On The San Antonio River Walk

I thought I'd share a few pictures from the San Antonio Riverwalk.

We arrived later than I had hoped on Friday, and Tikka and I were both ready to get out of the car and stretch our legs.  Dallas had been cooler than usual for early August, and the temperature when we hit San Antonio was a bit of a shock to our systems — 99° at 7PM.  I remember Texas heat from my childhood, but I am no longer used to it.

It didn't seem intolerable on the river walk, probably because we were out of the direct sun.  Tikka was eager for a walk and we went two miles.  I was surprised because she had not been eager to walk once the heat and humidity hit Knoxville, but maybe it was the humidity more than the heat.  

After our walk, I took Tikka back to the hotel and went back out to dinner.  We were staying on the river walk, a little over half a mile from the busiest part of the Riverwalk, where the majority of the restaurants and hotels were located, but I didn't walk quite that far back, dining at somewhat trendy, modern Mexican place, Acenar, where I enjoyed some lovely duck tacos and a perfectly balanced jalapeno cucumber margarita.  

The next morning was cooler, and quite humid, and our walk was shorter.  I don't know if Tikka was tired from the previous evenings walk in the heat, or if it is actually the humidity that she dislikes, more than the heat.   

We walked the opposite direction in the morning, toward the Pearl District, and although we did not walk quite that far, or as far as the previous evening, we still managed a mile and a half or so.  There were more social opportunities for Tikka in the morning as there were quite a few people walking their dogs, and I was happy with the location of our hotel, closer to residential areas, where there was a steady stream of walkers and runners. 

We did not feel either crowded, or isolated, on our walks and we were in a good place.  The last time I had stayed on the River in San Antonio, a couple of years earlier with my mom, we were in the heart of the shopping and restaurant district, where it was both crowded in the evening, but empty-feeling and almost abandoned in the early morning.   This felt like a much more balanced place; whereas the streets above still seemed almost empty, there was a nice mix of old and young, runners and walkers, residents and visitors.