used the American Airlines Hotel Portal to try and find an affordable hotel near the Riverwalk. I have Platinum Pro status with AA and one of the easiest ways to do that each year is to book hotels through their portal to gain thousands of extra loyalty points per stay. You do have to be careful though and check to see what the price is directly at the hotel because sometimes the cost is much higher on the AA portal making the points not worth it.
We settled on the Riverwalk Plaza Hotel which put us within walking distance of all the major attractions. You could tell the hotel was a bit older, but it was clean and comfortable and in a great location. The weather was absolutely beautiful, between 40-60F which for these Florida girls was a nice change. It seemed to be a bit much for San Antonio though as everyone we met kept talking about how it never got that cold. We arrived in San Antonio at about 8:00 p.m. and decided to go to Holey Moley for dinner. This is an eclectic mini-golf restaurant where all the holes are themed. On one you had to hit the ball into a spinning record, on another you had to walk through a wind tunnel filled with fake cash, and on another you had to putt through a jail cell. The whole set up was cute and the food was fun bar food. We had pretzel bites served in a wire shopping cart, street corn on a plate and drinks served in plastic green solo cups. They had an Aperol spritz served in a mini bathtub with a rubber duck floating inside, and a vodka and sweet tea served in a cowboy hat. It was a fun way to spend the evening.
We walked back to the hotel via the Riverwalk and were excited to find that even though it was the second week of January, they had not yet taken down all the Christmas lights hanging from the trees which made for a beautiful setting. Looking at all the Christmas themed events we just missed by traveling in January made us decide this might be a nice place to visit before Christmas one year.
The following day we went to Chicken N Pickle for lunch. This is a sports complex owned by Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes where you can rent an indoor or outdoor pickleball court by the hour and then eat at their on-site restaurant. We rented an indoor court which was fortunate as it was VERY windy that day and after an hour of getting my ass thrown across the court by my much younger daughter, we went inside for lunch. (I may have won a game or two, but it was hard earned lol). The food was good, I went for the Chicken N Waffles with Honey Butter and Bacon Bourbon Maple Syrup while Brynna went for a Pickled Chicken with Grilled Chicken, Pickled Slaw, Bacon, Avocado and Jack Cheese.
Next, we visited Historic Market Square which is an area filled with stores and shops with the flavors of Old Mexico. On weekends they even have live entertainment. We bought some throw pillows and blankets for my Mexican themed bedroom. After we had our fill of shopping, we visited the Centro de Artes Gallery which focuses on showcasing San Antonio and South Texas artists and offers free admission.
That evening we traveled past the Love Lock bridge where lovers attach locks with their names written on them in the hopes of everlasting love on our way to Main Plaza and the San Fernando Cathedral. Every Tuesday through Sunday at both 9PM and 9:30PM the Saga, a free to the public video art projection is shown on the front of the church and shares the story of the land, water, people, battles and development of San Antonio. The show is 24 minutes long and it covers 7,000 square feet of light color and narration. The whole image is pretty cool. I can imagine though if you spent a day on the Riverwalk drinking and walked past this it might freak you out a little lol!
Saturday was our walking day, and the day we planned to walk along the Riverwalk. The San Antonio Riverwalk is about 15 miles in its entirety, so we planned to walk a four-mile portion of it that encompassed the most famous parts. We took an Uber to our starting point at Swig because it was on Brynna’s bucket list to try their “dirty sodas”. Swig has customizable sodas, refreshers and energy drinks where you choose what to add. They have some suggestions, like Texas Tab, which is Dr. Pepper, vanilla and coconut cream, or a Shark Attack which is Sprite, lemonade, and blue raspberry topped with a gummy shark. Or you can create your own which is what she did. Brynna’s creation included Dr. Pepper, Vanilla, Raspberry and Lime which she dubbed delicious.
From Swig we walked over to the Japanese Tea Garden. The Tea Garden was built on an abandoned limestone quarry and has a year-round floral display, stone walkways and bridges as well as a 60-ft waterfall and ponds filled with koi. It’s a great place to wander and reflect.
Next, we went to the Pearl Market, a nice little outdoor area with shops and restaurants. On the weekends they have live entertainment and a big green where folks can sit out and people watch. Saturday there is a market nearby where you can get all kinds of food and crafts.
For lunch we went to Elsewhere, an eclectic outdoor restaurant with swings and tables overlooking the Riverwalk. When we went, they still had their Christmas decorations up and Brynna was ecstatic over all the Grinch themed décor. Brynna ordered the Grilled Chimichurri Chicken with provolone, arugula, house made chimichurri and house made garlic aioli, while I had the PB&J burger with strawberry preserves, peanut butter, cheddar cheese and bacon. Yum!
Then we walked on the Riverwalk all the way back to the main restaurant and shopping area stopping to look at the art installations along the way. GoRio has boat rides that go up and down the Riverwalk for those who don’t want to walk. They can have different themes throughout the year. At Christmas for example, the boats are decked out in Christmas lights and they have warm blankets, hot chocolate and Christmas Music.
On our final morning, we took a Mural e-Bike Tour with SanAntonio Mural Ride. We were the only two on the tour and our tour guide stopped to talk about all the different local artists and their installations. One that really resonated me was a mural that had pictures of black men in San Antonio, and each had a QR code where you could click on it to hear their stories. It was pretty powerful. The tour was a great way to get an overview of the areas that were further away from the Riverwalk. The eBikes don’t require a ton of effort, so even if you’re a little out of shape like me, you’ll be fine.
After the ride we walked over to the Alamo. It’s so funny because you think of this famous building that you’ve seen pictures of your entire life and it’s steeped in history – but it’s right in the middle of downtown on a smallish piece of property. There is free entry to the church itself, you can reserve that ahead of time on the alamo site, or if it’s not busy you can get them at the booth out front like we did. They also have options for a self-guided tour for $20 and a guided tour for $48 (as of 2025). These tours let you visit the grounds and the museum as well.
For lunch we visited Dough Pizzeria Napoletana which had delicious pizzas. We ended up splitting a San Marzano with tomato sauce, house-made fior di latte mozzarella, artisan pepperoni, Sicilian oregano and Locatelli pecorino romano.
Our last stop before heading to the airport was Hopscotch, an immersive art museum in downtown San Antonio. They had some really cool exhibits, but fair warning I tend to do these when I’m traveling with the kids because they’re fun and they look good on the ‘gram. One of my favorites was a phone booth, where you were encouraged to go in and release yourself from one of your secrets. Then you went to a bank of phones on the wall and could hear secrets from people who had left theirs a month earlier. One of mine was very upset that she stole gruyere cheese from the grocery store lol! (To be fair that stuff is so expensive I can see the thought crossing someone’s mind 😉)
One thing we didn’t see that was on my list was the bats – apparently under the I-35 bridge in San Antonio is home to a colony of 50,000 male Mexican free-tailed bats who roost here during the summer months. Every night from April to October at sunset the bats emerge in mass to go out on their hunt. Kinda creepy, kinda cool, still want to see it lol!
It was a quick visit, but as always, an adventure and memories of spending time with my kid that I’ll treasure forever.
