Seven Very Cool Things About San Antonio

Husband and I in front of the Alamo.  For some reason, this weekend getaway felt very much like an organized field trip.

After tailgating at the Cowboys game in the one day of freezing Texas weather and gorging on Thanksgiving dinner, Pres and I packed up our gear and headed to San Antonio for a Mavs road game and a weekend getaway.  To sum up the best parts of the weekend, I've made a little list here, Seven Very Cool Things About San Antonio.

The Discovery of a Gap Outlet

Okay, so maybe we weren't in San Antonio yet, we were in Hillsboro. I got a little carried away at the Gap Outlet. I did buy jeans and slacks, both of which I vowed to not buy while I was still changing sizes... but they were over half off! Sweaters, shirts, Christmas gifts, a little wallet for my little purse.  You name it, I got it.  

Mavericks beat the Spurs (ending their 12 game winning streak)

Our hotel was crazy crowded because of the lighting on the Riverwalk and some kind of kiddie beauty pageant, so Pres and I caught a cab to the ATT Center early and took a seat at a cool little bar area.  We saw a lot of Mavs fans, but man, everyone in San Antonio is a Spurs fan!  I guess because it's their only team, they don't have a football or baseball team.  It was neat to see. I might be a Spurs fan too if I lived there.  And... we won!  We won! We also beat The Heat on Saturday night by like 10 points.  It was a good weekend for the Mavericks.

A very shaky iPhone picture at the ATT Center.

Authentic Mexican Food at Acenar Restaurant
Pres and I slept in on Saturday morning, finally leaving the hotel around 11am in search of food.  We found Acenar, and I'm glad we did. We both loved our meals the first go round. I ordered the Crab Salad and Pres ordered the Entomatadas. But the best part was the dessert, which we almost didn't order (gasp!) Pineapple-coconut-habanero sorbet in a strawberry watermelon soup.  Amazingly amazing.

Despite walking around in search of a different restaurant and despite the principal of it, we actually went back to Acenar for dinner.  It wasn't as good, I think because we tried to make it something it is not:  A tex-mex restaurant.  Pres ordered a chili rellano and I ordered beef fajitas with a side of queso.  Let me just tell you now, they don't have queso.  If you go to Acenar when you are in San Antonio, order from the specialities section, it is definitely worth it.

Pineapple-coconut-habanero sorbet at Acenar

Riverwalking

After lunch, Pres and I headed up the riverwalk towards the old Pearl Brewery. Pres had read that the brewery had been renovated and was now a cool shopping area with bars and restaurants. It was a new part of the Riverwalk too, so it was not crowded at all.  But when we got there, we realized that the Pearl Brewery is being, not had been, renovated.  There were only a few shops and two restaurants.  It was a really nice walk though, all together 4.5 miles round trip from the Marriot Riverwalk, and looked like a great running route.

In front of a Mexican restaurant near the Pearl Brewery.

Saweet Cupcakes

We saw two food trucks at the Pearl Brewery, one of which was a cupcake food truck!  We split a pumpkin cream cheese cupcake and it was grand.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese... mmm

We were sure that it wouldn't be as good as Pres' mom's pumpkin bread, but it held it's ground pretty well.  What is up with the Cupcakeries?  This was my second cupcakery experience, the fist being Crave Cupcakes in Houston, and they were both pleasant.

Saweet Cupcakes Van parked near the Pearl Brewery

San Antonio Museum of Art

The Museum of Art is right on the Riverwalk, so we stopped in.  The first thing I saw, right when we walked in the door, was a Chihuly Glass ceiling in the entryway.  Chihuly always reminds me of our wedding reception at the Dallas Museum of Art where there was a whole wall of Chihuly glass.

Chihuly ceiling at the SAMA

We only had about an hour in the museum because it was closing, so like Mom and I perfected in Paris, Pres and I had a speed art session.  There were some cool exhibits, but my favorite was the Chihuly glass that we saw when we first walked in the building.

El Mercado

On the way out of town, we stopped at the Mexican market.  It was full of the same old Mexican themed goodies like pottery and blankets that I would have been obsessed with six years ago.  Mostly, I enjoyed the people watching and the food and talking to the people that worked there.  Preston bought some sweets at Mi Tierra Bakery and a gordita at a street vendor.  He ended up sharing both of those, even though I didn't want anything to eat when we walked into the market.  I think I would've really enjoyed this market on a day that the farmer's market was going on, considering my love for food and all.

Mi Tierra Bakery.  image from http://food.leapfish.com/Bakeries/MI/Portage