After four straight years of summer vacation trips in Galveston (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), we were hankering for a change. My wife had suggested San Antonio, but we also considered other contenders. What helped us decide was an email (in January) from longtime internet friend Dana, who said she and her husband would be in San Antonio in June — the very week we always take our summer vacation trips. It was a perfect coincidence with plenty of advance notice and worked well for all of us.

The days leading up to the vacation were hectic, as usual. This time, for the first time, we had two children finishing school, so there was a second grade awards ceremony and a kindergarten graduation ceremony. And for the first time we had two children in the dance recital just before we left. Both performed admirably and we found out right before the recital that our daughter was accepted into “company”, which is the elite crew of dancers that gets most of the slots at the recital. There was also a birthday party (the boy), which we held at Chuck E. Cheese’s.

All of that finished, we turned our eyes southward.

San Antonio Ties

I am no stranger to San Antonio. My father took a job there in 1984, where he remained until 1994, so I spent all of my middle school and high school years in the vicinity, and my family was there during most of my college experience. My home church and first few jobs were all there. In San Antonio, I took my driving test, went to proms, shopped, went on dates, got lost, had friends, preached my first sermons, and so on.

The only time I’ve been back since 1994 was in 2007 when my wife and I visited on Memorial Day weekend.

Quite a bit has changed, as one might expect after 30 years or so. The population of the city has doubled since I first saw it in the mid-80s (to about 1.5 million). The outer loop (1604) was just a two-lane farm road when I first saw it, but now it’s six-lane expressway. Another example, Rivercenter Mall is now called “The Shops At Rivercenter”, a change that probably cost far more than it was worth.

Despite the changes, returning to San Antonio felt a bit like a homecoming for me, though I’ve never really had roots anywhere.

The First Day: Legoland And The Alamo

We left the house on Monday (June 10) before 09:00 and made it to New Braunfels in 105 minutes. From there, it was a short jaunt to San Antonio proper, where we wasted 20 minutes following nonsensical instructions from Google Maps, hoping to eat at a Steak N Shake which turned out to not exist. We ended up at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q which is a San Antonio staple and was just down the street from our hotel. It was better than the one M and I visited in 2007.

After lunch, we easily found the Rivercenter Mall, obtained expensive parking, and went to Legoland. The upsides: it was larger inside than it initially appeared, both our children (and me) are fans of Lego, there was an automated train ride with laser pistols to shoot bad guys, a flying wizard ride, amazing displays of Lego-built downtown San Antonio buildings, a “Creative Workshop”, a “4D” movie theater, and several play areas for children to build stuff. Also a coffee shop (a Starbucks in disguise), and quick entry if you buy your tickets online in advance (as we did). Rebecca recorded two of her YouTube videos while inside, something she’d been looking forward to.

The downsides: It wasn’t easy to find. It was inside the mall, but that wasn’t obvious from the directions I got online, so we walked around outside for quite some time. Eventually we found our way into the mall and found the place, but they could have made it much easier. Secondly, there was an indoor playground that required socks — and none of us had brought socks. This requirement wasn’t mentioned on the website. We still managed to have plenty of fun.

Each child used his or her own money to make small purchases at the gift shop on the way out.

Before leaving the mall, we bought souvenirs at a Texas-themed shop. Then I pointed out that The Alamo was just up the street, so we walked the children over there and got a few photos. We even walked through, which is free. (When M and I visited in 2007 the line was two hours long so we skipped it.)

Then we checked into our Homewood Suites hotel room/suite, which was nice and comfortable, and had supper across the highway at Frontier Burger. I’d hoped it would be an “authentic” burger joint, but it turned out to be fairly run-of-the-mill fast food — nothing horrible, but nothing great either.

The Second Day: Riverwalk, Mission Tour, Meetup

Weirdly, Tuesday (June 11) was cool and cloudy all day — something we hadn’t planned for but definitely enjoyed. (I was told by a visitor from Brooklyn that it didn’t feel “cool” to them, but it was certainly not the 100-degree scorcher we had planned for.)

After breakfast in the hotel (which disappointed M and the kids but seemed normal to me), we headed back downtown. Parking in the same garage, we made our way through the empty mall — none of the shops were open yet — finally getting an employee to tell us where a secret unlocked bathroom was, and then stepped out onto the Riverwalk.

Here is where I must tell you: if you abhor crowds and noise, remember to visit the Riverwalk on a weekday morning. It was almost completely empty, which was perfect for us and our son who likes to run off on his own explorations. It also meant I got photos of the scene itself rather than a bunch of strangers. (See example photo below.)

We walked under Commerce Street and then alongside it, going under it again to follow the river northward under Crockett Street, then Presa, Navarro, and St. Mary's before returning to the Market Street branch and back to Rivercenter. Much of it is the same as I remember it, though I’m certain that many small features have been updated. Rebecca recorded one of you YouTube videos while down there — something she’d planned for weeks.

Then, as planned, we met our friend Dana for lunch and to spend the afternoon together. This is, I think, the third time I’ve met a Flickr friend in person. (The two others are in Texas — Austin and Odessa — places we go anyway occasionally.) I’ve known Dana online since before M and I had children, and have often read her comments aloud to my wife and children. It was nice to finally meet.

Lunch was at Republic Of Texas, which we partially chose because it was close, but also because we thought the kids would eat there. And we were the only customers inside the entire time, which I greatly enjoyed (I think I mentioned three or four times how nice it was). The food was delicious.

