Spring Vacation: Day Three

San Antonio, Texas:  For day three of our Texas trip we headed a little further from the downtown area to explore some of the some of popular city attractions, the zoo and the Witte Museum.  These were attractions that were highly recommended by our tour guide yesterday and always try to visit new zoos when we travel.  

We began our day with breakfast at Max and Louie's Diner.  Located in the Embassy Oaks Shopping Center, the New York style diner had a full menu of Big Apple favorites.  I had the Challah French Toast and it was probably the best French Toast that I ever had!  My wife had an omelet that she really enjoyed.  As I looked over the rest of the menu, there are plenty of other things I would have liked to try if we had the time.

Our first stop of the day was the San Antonio Zoo.  The fifty plus acre zoo is home to over 750 species of animals.  The zoo had a few animals we have not seen before and the animal exhibits made you feel like you weren't in a traditional caged zoo.  We enjoyed seeing the variety of big cats even if the lion wasn't on exhibit when we were here.  

Next we visited the Witte Museum.  This place covered everything from history to science!  A portion of the museum is dedicated to telling the story of South Texas and its culture.  Here we learned about the original pioneers, the catholic missions and of course the cowboys.  The science side of the museum displayed the prehistoric history of the land, the current biodiversity of the state and an exhibit dedicated to space and space artifacts.  Not only is the museum cool, the outdoor space along the San Antonio River shouldn't be missed either.

Afterwards we decided to head out of the city and enjoy some of the natural areas.  We wanted a chance to get out in nature and see wild Texas so we took a trip to Government Canyon State Natural Area.  The closest nature area to the city, the park offers over 40 miles of hiking trails with stunning views.  But unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't cooperate.  As soon as we parked the car, it started raining so we turned around and headed back towards town.  

On the way back, we spotted a C-5 doing pattern work at Lackland, so we headed over there to get some photos. Unfortunately that was the only thing flying while we were there but we did take a drive by the Boeing facility there and saw a bunch of Dreamliners getting outfitted here.    

When we got back downtown, we headed over to the Pearl to browse the shops.  The Pearl is a former distillery that has been converted to a lively spot with shops, restaurants and a hotel.  It is a great example of urban renewal.  With plenty of great open spaces, it is a hopping place!

For dinner today, we headed over to Good Time Charlies, a place that intrigued us on the bus tour yesterday.  Don't let the outside appearance fool you, there are good eats inside what appears to be a dive bar from the outside.  I had the country fried steak which they claim to be the best around.  It was delicious!  My wife had the the fish and shrimp and you definitely get your money worth as the portions are huge.

After dinner, we headed over to the airport for a little planespotting.  San Antonio International Airport provides service to a few airlines we do not see in Florida. On this visit, I was able to photograph Viva Aerobus, Ameriflight and Aeromexico Connect as well as the usual mainline airlines we see back home.  During our spotting time we even saw the private 757 owned by Mark Cuban as the Dallas Mavericks were in town to play the San Antonio Spurs.  

We then headed back to the hotel for our evening stroll on the Riverwalk and surrounding areas before finishing out our day.