San Antonio on a Whim

When my son and I decided to run to San Antonio for a couple of days and a jazz concert, we had to be careful to not enjoy the "fun" things such as Six Flags, Sea World, or anything else that would make my daughter feel like she was cheated out of a trip. Luckily, my son had just studied the missions of San Antonio, and we had a great time learning and re-learning Texas history and spending some great father/son time together.

We were touring the missions on the Sunday following the death of Pope John Paul II. The contrasts of the news reports via satellite and the struggles faced by the padres almost 300 years ago brought the history of the Catholic church in San Antonio to life in a way that I didn’t expect. The day we were there, the church was celebrating the Feast of Mercy, a feast granted to the universal church by Pope John Paul II. The processional of the local parish members around the 270-year-old Mission San Jose on a rose petal-covered path was colorful, musical, and very moving.

The missions were fun and educational. Equally interesting were the River Walk and the Hemisfair Park. A trip to the top of the Tower of Americas was an event to remember – once we stepped outside into the cold wind whipping around the tower 58 stories up in the air.

We topped the weekend off with a jazz concert at Beethoven Hall at Hemisfair Park. San Antonio seems to be obsessed with water, but we found that art, food, and music all play important parts of the city’s personality.

Quick Tips:

We drove down from Dallas and luckily found a book of hotel discount coupons along the way. Even though we had reservations at the hotel, we were able to call and change our reservations to the discount rate, saving over over two nights. We found much good information about San Antonio events and attractions at the San Antonio Convention Bureau website. Look for the S.A.V.E. icon on the page to see listings of hotel discounts and the Calendar of Events.

Another brief but useful page of information is found at www.sawebsite.com, a page that describes the major tourist attractions in San Antonio.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking around San Antonio is the best way to experience the sights, sounds, smells, and to really get the details. We estimated that on Sunday we walked almost 8 miles in downtown San Antonio, but we had to get in the truck to see the missions. Finding parking when we returned was a challenge, and we ended up parking in the free lots by the Hemisfair on Durango.

While at the missions, we noticed several folks who were wearing stickers that said "Trolley Day Pass" (or something to that effect). Talking with some of these people, we found that San Antonio City Tours offers one-hour tours for and a day pass for on more. With today’s gas prices, I believe I spent that much looking for parking spaces.

The Hampton Inn San Antonio Northwest/Sea World is a nice enough hotel, with a couple of pluses and a couple of definite minuses.

First of all, like most Hamptons, it is inexpensive to stay at this hotel. My son and I stayed there, and two nights was less than $160. Anything that price in a city the size of San Antonio is good, and for a secure, clean hotel, it is a great price. The complimentary breakfast is also a nice money-saver, equal to about $10 per day for the two of us.

The hotel was very clean. From the front door, through the lobby, elevator lobby, hallways, and into the room. Someone has defined cleanliness at a high standard for this hotel, and the staff is implementing that definition.

All that said, there were definite limitations to the level of quality one can buy for $80 per night. The beds were a normal size for a double room, but the mattresses were soft and a bit old to be in service. The furniture in the room was presswood cabinets (no closet), and the desk and chairs were tiny.

The miniature desk and chair were probably a result of the small room. I have been in many hotel rooms and only one smaller than this room. The room had an ironing board, but I believe I would have had difficulty finding a place to open it. We weren't in the room much, so it wasn't a problem, but we'll often travel with the family of four and stay in a double room. That would not have worked here - and if someone had been sick or bad weather had kept us at the hotel, we would have been miserable.

The breakfast and food service was very basic, and eating cereals and pastries, even the most basic works well for me. I do not recommend trying to eat a hot breakfast there, as the gravy and biscuits were a bit under par.

I won't recommend this hotel to others, and the most significant reason is due to a sign in the lobby. It warned that guests should be certain they leave absolutely no valuables in their car. A recent increase in the number of burglaries in the parking lot had prompted this notice. While we've learned to tolerate a lot while traveling, broken transportation and theft can be a huge waste of time and a source of unneeded stress. Although I did feel that the hotel, with all-indoor room access, is reasonably safe, next time I'll probably stay in a slightly better neighborhood.

I’ve always found that the best way to find a good restaurant is to find one with a parking lot full of local cars. On the way to the Mission San Jose, my son and I decided that it was time to eat a bit of lunch. We were driving south on Roosevelt Avenue, and just past the entrance to the mission, we found Bill Millers BBQ restaurant.

When we walked in, we found a few empty tables and a long line. I tolerated the complaints of my hungry son and decided we would wait through the line for some local barbeque. The line moved quickly, and within 5 minutes, we were headed to our table with big plates of food. The line begins with a choice of entrées: barbeque sandwiches, ribs, and sliced meat seemed to be the favorites. A selection of side items – green beans or black beans, hash browns or Spanish rice, slaw, and baked potatoes – made it clear that this restaurant would satisfy the traditional barbeque lover as well as the local Hispanic population. The pie rack was too tempting to pass up, and we each selected our favorite.

I got the ribs. They were some of the best I have eaten, thoroughly cooked but tender and loaded with meat. The hash-brown potatoes and slaw were served in large portions, and it made a good meal. They serve both sweet and unsweetened tea, and the sweet tea was good, and not too sweet, a mistake often made by those who serve sweet tea. And the pecan pie – wow! It was absolutely perfect.

My son got the barbeque sandwich, fries, and brownies. The sandwich is served on a po’ boy roll, and it had a lot of meat. The only complaint was that it had too much sauce that made the roll a bit soggy. But he couldn’t make it through both brownies, so I know it filled him up.

