Home of the famous RiverWalk………really? OK the walk itself was pretty and the city has done a great job of making this a very well known tourist attraction, but it is only restaurants and bars along the river. Well there is a bit of shopping but it is a mall at the end of one side river. We are not looking for a mall, but more local shops to visit. However we did find a GREAT Mexican restaurant and had a wonderful lunch! Then we took a river cruise, learned nothing really, but our guide was funny, so that’s something.
We can’t leave San Antonio without mentioning the Alamo. While we didn’t go on a tour inside, there are some pics from outside. What we can tell you is the Battle of the Alamo took place Feb 23 – March 6 1836. This was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13 day siege, Mexican troops reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio, killing most of its occupants. San Antonio’s refusal to take prisoners during the battle inspired many Texans and Tejanos to join the Texan Army. Motivated by a desire for revenge, as well as their written desire to preserve a border open to immigration and the importation and practice of slavery, the Texans defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836 ending the rebellion in favour of the newly formed Republic of Texas.
That night, given our disappointment with the river walk area and lack of interest in a tour of the Alamo, we decided to go to an expensive steak house called Bohanan’s. While this was our most expensive meal to date, it lived up to the hype about the food here. Several hilarious things did occur however. When we were escorted to the upscale second floor the elevator opened and we walked out. The staff looked us up and down and didn’t seem impressed. We thought we were dressed fairly nicely and found out later no open toe shoes are allowed (and we were each wearing sandals/flipflops). Yikes!
We were so excited to be going out for a great Texas steak we forgot to ask where the meat was from and how it was prepped. After dinner and having thoroughly enjoyed the rib eye steak we asked. The answer ‘Alberta’. We nearly died laughing as we were some 2,660km from Ontario expecting to try something new only to have a steak from Canada and one from Alberta where Lori had lived for the last 3 years. Hilarious!
Tomorrow we are off to Galveston! We are avoiding the Houston area, as the roads are too busy and way too hectic for our liking. So we are taking the 10 for a bit, then the 6 east until almost the coast, then onto the 45 and onto the Island.