Spring Break 2010

So this year, like every year, we went to San Antonio for Spring Break. My dad's birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day, so we always try to be down there with him on the day or around the day. This time we decided to make a little mini-vacation out of the trip since Charlie was off and could go with us. We decided to stay at the Hotel Contessa on the River walk.



It was a great place to stay. It is an all suites type hotel. (a la Embassy Suites) but way nicer in my opinion. You don't get the free breakfast, but as you will read, we didn't miss it a bit. The location of this hotel is perfect. It is right on the river walk, so you can easily walk to all downtown tourist locations; shops, restaurants, the Alamo, the tower, La Villita, etc.... Really my only complaints would be that they forgot to clean our room one day. How does that happen?? We were out ALL day no sign on the door! The other was the false fire alarm that went off one night at midnight. We were on the next to top floor, so it was a little scary for about 10 minutes, until we got the girls out of bed, and were in the stairway on floor 9 when we found out it was a false alarm. Thankfully both girls went back to bed pretty easily. Other than those 2 flukes, great place to stay!

So the day we arrived we ate at Casa Rio for dinner with my Dad and Myrtle. This is a San Antonio staple, classic, been there forever sort of place. We had margaritas, enchiladas, and tamales! Yummo!



Day 1: Had breakfast at McDonald's, a close 2 blocks away, then we went to the S.A. Zoo. We had a perfect weather day. The zoo there is very nice, parking could be better, but it is free so what do you expect. The girls enjoyed seeing all the animals. Sarah liked the flamingos, butterflies, and snakes. Lauren enjoyed the butterflies, bears, and desperately wanted to see the zebras that we never found. We managed to see the zoo all before lunch, so we left around 1 and went to eat at the Josephine Street Cafe. Later on after Lauren took a nap, we took a river boat cruise/tour and had a little dinner at an Italian place on the river walk. (we couldn't have Mexican food at every meal!)

They were celebrating St. Patrick's day down on the river, so a perfect opportunity to catch a quick photo with the Irish flag. The river was also dyed green. (You might notice in a few of the photos)

Day 2: We slept in so we were rushing a bit to get out to Sea World, so we had donuts and milk in the car. We had another fabulous weather day at Sea World. We hit the ground running when we got there. We saw the dolphins first, then went to go feed them. Sarah's favorite thing to do. Then we booked it over to see the 1st Shamu show, but the seats were all full, so we went to see the seals and otters instead. Afterwards, it was back over to Shamu so Sarah could get soaked, except, they somehow managed to not get wet while sitting in the splash zone. (I say they b/c Lauren and I stayed up top where it was nice and dry. Lauren also wanted to keep a safe distance...she was a little afraid) SO then we grabbed a little lunch and went back for try #3 with Shamu and the getting soaked. Third time was a charm! Drenched! Sarah's day was happy and complete. We then saw Big Bird's Beach Party, did a little shopping and was done for the day! Myrtle had prepared a nice dinner of King Ranch Chicken when we got back to their house!






Day 3: Breakfast at another old, S.A. staple, Schilo's. It was yummy, but a little slow. It was just crowded! We then took it pretty easy. We walked over to the Alamo and through Rivercenter mall a little bit.

We had a light lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe (we only at there b/c the kid's menu has lots of choices) then went back to the hotel for naps. Later that night we ate the best place in San Antonio for dinner. We eat here EVERY time I come home. It is my Dad's favorite place so it was his choice for his birthday dinner. Mi Tierra never closes. It is the happiest place on Earth (next to Disneyworld) in my opinion. It looks like Christmas all year long and it always packed. Full of people, mariachi music, good food, Mexican bakery treats, and margaritas. I have lots of great memories at this place! I hope my girls will too!