Afterward, the five of us toured Mission San Jose — which M and I had enjoyed in 2007 — and found it fairly empty too — despite the weather still being beautiful. Like the Alamo, it was free to enter and tour, and I think both children got something out of it — perhaps only from the 20-minute video we watched before walking around.

(Here is where I’ll mention that I’m still, a week later, running a scenario through my head. As I drove to the mission, with M giving me directions from her phone, I took a hard left turn across traffic that was inadvisable. At the time, I quickly came up with a justification for it — “otherwise I would have missed the turn and had to come back to it” — but have felt uncomfortable ever since. Only one car was coming the other way, and there was very little chance of collision, but still I regret that driving decision. I should have missed the turn and carefully found a way back to it. I am normally more careful and staid behind the wheel. Why do things like this bother me so? I might never know.)

From there, we drove to Conflucence Park, which Dana recommended after discovering it a day or two earlier. Not only were there photogenic structures, but there was a path down to the Riverwalk — a part I never knew existed — because it was apparently added since my last visit. Where the San Pedro Creek empties into the San Antonio River, RnB found a fun place to play and splash in the water, which they did until rain began to fall and we walked back to the car.

After switching the children into dry clothes back at the hotel, we returned to downtown to meet Dana's husband for supper. Though they had eaten at Bier Garten the day before, they highly recommended it and so that’s where we went. I’m no expert on German sausages or pretzels, but these tasted amazing to me and everyone else enjoyed them too. It reminded me a bit of attending German festivals in New Braunfels during my high school days. Afterward, we walked back up to surface streets and found an ice cream shop for the children — where I ended up finishing two bowls that the children couldn’t.

Dana and her husband came bearing gifts, including a paper subway map that my wife had specifically requested, Brooklyn T-shirts for the children, and a few other items.

The day was full, and successful in many ways. That evening when we left the Rivercenter parking garage for the third time, it was to be our last.

The Third Day: Natural Bridge Caverns, My Old House, And Home

We were in no rush to leave, so after breakfast we swam in the hotel pool until Benjamin got too cold to continue. Then we headed northward once again. (Technically eastward, because I-35 fails to maintain a steady north-south route through the United States.) I came out of our hotel imperfectly and ended up on US281, so we didn’t get on I-35 as quickly as intended. But the northward route on 281 had the advantage of seeing my father’s old office building, and the shopping center where I once worked at Albertson’s (it’s now a Big Lots). And we got to take Loop 1604 for a ways, a part I had rarely been on before, to see all the recent development. Finally, we made it to I-35 and it was lunchtime by the time we arrived in New Braunfels.

After lunch, we headed northwest toward Natural Bridge Caverns.

I have been to Natural Bridge Caverns at least twice before, both times in the mid- or late 1980s. Truly the only thing I recalled is that — unlike many touristy caves — it’s warm inside there. While Carlsbad Caverns and others tend to the 60°F range, Natural Bridge Caverns is in the upper 70s with a very high humidity. But when we drove up, I became immediately certain that quite a bit of what we saw was new, including the tourist-style wildlife ranch next door, hugely expanded paved parking lots, and quite a few extra features on the grounds — like zip lines, a giant maze, and so on — all of which cost extra.

When we arrived and I was looking for a parking space, a lady in a golf cart whizzed up to us and yelled: “If you want a spot next to the front door, follow me!” and whizzed away. I followed her around a copse of trees and sure enough there was a spot very close to the front door.

We only did the cavern tour, both to save money and because I figured the kids were about done with touristy-type stuff. The walk through the cave was fun, though Benjamin was a bit scared at first. I told him something about Bruce Wayne being scared of caves at first, but that he ended up basically living in a cave as Batman, and he brightened up after that. But he never strayed very far from us (until he saw the light at the end, and ran for it). I’ve always loved a good cavern tour. Afterward: more ice cream.

The caverns are only about 15 minutes from the house I occupied from 1984 through 1991, and the rural roads haven’t changed that much since I lived there. I recognized most of the landmarks, curves, intersections, etc. (there were a few new traffic lights, and several new housing developments) so it was a simple matter to navigate to my old neighborhood from the cave site. Oak Village North (the neighborhood’s name) looked smaller than I remember it, but is still in good shape — lawns mowed, trees trimmed, etc. I remember riding our bikes around the two-mile “circle” and believing the streets were wider. I found our old house, where a lady in a car watched suspiciously as I crept past. The landscaping has changed a bit but the house looks the same. M was freaked out again by the (many) deer we saw just standing next to the road, watching us. (“This is Texas! Why isn’t anyone shooting them?” she remarked more than once.)

The children were also curious about my old high school, which we didn’t get to see much of due to gates being closed, and then we were on our way home. Back to New Braunfels via highway 46, fill up at Buc-ee’s, and northward on I-35. We took the 85 mph toll road around Austin and then the 195 shortcut to Killeen. We were home by 17:25.

Wrap-up

The trip was rewarding for all of us. We met a longtime friend and a new one. We got plenty of exercise and ate tasty food. We saw sights, several of them. We played and joked and relaxed. And we came home before any of us got too tense or tired of anything. I think we packed a lot of vacation into three days without ever feeling rushed or pressured.

The cost was a bit higher than we’d anticipated (mainly due to ensuring a nice hotel suite and some very tasty meals), but less than we’d set aside for the trip.

Already, M and I are talking about returning — especially now that we realized we can do it as a day trip. It’s only two and a half hours into San Antonio, where we could easily spend eight hours or so before driving back — and thus save the cost of a hotel. If we do, one thing I’d like to add to the agenda is running into a few of my old friends who still live into the area. I won’t need to take up much of their time, but it would be nice to see a few of them again.