San Antonio Texas

San Antonio is really an amazing city.  The highlight is the 15 mile long scenic riverwalk that winds through approximately 5 miles of the downtown area.  It also has a rich colonial heritage that includes the Alamo and other missions.  Our weeklong stay in this beautiful city has me thinking that this could very well be a great option for the location of our future retirement home.  

San Antonio is a large city at 2.5 million people in the metro area making it the 24th largest in the country and the 3rd largest in Texas.  However, even with the large size, our almost daily commutes into the city were all very smooth and no issues from our RV park, the San Antonio/Alamo KOA.  What a stark contrast from Austin Texas, where all the major roads were snarled with standing traffic.

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One of our traveling goals is to determine where we want to finally establish a homebase.  We have strong pulls for our Virginia hometown with our son and daughter living there along with many friends and our church.  We now also have a few other hometown candidates in the competition.

The leading candidates include Boothbay Maine, Savannah Georgia, and now San Antonio Tx.  Here are some of the reasons for adding San Antonio to the list:

1. Very good road system for commuting into town and through it.
2. Many large city things to do including sports (Spurs & minor leagues), museums, 15 art galleries, Six Flags, Seaworld, etc.
3. It is a very walkable city.  The riverwalk is really fantastic.  More on that later.
4. The fall through spring weather is very mild with average highs in the 60’s to 70’s.
5. Texas has some favorable taxation with no state income tax.

The Riverwalk

The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in the center of the state and eventually finds its way through the city.  They have accomplished many projects over the years to keep it from flooding and to beautify the riverwalk.  

The very well landscaped walkways are on both sides of the stone lined river banks.  Once you get near the downtown loop section, the restaurants, bars, and shops all begin to pop up until they are side by side.  All directly along the riverwalk.  It is very walkable as we walked five to six miles each day while in town.

The Alamo

Probably do not need to explain this one too much as everyone knows the story.  Or I would hope so.  This is an almost sacred site in Texas related to their independence.  “Remember the Alamo” is a well-known phrase. … The Alamo was an 18th century Franciscan Mission in San Antonio, Texas, which was the location of an important battle for Texans fighting for independence from Mexico. In 1836, a small group of Texans was defeated by Mexican General Santa Anna.

Those who died defending the fort include Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and Col. Travis along with about 200 others.

San Antonio Museum of Art

On a rainy day we drove to this fine museum and parked in their free parking lot.  The museum is located right on the Riverwalk.  Easy to walk to from downtown.  They have many art pieces from Egypt, China, Japan, Europe, American, and Texas along with a few others.

It was cool that the museum is located in the old Lone Star Brewing plant.  Very historic looking buildings.

The King William Historic Neighborhood

In the mid-1800s, enterprising German immigrants began buying land and building homes in this part of the city. The main thoroughfare was named King William, in honor of King Wilhelm I of Prussia, which remains the area’s name today.  We walked this section marveling at the massive mansions, most of which were in great condition.

I wondered at how they must have amassed such a fortune in those days to build these large homes.

The blog is a few weeks behind, however I plan to get caught back up sometime soon.  Coming up will be an update on our time in Port Aransas Texas, on the beach, and finally our journey south to our current location in Mercedes Texas, just a couple of miles from the Mexican border.

We are now officially “Winter Texans” for the next three months!  Take care and God Bless.