San Antonio is a beautiful city. It has dozens of historic buildings, a unique blend of Texan (and Mexican influenced) culture, a variety of cuisine, and a well maintained river walk that runs in a loop through the downtown. On our first day in San Antonio, we explored the Rivercenter Mall, and wandered down the Riverwalk.
Outdoor stage on the Riverwalk.
The photo above is of an outdoor stage along the Riverwalk. We heard that one of the scenes in Sandra Bullock's "Miss Congeniality" movie was filmed in this very location. Near the outdoor theater we explored the Villita, an artisan village just off the Riverwalk. There we looked at ceramics, stained glass, paintings and a variety of other artwork.
In the afternoon and evening we had our pick of dozens of restaurants, pubs and taverns along the river. Cheerful umbrellas and tables lined the riverbank, along with an assortment of river fowl such as ducks and pigeons. We had margaritas on the river where a ballsy duck pecked me in the foot while begging food from the patrons at the table next to us.
Flowers in bloom in January!
I don't think the weather could have been better. It was an average of 25 degrees, balmy and humid each day during our trip. Flowers were blooming all along the riverside.
On our second day in the city, we rented a car and drove to San Marcos to do some serious outlet shopping. Since we hadn't made a reservation, the rental place had two options-- a Dodge Caravan or a Mustang. We enthusiastically selected the Mustang, but eventually relented and took the Caravan. The van had a built in GPS system, while we would have had to rely on map navigation in the Mustang. Steve took to driving the Caravan like a Mustang though...
Ashley and Steve in front of the Caravan.
Ashley has a successful shopping adventure, while Steve and I bought a few piddly items. Consolation items, really.
Ashley to the rescue at the outlet mall.
From the mall we headed to the Natural Bridge Caverns-- an underground system of limestone caves. The entrance to the caves is at the mouth of a sinkhole where only a narrow natural bridge remains.
Natural bridge.
The cave is 21 degrees year round, but with almost 100% humidity. For about an hour, we tromped through the cave while the guide told us about the various limestone formations, and pointed out the most impressive stalagtite and stalagmites. This is the third cave I have been in with Ashley and Steve. The first was in Australia, but I have few memories from the cave, and therefore figure it must not have been very impressive. The second time was when we went on a full-on spelunking trip into the Rats Nest Caves in Alberta-- those were good times. The limestone formations in this set of caverns was much more impressive than either of the previous caves. It was definitely an interesting side trip.
Limestone formations.
Black beetle.
When we exited the cave, I spotted this beetle hanging out on the sidewalk. Ashley immediately got down to business and started poking it. With her finger. Personally, I think she was pretty brave (brave is code for CRAZY)-- check on the mandibles on this guy!
On our way back to the Caravan, we took full advantage of the cheesy dinosaur photo op to take a series of ridiculous pictures. I'll post them at a later time when I have procured them from Steve's camera... For now, I've only got the one below.
Ashley, Steve and I at the Natural Bridge Caverns.
To round off the day we hit a Target Superstore before heading back into the city to meet up with Tom, who was flying in from Houston where he had completed a course for work during the week.
Stay tuned for Part 2: Historical San Antonio!
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