If you grew up in the 80s you probably can’t think of Texas, particularly San Antonio, without singing these lyrics; “The stars at night are big and bright (clap, clap, clap, clap), deep in the heart of Texas”, as this is how Pee Wee Herman proved to his girlfriend Dottie that he’d made it to the Alamo in the movie “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”. We’ve been a little mislead though, as Brady TX is the true center of the state and calls itself “the heart of Texas” even though San Antonio as well as Austin are pretty dang close (within 150 miles radius).
We spent 3 days in the area and here’s what we did:
TOURED THE ALAMO
You probably also know the saying “Remember the Alamo”, but if you didn’t grow up in Texas you might have forgotten that following a 13-day standoff in 1836, the Texans lost the Alamo Mission to Mexican troops under the direction of President General Santa Anna who killed most of the Texans and Tejanos inside. “Remember the Alamo” was essentially a war cry after this devastating loss that inspired people to join the Texas Army and eventually defeat the Mexican Army just seven weeks later.
If you’re in San Antonio, you can tour the bullet-riddled Alamo and take a self-guided audio tour of the grounds and museum to learn about its history. One of the things I found most fascinating is that for Texas this battle and the victory a few months later define their war of independence, but for Mexico, these were just a couple of battles in a much, much larger war.
When President General Santa Anna came to power, he’d originally agreed to uphold the Mexican Constitution that gave considerable rights to all Mexican states like Texas. Americans were invited to settle in Texas and with them came slavery, which was legal under Texas “state” laws but not legal in other parts of Mexico. Additionally, Americans settling there were exempt from paying taxes and tariffs. Later, Santa Anna revoked the Mexican Constitution, dissolving all state legislatures in an effort to consolidate power. He demanded taxes and tariffs from the Americans that had settled in Texas and disallowed more Americans to settle in the area. Texas, along with several other Mexican states, rebelled against this change in governance so Santa Anna was fighting a huge war on several fronts with Texas being just one portion of it.
In travelling through Texas we couldn’t help but notice that, per stereotype, Texans have a VERY strong sense of identity. You get the sense that patriotism is first about Texas and then about the US and learning about the history leading up to and after the Alamo gives one some appreciation for why that’s the case!
STROLLED THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER WALK (Downtown)
Shops, boutiques, bars, and restaurants line the river that runs through downtown San Antonio. Even with Covid still in flux, this area was bustling! Brightly colored boats glide slowly through the center and tourists and locals weave in and out of the crowds and around outdoor diners and servers. It’s festive but chaotic. Don’t go when “hangry” as it will likely take you 45-60 minutes, on average, to be seated almost anywhere.
We actually gave up on finding a restaurant along the river walk and instead went over to Tycoon Flats in the Monte Vista neighborhood. This restaurant has casual patio seating but gourmet burgers and a full bar – a great combination and scrumptious to boot! There was a lot of street construction going on in the neighborhood (Feb 2022) so parking was a bit of a challenge in the RV but it wasn’t too bad and there were several other restaurants in the area that looked intriguing as well.
WATCHED THE SAN FERNANDO CATHEDRAL LIGHT SHOW
Every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 9pm, 9:30pm and 10pm you can head downtown for a light show set to music that uses San Fernando Cathedral as its “screen”. The theme? The history of San Antonio. There’s limited seating at the plaza across the street in the front of the church but given that the show is less than half an hour long, standing in the plaza is not a big deal and the views are good.
CYCLED SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK
Our best day in San Antonio was the day we rode our bikes through San Antonio Missions National Historic Park which travels alongside the San Antonio River Walk to view 5 missions! We’d already visited the Alamo but there are 4 other missions (Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan, and Mission Espada) in the area. The bike path between the missions follows the San Antonio River and each mission is approximately 2.5 miles from the next on the path. This area is actually a national park (San Antonio Missions National Historic Park). The pedestrian and bike path is not a loop, but an out and back.
Our best day in San Antonio was the day we rode our bikes through San Antonio Missions National Historic Park which travels alongside the San Antonio River Walk to view 5 missions!
You’ll ride past and through parks, past farmland, homes, people fishing the river, metal sculptures, over bridges, and can veer off to historic landmarks like the espada aqueduct, museums and more. Maps of the area can be found online. They’re also posted along the paved pedestrian / bike path and bicycle volunteers along its route offer help with directions as well.
We were staying south of San Antonio proper so started at the southernmost mission, Mission Espada (the final mission of the three established in 1731). From there we cycled north to Mission San Juan and Mission San Jose. I enjoyed Mission San Jose for its façade, courtyard and “Rose Window”. The fourth mission is Mission Concepcion, which is the best preserved and the last before the Alamo which we’d already seen.
Mission Espada
Mission San Juan 
Mission San Jose 
Rose Window
Mission Concepcion 
To ensure your stars at night are big and bright, hopefully our review of these areas will help you decide on some of the many ways you can spend your time when visiting San Antonio. We really enjoyed the area and will always remember the Alamo.
