It was the Anniversary of the Alamo battle and there were tons of reenactors around as well as a parade and this huge floral display of yellow roses in the shape of Texas (I took it on an angle):
Me and the roses (note: the wind was blowing like a million miles an hour, please forgive the hair):
Mom and I at the Alamo:
Inside the main building of the Alamo fort, you can see where the roof has been rebuilt:
Second half of the '6 flags that flew over Texas':
Token cannon pic upon exiting the Alamo:
Pearl Brewery complex:
Faux space needle in the SA skyline:
While in San Antonio we made a trip to nearby Boerne (pronounced burn-eee like journey). In Boerne there were tons of little antique shops and boutiques. Some of them were weird and contained mostly crap, but some were amazing. I personally hit decorating pay-dirt at: Cielo, The Alley on Main, and Barn Owl Collectibles. Def worth the 30 minute drive outside SA, oh and they have the most amazing little wine tasting/ wine bar called Boerne Wine Company-check them out!! Here are a couple of my shopping finds:
In addition to the mini-antiquing trip, Mom and I also went in search of Zuni fetishes (remember them from my Sedona, AZ trip??). The first store we went to had been closed and turned into a post office, major let-down. So, I fired up the ol Droid and googled us another vendor. The only other store that sold Zuni fetishes in the SA area was in Schertz, TX called Paul's Desert. It was literally the front two rooms of this couple's house, but they had some great pieces. My mom left with an amazing jet bear the size of my palm. Here are my goodies:
As far food goes we had some really spectacular meals. We went to Luke, Biga on the Banks, and Il Sogno. Luke was super yummy, I had pepper seared tuna and my mom had a pizza-like thing with caramelized onions and fancy cheeses. At Biga on the Banks we ended up sitting at the bar because their earliest reservation was for 9pm! The place was decorated very interestingly with dried gourds everywhere and some of the booths were made private with sheer curtain panels. My mom's meal came with truffled mashed potatoes and they were sooo delicious. I think I may have to work on procuring a black truffle in the near future. I believe our best 'dining experience' was at Il Sogno in the Pearl Brewery complx. They don't take reservations so we made sure to get there nice and early (we got there at about 630 and tables were filling up fast). Our waiter told us about the Antipasti bar and we were easily swayed into this appetiser route. They showed you an example of each antipasti option and you were to choose 3 or 5 options. All of our choices were delicious and perfectly portioned to share just a taste before our meals. We decided to split a pizza and split a pasta dish, so essentially we ended up with a 5 course meal (with the tiramisu at the end). We left with half a pizza, full bellies, and definite intentions to return (at least on my part). Check out this review from Texas Monthly if you want to hear more about them: review. I wish I had pictures to share of all our meals, but the restaurants were quite dim and nothing turned out clear.
All in all, I'm definitely becoming a huge fan of San Antonio and I can't wait to see what I find on my next trip (which is coincidentally already planned for April hehe).
I hope you've learned a little about San Antonio and be sure to let me know if you're headed there, maybe I'll join you! Also, read about a few of San Antonio's cupcakerys in my two previous posts. Enjoy!
