by Claire on July 11, 2010
I’ve been to many beautiful places in my life, but the most unexpected so far has been the San Antonio Riverwalk. I never expected to see such lush greenery and beautiful water in the middle of Texas. The architects who designed this area were inspired and talented. This river runs below street level in the middle of the city and is flanked by sidewalks, restaurants, shops, and hotels. There are also several beautiful water features that bring the soothing sound of rushing water to your ears while you dine or sip coffee. We took a riverboat tour along the route and learned a few little historic details – very few of which I remember.
The first morning we were there, I got up early and went for a stroll along the Riverwalk. It had rained earlier in the morning and all the restaurant employees were out sweeping the water off the sidewalks. It was quiet, very few people were out, and it was warm and humid. So much for fixing my hair. 
I captured several pictures of the water features for a new friend who creates beautiful ponds – hopefully these will be inspiration for her.
This next photo makes me think I should be somewhere in Europe. According to the tour guide, that hotel (can’t remember the name) is one of the top rated hotels in the country.
I love the use of stone all over the place. Gorgeous, but bumpy if you’re riding in or maneuvering a wheelchair.
Yes, we ate at the Hard Rock, and I bought a really cool sweatshirt/hoodie from there – it’s COLD inside the stores!
I love how this water feature runs underneath the stairs.
This next water feature is underneath a street overpass.
Just a little cool architecture.
Notice below how the sidewalk goes up a bit. There are lots of those instances along the Riverwalk. That, and all the windy curves made for a great workout when pushing my mom around in the wheelchair. Some people though are really oblivious to the disabled – they ignore wheelchairs. I often had images from Weekend at Bernie’s, afraid I’d turn just the wrong way and tip my mom into the drink! LMAO. That would not have been funny.
This was a little outdoor theatre on the Riverwalk (below). Apparently it was used in the movie Miss Congeniality. The five bells represent the five missions in San Antonio. (I hope I remembered my facts correctly.) The seating for the theatre is on the opposite side of the Riverwalk. Very cool.
Tagged as:
fun stuff,
San Antonio,
San Antonio Riverwalk,
Texas,
vacations
by Claire on July 10, 2010
I love to see new places. I just don’t care so much for the getting there part. This 4th of July, I went with my mom to San Antonio. It took a day each way just for travel, but once we got there, we had a great time. We were greeted with the effects of Hurricane Alex for the first two days in the form of flash flooding. Really, we didn’t get flooded, but the rain came down suddenly, fast, and big wet drops unlike what I’m used to here in Seattle, and we had to walk through mini rivers in the street. But it was warm, so even though we got really wet, we didn’t get cold and we dried out quickly, so that was nice.
After a couple days the rain cleared up and we had some lovely heat and sun. Great for me, not so fun for my mom. At 90, she doesn’t fare so well in the sun, so we got her a wheelchair for the trip and I pushed her around all of San Antonio. I sure got in my activity points, I’m sure. Hopefully it was enough to counteract the food I ate, even though I tried to make good choices as well there.
Once we got to San Antonio, we connected with our friend, Colleen, who had gotten stuck out at a hotel on the edge of town – a Priceline bait and switch deal – not good – so we had her come stay with us as we had two double beds. This turned out fabulously as Colleen and I hit it off and are new BFFs. People swore we could be sisters, and I think we are kindred spirits, for certain.
We stayed at the Westin, which is a story by itself. You would think for the price and the name that we would have five-star service, but their staff was seriously lacking in smarts. One time we had booked a taxi an hour ahead of when we needed and the doorman let our taxi go to someone else, thus making us a half hour late for where we were going. Another time, we ordered room service and I chose a Chicken Caesar Salad. They forgot the dressing. When I called 20 minutes later asking for the dressing, they apologized and asked, “Would you like me to bring that right up?” Are you serious? These are just a couple examples of so many little things that were frustrating. But overall, we had a really great time. There’s more to report, but I’m going to break it up into several posts.
I love taking pictures of hotel rooms when I arrive, before they get all messed up. We had two double beds.
Big flat screen TV that we didn’t even turn on once. The desk became the our makeup station. LOL.
Gorgeous bathroom. I’m going to get me one of those little makeup mirrors, and I’d love to swap out my 1990s giant bathroom mirror for a couple of these. I bet I could DIY on the cheap too. *ideas clicking* Notice the marble though – mom commented that it was weird they chose that particular marble with the white in it because it looks like someone dropped toothpaste on it and didn’t wipe it up. Not only does she have an eye for fashion, she could do interior design too!
We had our own private balcony overlooking the San Antonio Riverwalk. The larger balconies below us were sweet too. We had french doors that opened onto the balcony and we tied one open and left it open all night long. Gawd, that was wonderful.
We got back from our first day out in the rain, were completely soaked and exhausted and there were these gorgeous flowers to brighten our room from Tom. It’s hard to see in this picture, but they were red and peach. So very thoughtful of Tom and they lasted the whole trip – I even brought the vase and some of the flowers home.
Tagged as:
fun stuff,
San Antonio,
Texas,
Travel,
vacations,
Westin Hotel
I’ve been to many beautiful places in my life, but the most unexpected so far has been the San Antonio Riverwalk. I never expected to see such lush greenery and beautiful water in the middle of Texas. The architects who designed this area were inspired and talented. This river runs below street level in the middle of the city and is flanked by sidewalks, restaurants, shops, and hotels. There are also several beautiful water features that bring the soothing sound of rushing water to your ears while you dine or sip coffee. We took a riverboat tour along the route and learned a few little historic details – very few of which I remember.
