Riverwalking in San Antonio.

A few days after school got out Paul and I took a mini vacation to San Antonio! We had both been to San Antonio individually and loved it, but we had never visited there together. Paul did a great job planning the trip. We stayed at a lovely hotel on the Riverwalk that was in a great location. It was just around the corner from all the restaurants and shops so it was quiet and there was not a lot of traffic near the hotel's patio on the Riverwalk, but all the happenings were just a few steps away. We even got upgraded, thanks to being a Marriot Rewards member, to a room overlooking the city and if you looked slightly to the right the riverwalk as well.

Our Hotel

Our view

After checking into our hotel, we spent the evening strolling the Riverwalk and stopping by the Alamo. We took a river cruise tour to scout out a place to eat that evening. We decided to eat at Caso Rio and it was amazing. I recommend getting queso with taco meat. It was delicious. Before dinner we walked over to the Alamo and took a few pictures. The last time I was in San Antonio some fellow camp counselors and I had went through a mirror maze and I was telling Paul about it so we found the mirror maze and went through it together. It was a little creepier than I remember, but that may had been due to the fact that Paul and I were the only ones in the maze. After, the maze and the alamo we went to dinner.  We had a table right next to the river and two little ducks joined us for dinner.  They were more demanding than Dasher, our little puppy, though. Dasher will normally sit patiently at our feet for us to finish dinner and share the bits we didn't want to eat. The ducks however, would nip at our legs. At one point the duck even pulled my napkin off my lap and I had to quickly grab it before it fell into the river. Needless to say it was a great dinner with a little entertainment.

Two tickets for the riverboat tour please.

on the riverwalk

The Alamo

at our table

what is hitting my leg?

Hey that's my napkin

Paul's little friend

After dinner we walked back to our room and had coffee and dessert on their patio. It was a very relaxing start to our vacation. 

The next day we went to Sea World. It was tons of fun. Paul and I have decided that we either miss out on a lot when we go to theme park type places and we don't know it or we just have amazing luck. When we first walked into sea world we saw a short line of people taking their pictures with the character Shamu. Paul looked at me and asked if I wanted to get a picture with Shamu and I said we stood in line for Mickey at Disney World with the children why not Shamu? As we got in line a staff member asked if we were getting in line and we said yes, then she proceded to make a loud announcement that we would be the last photo Shamu would take this morning and others would have to wait for the next appearance. I felt a little guilty, but not enough to give up my spot in line. Just then two penguin characters walked up and sandwiched Shamu. Much to our surprise we not only got our pictures taken with Shamu, but with the penguin characters as well, and everyone in line behind us got their picture with just the penguins.

After, our great photo ops we headed to check out the dolphins. We passed a sign that advertised feeding the dolphins and after a few minutes of discussion decided to wait the 20 min in line to feed the dolphins. At this point only 3 other groups were in line in front of us. Once again a line quickly formed behind us. Later, Paul and I found out that both my brother and his family and Paul's family didn't feed the dolphins when they were there, because the lines were too long. I have to say that feeding the dolphins was amazing. One of the best experiences I have had. After, feeding the dolphins we saw four shows, visited the animal exhibits and rode two rides (I was a little afraid of the roller coasters). Paul also played a carnival game and won a Dallas Cowboy flag. He was pretty excited.

feeding the dolphins

sea lions

This baby sea lion was 6 days old and so very cute.

Paul trying to win the giant Dallas Cowboy bear.

He ended up winning this awesome flag that now gets to decorate my house. Yay!

Shamu!

After Sea World we went back to the hotel to clean up and then had dinner at a great Italian restaurant on the Riverwalk. We got another great table near the river. No ducks this time though, but we did have a mariachi band trolling through the tables.

Our last dinner

It was such a wonderful short trip to kick off our summer vacation. It's just too bad that Paul only had 2 weeks of summer vacation left after we returned before starting school again. I guess that just means I will have to have enough fun for the both of us.