I knew I had found the local, single gem of a restaurant. Then I began seeing more Bill Miller BBQ restaurants around town. Later I looked at their website to find that there are 51 Bill Miller restaurants in San Antonio, Austin, and Corpus Christi. Find more about the restaurants at billmillerbbq.com. Or, drop in next time you are in the area and try it for yourself.

Rushing to get to the Maynard Ferguson concert at Hemisfair Park, my son and I were looking for a quick bite in less than 45 minutes somewhere on the streets of San Antonio on a Sunday evening. Finding a restaurant is no problem. Getting in and out in 45 minutes and back to the concert hall was the problem, and we didn’t want to settle for fast food.

We lucked out when we entered Villita, a preserved old neighborhood in San Antonio. Less than a half block from Hemisfair Park, we found Guadalajara Grill. It looked more like a bar than a restaurant, and we chose indoor dining just so we would be able to keep an eye on the server and be certain he kept an eye on us.

Our server rushed us to a table, dropped some chips and salsa on the table, and asked what we were drinking. I took the menus and asked him to bring us some iced tea, turning my head toward the menu as a sign for him to get moving. We had 40 minutes left.

The menu contained the standard Tex-Mex entrées, and I knew most of those would be quick. My son insisted on a personal pizza, so I decided to go with the saffron chicken. The tea arrived and we place our order. Thirty-five minutes remaining.

The outdoor tables on the patio seat more than the interior. Not only are the tables large and comfortable, but they offer a great view of all the tourists pouring in and out of Villita. Service is probably a little faster indoors, as the servers had fewer tables each, but the folks outside didn’t seem to be hurried, anyway.

Our food arrived, and we began to eat, but two bites into his pizza, my son produced that, "I know I ordered it and you’ll have to pay for it, but I don’t like it" look on his face. So we swapped. The pizza had sauce, a layer of refried beans, and a very nice selection of peppers, onions, meats, and other stuff my sons finds yucky. I got a bite of my chicken, and it was good, but it was soon consumed, and we drained our tea as I waited for my server to process the credit card I handed to him as he walked by after delivering a load of food to the birthday party. Twelve minutes.

The server wrestled with the credit card machine and said a few things about the cashier, who he obviously thought should have taken care of it for us, and he still got us out of there with 7 minutes to spare and enough time to get a T-shirt and rush to our seats. Naturally, the concert started 30 minutes late.

Twenty years had passed since I last saw Maynard Ferguson. As a jazz saxophone player, I was always in awe of his ability to keep a stream of extremely talented musicians filling the seats of his Big Bop Nouveau band. I was concerned about his ability to play as he approaches his 77th birthday, but those concerns were put to rest when he played his first note.

Before Maynard took the stage, a couple of his band members with new CDs played a couple of songs each. Drummer Stockton Hebling (yes, that’s his real name) gave a preview of his skills, only to surpass this demonstration later in the concert. Musical director and trombonist Reggie Watkins also gave us a taste of his new release, and his incredible technical and musical skills got the crowd ready.

Then came the Boss. Sporting a cast on his wrist and older than I expected, Maynard walked on with the same confidence that indicated he was still the leader of the band. His playing time was limited, and the notes were not as high as they were 20 years ago, but the notes he played still had that rich, broad tone that only a trumpet master can produce. His skill as a musician has been surpassed by his skill as a music leader. He has put together a band of young, brilliant musicians who play with enthusiasm, skill, smiles, and laughter.

The show was in the 600-seat Beethoven Hall, and we found third-row tickets once we arrived in town. I hear there are no bad seats in the auditorium, but that was no concern to us, as we were close enough to hear them clear their spit valves.

Maynard’s trademark was his ability to play very high notes. Now he has a young stud, Patrick Hession, who plays his parts on a medley of classic tunes that made Maynard famous, like Gonna Fly Now (theme from Rocky), MacArthur Park, and others. But the thrill of the night was when they finished with Birdland, and Matt Parker made his tenor sax sing like few can do it.

I had fun – just plain giddy fun sitting there with my son (a trumpet player) and watching his eyes light up as he experienced something he had never seen. I understood great jazz before the concert. We appreciated it together for hours after the concert. Catch Maynard Ferguson if he comes to your town. Or drive 5 hours with a kid and watch a new dimension in music enter his world in a matter of a couple of hours.

The San Antonio river walk proved to be interesting to both myself and my son during a recent visit. Although I was worried that he would be bored walking along the river, I do not believe anyone would be bored with a couple hours of walking and dining in downtown San Antonio.

We began strolling casually along, enjoying the many things to see on the river walk. Because the river turns, we alternated from sunlight to light shade, to dark shade under the bridges. It was a photographic challenge at times, but kept us from getting very hot as we walked along.

The walkway is directly next to the water. There is definitely a hazard of falling in, and we found ourselves gasping a couple of times as young kids ran around and challenged the forces of inertia and gravity. The advantage of being that close is that you can hear the informational tidbits tossed out by the tour-boat captains. Listen to them as they go by and you'll learn even more about San Antonio.

If you go hungry onto the river walk, you'll be fine. There are plenty of good restaurants with tables in the shade on the banks of the river. We had already eaten, so we didn't sample the food, but the smells were great. Some of the restaurants will have what we labeled "cutie magnets" – young, attractive ladies out front saying hello to the folks walking by, offering them good seats in their restaurants. I heard one gentleman ask the hostess what discount she could offer if they ate there, and she quickly told him of a coupon-less 2-for-1 entrée offer they could have. So ask - their jobs are to get you to sit down. Let them up the ante a bit.

Take your time and notice the sculptures, statuaries, and fountains along the walk. And most importantly, notice the people. You'll see all kinds along the river walk.