Living Our Bucket List Life: Austin and San Antonio TX (July 2013)

My spouse and I travelled to Austin and San Antonio over the Independence Day Holiday in July 2013.

We flew into Austin, where we stayed for a quick overnight at the airport because we arrived so late at night after working all day.

Early the next morning, we rented a car and drove immediately to San Antonio (after stopping at the Circle K to load up on supplies!). We checked into the Hilton Palacio del Rio, located on the Riverfront, which was the "place to be" that weekend. Although we did not receive a riverview room, our balcony overlooked the park where the fireworks were held in the evening. And not only were there fireworks, but a huge street party as well, and we were able to view it from above and the privacy and comfort of our hotel room. On our first day in San Antonio, we ate lunch at Oro at the Emily Morgan, before walking along the Riverwalk. We enjoyed drinks at the Menger Bar, followed by afternoon drinks at Dirty Nelly's, and dinner at Las Ramblas at the Contessa Hotel. We watched the fireworks, and wandered around the "old town" area, where we ate some interesting shucked corn served in a cup, mixed with mayonnaise and spices.

The next morning, we took a San Antonio River cruise, followed by a trip to the Alamo. We enjoyed lunch along the Riverwalk at the busy County Line Barbecue, where while we waited for our table at the bar, the bartender encouraged us to try the most amazing whipped cream topping ever (tasted like Cool Whip to us!) We ate dinner that night at Iron Cactus.

The next morning, we set out bright and early for Austin, stopping along the way for two different kinds of barbecue at the Kreuz Market (the pit room was amazing!) and Black's (where one of the items we ate was an enormous "bronotsaurus" rib). In Austin, it was tremendously hot! (Amazing how cool the Riverwalk made San Antonio seem!) We visited Texas A&M before enjoying drinks at the Driskill Grill. We had dinner that evening at Uchi, which was terrific! (We had hoped to eat at Qui, but it had only opened the week before, too late to obtain a reservation. The next morning, we walked around to sample the food truck cuisine, but did not realize that the time for food trucks is in the late evening/early morning hours when the bars let out. It was a great first trip to two famous Texas cities!

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