So we made a quick trip to San Antonio over the weekend. We just wanted a quick getaway. San Antone was beautiful as usual and our trip down was very smooth. We stopped at The Village Bakery in downtown West on the way down. We wanted kolaches. Everyone else stops at the Czech Stop on the service road. But if you drive a mile into downtown, the Village Bakery is worth it.
We stayed at the Menger Hotel, which is right next to the Alamo. The Menger opened in 1859, twenty years after the fall of the Alamo. It is the oldest continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi. Famous guests to the Menger include Robert E. Lee, U.S. Grant, Sam Houston, Oscar Wilde, Eisenhower, Bill Clinton and more. Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders at the hotel bar which Carrie Nation also personally visited in an attempt to shut it down.
The Menger is a beautiful hotel in a perfect location. But the rooms are small and the walls very thin. The historic charm is fun but it can be noisy. You'll hear every flush, conversation, shower and door slam. It's supposed to be haunted but we saw no evidence of ghosts! I would probably recommend another hotel if you're looking for a good night's sleep. Visit and tour the Menger, but stay somewhere else...unless you're prepared not to get any sleep.
The Alamo was very crowded and I was a bit disappointed at how crazy it all was. The last time I had visited the place several years ago, it was very quiet. People treated the Alamo like a shrine and I found the place solemn and magical. This time, there were too many people and they weren't quieting the crowds inside as they have been known to do in the past.
We spent a lot of time on the Riverwalk, of course. We ate that evening at Las Canarias. We ate indoors, by a window overlooking the River. We ate inside because it was getting chilly and there was a convention of annoying competitive cheerleaders wandering the Riverwalk. They were loud and we weren't in the mood for them to spoil our dinner. Dinner was amazing and the view was great.
We headed back the next morning and stopped at the Outlets at San Marcos. I've been to a lot of outlet malls, but this is by far the largest and nicest set up I've ever seen. Ate great burgers at Johnny Rockets and then made it back home in time for dinner. Nice, fun trip.
