Mike and I hit the road Friday for San Antonio, armed with enough trip snacks for a family of eight. Alas, I forgot to tell Mike to pick up a copy of The Weekly World News--a college road trip staple. Instead, I did a dramatic reading of San Antonio history that Mike had downloaded.
We got into town around 4:00 pm, found a parking garage and headed to the Riverwalk. We took the stairs down to river level. It has a Disneyland feel--unsurprising, since the same architectural firm did a study in the 1960s for the Chamber of Commerce on the commercial development potential of the downtown river area.
We skipped the riverboat tour and squeezed through the riverside crowds for as long as we could stand it (made me claustrophobic) and cut to the stairs. Headed over to the Alamo. The entrance line was long, but moved quickly. We didn't know we could have just gone in the side door. We walked around a bit and hit the gift shop before the site closed and the park rangers started kicking everyone out.
After that, we walked around trying to find a Thai restaurant that was supposed to be close to a downtown hotel. (I scoped out some restaurant options on Chowhound, but the details were slim on this particular posting). After befuddling a couple hotel concierges, we decided opted for one of the Mexican restaurants on my list.
We strolled down St. Mary's to El Mirador. The goodness started with fresh chips and carafe of salsa--smoky and spicy and the only real rival in my affections to Tito's in L.A. Our server described the special: salmon in a white wine cream sauce with shrimp, artichoke hearts, capers and squash blossoms served on a bed of cilantro rice and roasted vegetables. Sold!
Mike ordered one of the house specials--enchiladas with green chiles, crispy taco, beans and rice and homemade tortillas. We exchanged bites. His was good; mine kicked ass.
Why have I never eaten squash blossoms before? They were amazing! While I didn't quite lick my plate it was, hands down, the best food I've had since leaving California. I wonder if there are any Zagat rated restaurants in the Rio Grande Valley? Must research...
We strolled back downtown but decided to skip the St. Patrick's Day festivities in favor of getting home at a somewhat decent hour. Over the din of Riverwalk crowds, we heard the strains of "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes. It made me think it would be an act of amazing grace if no celebrants ended up IN the river, given the lack of barriers between the drinkers and the drink.
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3 comments:
Mmmm...squash blossoms. So good. You and your enticing talk of Mexican food. You make me weep you know. Sounds like a great time!
So glad you guys got out of town for a bit! Sounds like a lot of fun! Peter and I went through San Antonio and the Alamo years ago before we had children, it was part of a "notorious places in Texas and Louisiana" road trip we took. We started in Dallas with the Six Floor Museum and the Grassy Knoll where Kennedy was assasinated, we then drove to Waco and found the Branch Davidian complex (it was getting dark and windy and was spooky there!) then went to University of Texas at Austin to see the LBJ Presidential Museum that Pete's grandfather curated - that campus is also the location of the Bell Tower where a student climbed up and shot a bunch of other students (can you tell I set the interary for this trip?), then we went to the Alamo, then into Louisiana and New Orleans, where we took some swamp tours and Haunted Walking tours and Voodoo tours and above ground cemetary tours. We also stayed in a (supposedly) haunted hostel. We also found Trent Reznor's house (NIN) in New Orleans, which was almost a pilgrimage for me! One week after returning from that trip we found out we were pregnant with twins (which explains why I got real woozy one night in the French Quarter and almost threw up). Anyway, just some ideas for next years spring break!
Wow, Heather. I didn't know you were a connoisseur of offbeat travel destinations! Sounds like you had a great time!
Sorry to cause Swizzies' weeping. Come visit! You'll get your fill of Mexican food, I promise!
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