This past weekend, Jon and I took a mini vacation to San Antonio, Texas. It was our first time away from Abby for that long and the first time we ever visited Texas. We headed out Thursday morning and after a LONG (3.5 hour) layover in Minneapolis, we arrived in San Antonio around 5pm. We got cleaned up and headed out onto the River Walk. Our hotel, the Drury Plaza Hotel, was right on the River Walk. We could head out the back door and get to restaurants and shops after a short walk. Thursday night we ate Mexican fare at Rita’s on the River. We had good food, a beautiful view, and romance!! Jon had a mariachi band play a romantic tune at our table. It was perfect. We (I more than Jon) also enjoyed the three free drinks at our hotel every evening.
Friday morning we got up and headed out in the direction of the Alamo. We walked the River Walk there but got there before the Alamo opened so we went to the nearby Rivercenter Mall and watched the IMAX movie about the Alamo. It was ok. When it was done, we walked over to the Alamo and checked it out. It was pretty cool. We spent some time walking the grounds and watching the video created by the History Channel. After we left the Alamo, we walked part of a walking tour I had found on Frommer’s that included the Alamo, the Menger Hotel, Dillard’s, and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Around lunchtime we ended up at La Villita, a former Coahuiltecan Indian village turned craft and art shopping area. There was some beautiful art and it was a unique little area. We stopped for lunch at the Guadalajara Grill and had some more good food. We sat out on the patio in the warm sun. Ahhh!
After stuffing ourselves, we continued our walking tour to HemisFair Park and visited the Tower of the Americas. It’s a 750 ft. tall tower which gives you a view of the whole city. Jon didn’t seem to like the observation deck…a little to high and windy for him. We also went on a 4D ride that highlighted the interesting areas of Texas. When we were done there, we walked back on the River Walk to our hotel. We were exhausted and stuffed so we opted for no dinner and had a snack of chips and cheese (free from the hotel) and our three free drinks in our room and fell asleep by 8pm. Ahhh, the joys of vacation!!
Saturday, we got up and had our full breakfast at the hotel (free again!) and headed out the mall. To the frustration of Jon, I did a little shopping for myself and for Christmas. We ended up eating lunch at a restaurant in the mall where we had good steak but bad service. After filling our bellies, we walked back to the hotel to drop my loot and headed cross town in the misty rain to Market Square. Market Square has lots of little Mexican shops and street vendors selling gorditas and margaritas. We browsed the shops but didn’t see a lot we liked. Instead of dinner, we sat down for a Mexican dessert at Mi Tierra, a Mexican restaurant and bakery. I had Mexican Fried Ice Cream and Jon had Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. Yummy! On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for some last minute souvenirs, then it was back to our room to rest our little feet. That night it was early to bed as well because we had to be up by 3:30am.
Our flights home went well but we had some turbulence on the first flight along with some nearby lightning and we almost missed our second flight due to the short layover time and an unexpected change of airlines for our one flight. Needless to say, we made it home in one piece and are glad to be back. It was nice to spend some time away and see new things but we missed our Abigail so much! Grandma Wagner and Grandma and Grandpa Hughes did such a good job taking care of her that I doubt she missed us as much as we missed her. And although there is laundry to do and the house to clean, it’s good to be home!!
