Day 4 (San Antonio): Leaving for South Padre

Only one night in San Antonio.  River Walk is a great place, though I feel like the selection of nightlife was somewhat better in Austin.  The crowd was limited on a Saturday night, though that might be a sign that everyone has gone to the Texas Shore for Independence Weekend.

This morning we went out to Guenter House.  It's an elegant place on the banks of the river, a historic mansion with museum.  But despite the phone operator saying that there would be no wait, seats were not available for over an hour.  So instead were at El Milagrito.  It's not as fancy, but it's cheap, no wait and it has 4 stars on Yelp.

Probably a 3 hour drive to South Padre.

Day 3 (San Antonio): Guns

After our celebration of Texan emancipation at the Alamo, we headed to "A Place to Shoot" for a primer in guns.  Three of us shot about a box a piece of rounds from a Beretta 9mm into a target 100 feet away.  Scary, loud, but fun.

A brief rest then off to the San Antonio Tower to look over the city.

Day 3 (Austin): Farewell to Austin

Two days in Austin concludes with a farewell breakfast at Jo's.  The selection of omlettes, pancakes and breakfast tacos was great.

A two hour drive on to San Antonio.  We're noticably surprised that downtown by the Crowne Plaza in S.A. is far more run down than anything we saw in Austin.

Day 3 (San Antonio): Remember the Alamo and Eat Local

Saw the Alamo a few minutes after arriving in town. We had all pictured it as a building far off in the desert.  It make much more sense that the city's downtown was built right around the complex.

For lunch we then headed off to the Cove.  The place has a sign up top that reminds you to eat local.  Right next to that sign is one that reminds you that they are the home of the fish taco.  (Remember that San Antonio is mostly landlocked, except for its river.  But in their defense, they have a map of the local farms from which their meat comes.)

Day 2 (Austin): Barton Springs and Uncle Billy's Brewhouse

After that heavy breakfast, we headed over to the Barton Springs pool.  The pool was built by damming up a river and pouring concrete walkway alongside it.  Fresh, unchlorinated water.  Hours of diving off a board and swimming up and down.

We topped it off with a flight of local brews, just down the block at Uncle Billy's Brewhouse.  Great combination, and we got a growler of our favorite to go-

Day 2 (Austin): Breakfast at Juan in a Million

6th Street was amazingly Rudy last night. That seemed a bit different for a Thursday night in a not-really-a-College town.

Not so classy neighborhood.  But great food.  Even the birds love it after you're done.

Day 1 (Austin): Salt Lick

Dinner at the Salt Lick, approximately 20 miles out of downtown.  The restaurant was featured on Man vs. Food.

It's a bit difficult to find.  We ended up at an abandoned ranch a bit up the road from the correct place.  Had to double back twice.  But getting here was definitely worth the effort.  The smells from the parking lot are amazing -- charcoal and heavy spice.  The eat-in wait is about 2 hours.  The take-out line is only about 20 minutes to place an order.  Best meat dishes ever.  Great BBQ sauce as well.

Off to 6th Street tonight.