San Antonio

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

The Good:

The people are lovely, friendly, and hospitable.

The Menger Hotel is the oldest hotel in San Antonio and was built 25 years after the Alamo. We had a delicious lunch there. It has old world charm.

A young man from Hong Kong we met at the bus stop (the all-day pass is a must). He was visiting friends here and although we only talked for 15 or 20 minutes, we covered politics (Hong Kong and the U.S.), basketball (he loves the Spurs), and the joys of traveling.

The River Walk is stunningly beautiful, aesthetically pleasing and filled with eye catching attractions. We had drinks at one of the seemingly hundreds of restaurants and watched the boats go by.

The Bad:

The Alamo was one of my bucket list items and was a big disappointment. There's really very little left of it and they charge $14 to see a small church. Its in the middle of a sprawling downtown area, its hard to park and expensive and its under construction.

The San Antonio Zoo charges $30 to get in (not unusual) but then charges additional fees to get into exhibits within the park. We had to park in a parking garage and walk several blocks to get there.

It was spring break so hordes of tourists and kids crammed into several small enclosures to peak through small windows. The animals, as always, were fun to see.

The Ugly:

The traffic around the city on Interstate 35 is horrendous. Its a maze of ramps, twists and turns. It took us hours to get from Austin to San Antonio.

Vangoaside:

Heard at lunch: Grandpa asks one of his two young grandsons (six or seven years old): Who fought at the Alamo. Kid says: Ronald Reagan. He asks the other grandson: Who died at the Alamo? Answer: Jiminy Cricket.