It is unbelievably hot and humid and windy. We live in Florida. We have lived in the Republic of Panama. We thought we knew what hot and humid is like. Well, we did not. This is suck the air out of your lungs and suffocate you hot and humid. And while that is happening, the wind makes you think you are in a blast furnace. It is not even June yet, don't want to find out what August is like here. To top it off, the crowds are not like anything we have ever seen here before. The Riverwalk is shoulder to shoulder and the lines at the Alamo were very long. For a big city, San Antonio is a really nice city – just not this weekend.
We did a walk through of El Mercado – The Market. Fun place, lots of junk to buy from Mexico (probably make in China). Did not buy anything. Just window shopped.
Walked the many blocks to the Riverwalk. Initially had a very nice stroll at the Riverwalk and then caught one of the tour boats and did the Riverwalk by cruise ship (actually a slow barge like thing). The San Antonio River flows through the heart of San Antonio and the Riverwalk area is beautifully done. The boat tour is well worth it to see the entire area. Or you can walk the 3.5 mile loop (yea right). After we got off the boat is when we met the hoards of people. In the 30 minutes we had been on the boat, the crowds had grown exponentially.
Our next fiasco was lunch. Now, we are in San Antonio, home of Tex-Mex food. Let me tell you right now – not all of it is good. Went to Rio Rio Cantina for lunch (put this place on your 'to avoid' list). We had taco salad. How can you mess up a taco salad? They did. Worst taco salad ever. On the bright side, we opted to sit inside and the air conditioning was great – very cold.
We did not go to the Alamo. We have 'been there done that' a couple of times and we did not want to wait in line in the sun. We did get a couple of pictures from a distance. That was enough. If you don't know the story of the Alamo, it is a great story – Google it. We did see something that we had not seen before, in San Fernando Cathedral off to one side, is an alcove where the remains of the 'heros of the Alamo' have been laid to rest. The heroes were Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Travis. Could not get into the cathedral itself – baptism going on.
Don't let this diatribe put you off from visiting San Antonio. It is a city that we both like and think is worth visiting. Just be picky about when you visit.
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