San Antonio, River Walk and the Alamo

We decided to veer off our original plan on the way to AZ and headed to San Antonio. Glenda had heard and read about the San Antonio River Walk and the bike path along the San Antonio River. So we did some research and found the Travelers World RV Resort about 2 miles from the downtown area and the River Walk. The River Walk is made up of hotels, restaurants, shops and nearby the Alamo. Very touristy but it looked like it would be fun. The RV park is a little pricey and typical spacing of sites but they do have the closeness to the River Walk and the park is right next to a trailhead to the bike path.

Our site

Trailhead to bike path

Total of about 10 miles of path

Section along the river

The first day there we rode the path to downtown and looked at where the River Walk was. We got to an area where you can't ride your bike due to the foot traffic and narrow walk along the river downtown. It looked pretty cool and we knew we had to get down there the next day.

We found a parking lot near the River Walk and walked through downtown. The River Walk is below the street level and follows the San Antonio River. We found a tour boat and got our tickets and rode through the River Walk area with great narration of the history.

Doug... our River Walk tour guide

 

Part of the River Walk was developed for the 1968 HemisFair. Great architecture and landscaping.

 

We had a great lunch after the tour at a Mexican restaurant called Casa Rio. The food was very good and it was cool watching the people walk by and the tour boats float by. Except for the pigeons looking for a meal after people would leave it was a great place to sit and eat.

 

 

We decided to stay an extra day and go back to the River Walk and ride the bike path one more time. This time I wanted to have some Texas BBQ and we found a nice restaurant further down from the Casa Rio called County Line BBQ. I had the brisket and Glenda had smoked turkey. Of course we shared each others food since we wanted to try different dishes. Both were delicious. I also had seen where the old Lone Star Brewery was when we were riding along the bike path the day before so I had to try one. It was good but I like a little more body to my beer. But that's just me.

 

We walked along the River Walk and over to the Alamo plaza next to the actual Alamo. Funny thing is having never seen it before I thought it was pretty small compared to what I thought it would be. The history is very interesting and there was some renovation going on in the front area.

 

Enlarge the photos for better viewing

In December 1835, during Texas’ war for independence from Mexico, a group of Texan volunteer soldiers occupied the Alamo, a former Franciscan mission located near what is now the city of San Antonio. On February 23, 1836, a Mexican force numbering in the thousands and led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began a siege of the fort. Even though they were outnumbered, the Alamo’s 200 defenders–commanded by James Bowie and William Travis and including the famed frontiersman Davy Crockett–held out courageously for 13 days before the Mexican invaders finally overpowered them. For Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became a symbol of their heroic resistance to oppression and their struggle for independence, which they won later that year.

Nice history lesson in person. Unfortunately they don't allow and photography in the Alamo.

We got another bike ride in the next day and again saw some nice scenery.  We definitely enjoyed our time in San Antonio.

Random photos from San Antonio and our bike rides

 



After San Antonio headed to Fort Stockton on our way through TX. We stayed at a nice park called the Hilltop RV Park for just one night and then moved on to Las Cruces, NM

 

A few photos from the Hilltop RV Park

We spent a couple days at the Hacienda RV Park in Las Cruces, Got some DEF for the truck at the local Ford dealer and had a nice meal at a Mexican Restaurant down the street. Then on to Kartchner Caverns SP. More on that later. Getting closer to our winter destination. Thanks for following along.

Couple photos of our sites at Hilltop RV Park in Fort Stockton and Hacienda RV Park in Las Cruces

 

Hilltop RV Park

Hacienda RV Park

 









Gulf SP and Catching up on the blog to San Antonio, TX

It's been a long time since my last post because we seem to be using up our 15 Gb of data on our hotspot very quickly in the month so I have to wait until I have Wi-Fi I can use and not my data. I still want to kick myself for not upgrading my data package while I had the chance to double the data for the same cost last year when we had to get off Millenicom and go with Verizon. Anyway.......

In my last post we left Town Creek COE early and drove to Gulf SP in Gulf Shores, AL. We got a nice pull through site on the Canal Rd. The pull throughs actually are set up so you parallel park. Awning side faces the canal.

 

 

We rode the bike paths around the park and took several walks. We also ate a lot of seafood and hit the beaches across from the State Park. We ended up staying about 6 days. Great decision on our part to head there on the way to AZ.

 

We did make it to a Lamberts Restaurant too. They specialize in southern cooking and thrown rolls. After they give you your first roll, if you want another they throw it to you. Their delicious and very big. Lots of fun there and great food.

 Hard to leave a place like that and I know we'll be back again. We stopped at a local seafood shop and picked up some grouper and a couple pounds of Royal Red Shrimp. Plan to do a boil with some friends at the RV park in AZ.

After Gulf Shores, AL and we headed to Buccaneer SP in Waveland, MS and had some good seafood there too. Buccaneer SP is a place we stopped at on the way back to IL in the spring. We only stopped there for a couple of days. Then it was off to Abbeville, LA and Palmetto Island SP. Again we only wtayed a couple of days but while there we had to stop at Shucks Oyster House and meet the owner, David Bertrand. The food is to die for and their hospitality is second to none. We even got our picture with Mr. Bertrand and he posted it on their FB page.

 

While at Palmetto Island SP we took a walk around the park and came across an armadillo and near a pavilion we saw a alligator up close.

 

This is one of our favorite parks so far. Wish we could have stayed longer but se are on a mission to get to AZ.

After Abbeville, LA we headed to Galveston Island, TX. Our first stop in TX. We couldn't get into Galveston Island SP so I opted for a city park called Dellanerra Park about 5 miles closer to the downtown historical area and beach scene.

The park is right on the beach. The TX beaches aren't as pretty as FL and AL beaches in our opinions. But the sand is very hard and cars can drive on it in certain areas. Easy to walk on too.

 

 

 

We took a tour of the historical area and got a nice history lesson on the area and the hurricane of 1900 and Hurricane Ike. Some home had been restored and some still in progress and still some with no progress.

 

Hurricane Ike did a lot of damage to the Live Oak trees on the island and some folks took advantage of the damage by making some nice tree carvings.

Click on the photos to see them better.

 



While there we also did a dolphin tour and saw a couple of Cruise Ships getting ready to leave for some ports in Mexico.

We gorged on some more seafood and some nice beach scenery. I think we're almost ready for some Mexican food in AZ now.



Down at the pier we ate at Joe's Crab Shack too. We took a walk along the pier and saw some oil rigs in from the gulf and other tour boats.

 

After all this fun we had to move on through TX. Our next stop was San Antonio. We found a park about 2 miles from the downtown River Walk area. This is a nice park for convenience and it's very clean and well kept up. We had a FHU pull through.

 

Like any RV park the sites are close together but as I said it's convenient and well kept. This is a pretty long post so I will end here and catch up some more next time. Lots of tell about San Antonio, the River Walk, bike paths and the Alamo.

P.S. We are in AZ at Canyon Vistas RV Resort as I write this post. This is our winter destination.

Thanks of following along.