Road Trippin' - San Antonio River Walk

After our walk through Natural Bridge Caverns, we arrived at our hotel, Courtyard by Marriott on the Riverwalk, in San Antonio later that evening.  It was beautifully decorated.

Once we settled in, we decided to go on a hunt for a special ice cream treat.  And it was literally...a hunt.  We went from restaurant to restaurant along the river perusing each menu to see what might interest all of us.  After several menus and different dessert options, we settled on a simple ice cream shop.  It was so busy that I was unable to get a snap of their sign until the next day.

Colton enjoyed a yummy cinnamon flavor, while I enjoyed my very first caramel swirl.  I don't remember what Neal ordered, but I'm sure he stuck with his usual chocolate version.  I really liked mine, but as always, Colton got the best flavor.  He makes some of the best ordering decisions when we go out, I should follow him more often!

The next morning, first thing, we took a fairly private tour on the Rio San Antonio River Tours.  It was a great time of day to do this as the weather was perfect and not so many people were out. We took the first tour of the day and it was beautiful!  Yes, this trip was taken at the beginning of the long stretch of triple digit weather, but with all of the beautiful trees covering the river and being right on the water it was actually a bit breezy at first.

Anxiously waiting for our tour boat and not

appreciating mom taking another picture.

Colton seemed to hang on every word of our tour guide.

Colton is standing in front of a twin cypress.  This tree was just outside our hotel and is huge!  As legend goes, this tree was a lookout for a Mexican sniper who picked off the Texans as they came for water. 

One of three drawbridges, this one lowers it's gate into the water and is very old.  It is used twice a year, once for testing and once for when the river is drained.  Our guide told us the most common article found at the bottom of the river is silverware!  I can imagine, with all those restaurants so close to the water.

Notice how the sidewalk has no railing along the water's edge.  This made me very nervous that first night as we went searching for ice cream.  It was packed and we were constantly passing people, following right behind one another.  At times, we'd have to stop to allow other people pass on our side of the walk because of someone stopping to wait to get into a restaurant.  Crazy! 

I finally got just comfortable enough during our second evening on the river to stop for a split second to take a picture of the crowds.  That's way too close.  I mean, I don't mind getting wet and all, but that is some nasty looking water.


Stay tuned for the Alamo!