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SAN ANTONIO |
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San
Antonio is the most visited city in Texas, with around 26 million tourists a
year. Which is easy to believe due to there being many attractions in San
Antonio, including Spanish missions, the famed San Antonio River Walk, SeaWorld
San Antonio, Six Flags
Fiesta Texas and, of course, the Alamo. San Antonio is the 2nd largest city in Texas and the 7th largest in the United States, with a population, at last count, of 1,336,040. In 1718 there was an Indian village at the southern edge of Texas Hill Country. At that location Spaniards decided to build Mission San Antonio de Valero, later to be named the Alamo. To protect the mission the Spaniards built a presidio (that's Spanish for fort) called San Antonio de Bexar. So, now you know how San Antonio and the county is sits in, Bexar County, got their names. |
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Most Texans would likely agree that the Alamo is the most famous location in
Texas. The chapel and the Long Barrack are all that remain of the original fort.
Even so, that chapel is one of the most photographed images in the world. The
Alamo is now a museum, open daily except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The River Walk has become San Antonio's other iconic image. The Spanish name for the River Walk is Paseo del Rio. The river is below the street level, lined with hotels, galleries, restaurants, gift shops, cafes, boutiques and a lot of music. You can pay a fee and take a riverboat cruise. |
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Map of San Antonio
Area & Additional San Antonio Information |
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There are more than 3,500 animals in the San Antonio Zoo. An 18 minute miniature train ride winds through Brackenbridge Park. The zoo is open all year long, no closures. There is an admission fee. SeaWorld San Antonio is the world's largest marine life park.
World
famous Shamu, a killer whale Orca, taken from Puget Sound in the state of
Washington, in a practice no longer allowed, stars in a production called
"Believe." SeaWorld is open weekends and some weekdays in spring,
daily during summer, weekends in fall through Thanksgiving weekend. Go to the SeaWorld
website for precise times and admission fees. |
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San Antonio Missions San Antonio is home to Five
Spanish Missions. Mission San Jose
is known as the "Queen of the Missions." This mission compound's size
is what made it the "Queen," serving as a major social center. Mission
Espada was the oldest of the original East Texas missions, founded in
1690, it also was moved to the San Antonio River in 1731. This mission is the
furthest south from urban San Antonio. |
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San Antonio Museums San Antonio has many museums. There is Buckhorn Saloon & Museum, the Alamo Museum, McNay Art Museum, Pioneer, Trail Drivers and Texas Rangers Memorial Museum, San Antonio Museum of Art, the Children's Museum, Texas Transportation Museum and Witte Museum with its four-level H-E-B Science Treehouse. Directly across from the Alamo you'll find Guinness World Records Museum & Ripley's Haunted Adventure. The Guinness Museum is a high tech interactive experience. Ripley's Haunted Adventure scares you with live actors, animatronics and creepy special effects. Both attractions are open daily except for Christmas. |
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San Antonio Events & Festivals A
few weeks before the arrival of Spring, Remember the Alamo Weekend is held
the first weekend of March. A sunrise ceremony honors the Texans who died at the
Alamo. The St. Patrick's Day River Dyeing Parade and Pub Crawl is also in March,
when San Antonio celebrates the Irish by dyeing the San Antonio River green,
with a pub crawl, river parade and Irish dance and music. In April the biggest
event of the year takes place, Fiesta
San Antonio, a 10-day event attracting 3.5 million attendees. |
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Where to Stay in San Antonio If going on a "cheap" vacation is your modus operandi, stretching your vacation dollars as far as possible, San Antonio has many nice, yet "cheap" lodging motel options well under $100 a night, such as Hyatt Place, Days Inn Seaworld, Super 8, Best Western, La Quinta, Alamo/River Walk Days Inn, Howard Johnson Express Inn, Howard Johnson Inn & Suites Seaworld, Rodeway Inn, Siesta Inn & Suites, Comfort Suites, Camino Real Motel, Econo Lodge Inn and, of course, several Motel 6's. |
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Where to Eat in San Antonio In San Antonio the food focus is understandably on Mexican, with a very large number of Mexican restaurants, with Tex-Mex, Southwest-Mex, Cal-Mex, Interior-Mex and Other-Mex. Good Mexican joints on the River Walk are Casa Rio, considered to be the first River Walk restaurant, this joint has a great patio. Another classic River Walk spot is Rio Rio Cantina, known for its huge portions. Acenar is a bit more upscale Mexican in a huge restaurant on multiple levels, where you will find tacos with unique fillings, like crab and oysters. For American/Southwestern fare on the River Walk try Zuni Grill, where the patio has a great river views and is one of the few River Walk restaurants to serve breakfast. If you want fancy dining head to Boudro's and have a prickly pear margarita along with seafood and upscale southwestern fare. Gourmet magazine named Biga on the Banks one of the Top 5 restaurants in Texas. The County Line is where you go on the River Walk for Texas style BBQ. Downtown on the edge of the King William Historic District you will find Rosario's Mexican Cafe, with a unique chile relleno. Mi Tera Cafe & Bakery is a legendary open 24 hours restaurant in San Antonio's Market Square. At Azuca, in the King William Historic District, the specialty is Caribbean food. La Fonda on Main is another San Antonio Mexican restaurant institution. For American cuisine, downtown, head to the Liberty Bar, where the walls and floor are crooked but the food, like pot roast and lamb sausage, is not crooked. Chart House is the revolving restaurant at the top of the Tower of the Americas. This is a Landry's restaurant, serving surf and turf, 750 feet in the air. Madhatters Tea House & Cafe is a popular lunch cafe inspired by Alice in Wonderland. |
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Click
here for more of our favorite San Antonio Restaurants |
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to make a comment or share info about San Antonio |
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