Dave went to San Antonio and it was OK

This week Dave attended a conference in San Antonio, Texas. It's a city he's never been to and always wanted to visit one of its top attractions: The Riverwalk. Since his conference was in a resort pretty far north of the city (JW Marriott - Nice!) he took some time on his travel day to take in a couple of sites.

His first stop was The Alamo. This is a mission that saw some battle in the 1800's during some war. All Dave really remembered about it was from the Disney series Davey Crockett. Crockett died at The Alamo and you can see his wallet there. If you want to know more about The Alamo you can check their website or wikipedia.

A couple of things were surprising about The Alamo. First, it's not a National Park. Not sure why it isn't since it is such a symbol of freedom in America. Second, no entry fee. Visitors can opt for an audio or guided tour at an extra charge. Third, the city didn't do a great job keeping things classy in that area. Across the street was a Ripley's Believe it or Not, Fuddrucker's, and Pat O'Brien's.

You could not take pictures inside the building. The grounds inside the walled area were nicely kept. Overall Dave spent 20 minutes in the compound with 5 of those minutes in the gift shop. They had a nicely detailed model of the property during the final battle in the store so he was fascinated.

After visiting The Alamo Dave took a short walk to the Riverwalk area. This is where they beautified a section of the river and put in a bunch of restaurants and clubs. The area was very pretty, but not as large as Dave had expected. The river was pretty narrow in this section, which was nice when you had to take a bridge to the other side.

The restaurants on the walk were a mix of national chains you'd find in your converted city buildings (Hard Rock, Landry's, Dick's Last Resort), some local/casual establishments, and some higher-end offerings. Dave chose to have a late lunch along the banks of the river at The Republic of Texas. Nothing special, but it offered a nice view of the tour boats going by. One other surprise about the area was that there weren't really any shops - mostly all restaurants. Dave thought the Riverwalk was a little bit of a disappointment, but maybe his opinion would change if he ever experienced it at night.

The ducks on the Riverwalk were annoying during lunch. They kept pecking Dave looking for a handout. Later on, Dave noticed a shrine - like one someone would put at the scene of a car accident. It was for a duck that was apparently beloved by all and senselessly murdered by a couple of alleged drunks.

There was a lot of charm to the area and portions of the walk where there weren't any restaurants were very nice. One thing though - there's no breeze down by the river. It was hot, so hot.

Here are some more pictures from the Riverwalk and the general area.