March 28, 2023

San Antonio missions and old neighborhoods

For our first full day in San Antonio, we visited the Alamo and some other missions. On Friday we started the day by touring some old neighborhoods.

The Alamo

You cannot visit San Antonio without visiting the Alamo. Visiting the Alamo is free but if you want to visit the church you need to book a time slot as capacity is limited. You can also buy a 45-minute guided tour or a 45-minute audio tour. However, we opted for the free visit and the church. There are also Alamo’s history guides on site that give hands-on demonstrations about daily life at the time of the Texas Revolution. We stumbled upon a medical demonstration and learned how medicine was practiced back in the day. We enjoy history and found the Alamo interesting. I absolutely recommend a visit if you are in San Antonio. The guided tours would probably also be interesting to learn more about the history of the place.

Statue of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt outside the Alamo

The Alamo stands next to more modern buildings

San Antonio Missions

After touring the Alamo we walked back to the hotel to get our car and drove to the San Antonio Missions. We started at the Mission San José and its visitors center. This is the largest of the missions and was almost fully restored to its original design in the 1930s. Mission San Jose turned 300 years in 2020. This was a good place to start and exploring this mission was really interesting. I find the history of the missions to be both inspiring and sad. Next, we headed to Mission Espada. This was the first mission in Texas, founded in 1690 as San Francisco de los Tejas near present-day Weches, Texas. In 1731, the mission was transferred to the San Antonio River area and renamed Mission San Francisco de la Espada. My original plan was to continue on to Mission Concepción but we eventually decided that seeing two missions was enough. Regardless, I absolutely think the missions are worth a visit.

A funky-looking tree at the Mission San Jose

Living quarters along the walls of the Mission San Jose

What is left of the buildings at the Mission Espada

Drinks & dinner at the riverwalk

Heading back from the mission we drove to the Historic Market Square in hopes of having lunch. We explored the market square for a while and decided lunch was not going to happen there. Thus, we returned the car to the hotel and walked along the riverwalk. We ended up having margaritas and some snacks on the river. I had made a dinner reservation at Boudro’s Texas Bistro so after some R&R at the hotel we went to dinner. We both ordered a Prickly Pear Margarita accompanied by tableside guacamole and chips to start. The cocktail was perfect and the guacamole was to die for. They used smoked tomatoes and jalapenos which gave it a unique taste. I ordered Coconut Shrimp and hubby had the Blackened Gulf Fish Filet. The mains were tasty but were clearly outshined by the starter. All in all the dinner was nice and the service was great.

A mural across the street from the Historic Market Square

Snacks and margaritas along the riverwalk

The Prickly Pear Margarita was not only delicious but also pretty

Exploring La Villita & King William historic district

On Friday morning we started the day by walking to La Villita Historic Village where we had breakfast at La Villita Café. I had two poached eggs with potatoes, fruit and toast. Hubby had the Alamo Benedict. Naturally, we also had coffee and some juice. The breakfast was tasty and filling. After breakfast, we walked around for a bit and then started to make our way to the King William historic district. Then we strolled around the neighborhood admiring all the houses. If you like old architecture as much as me the King William district is a great place to explore.