san antonio

last weekend i went to a conference in san antonio and dragged marty along (which is quickly becoming a conference trend) since neither one of us had ever stepped foot in texas. now i can't speak to the rest of the state but i think san antonio was a pretty great place for us first-timers. it is an intense tourist destination and but still offers enough in the way of neighborhood gems to not get overwhelming. 

for our inaugural tex-mex meal, we headed to rosario's in southtown, where we cooled off with huge beers and margaritas, and shared ceviche and queso. this is also where we ate the best fire-roasted tomato salsa in the universe. no, seriously. 

 after over-indulging at rosario's, we spent the rest of our first afternoon walking off our food comas and ducking into the shops in la villita, a historic arts village in downtown san antonio. it took a lot of convincing (3 days worth, in fact) to dissuade marty from buying the below-pictured poncho.

 it's true what they say: everything, including these tchotchke jelly beans, is bigger in texas.

 of course we had to go see the alamo, which provided the some of the best people watching i've ever experienced. we cooled off in the shade in alamo square with a pina colada snow cone.

 after wandering around the city the rest of the day, we ended up at our hotel for room service and overpriced cocktails.

our second day began with a leisurely stroll on the riverwalk, where we found another tex-mex fix at acenar. this is where i developed a pretty serious obsession with mole sauce, and got to enjoy more fire-roasted salsa, which, inexplicably, is served in clear glass vases that must come in bulk from ikea because every restaurant in san antonio uses them (see below:).

 after braving the riverwalk crowds, we rented cruisers from a san antonio bike share kiosk for a midday ride through southtown to the blue star arts complex, a contemporary art venue built out of old warehouses that also includes apartments, a bike shop, and a brewery. since it was sunday, the only business in the complex that was open was the brewery. we were so sad. 

that's marty looking sad that all of the sculpture and jewelry stores were closed.

our second hotel featured a pretty great view of downtown san antonio.

 on our third night, after i finished with the first day of my conference, we walked to southtown (again!) and hit up the friendly spot icehouse for happy hour. this place reminded me most of new orleans: it was dog-, kid- and bike-friendly, everyone seemed to know each other, and it had a super rad vibe. afterward we walked over to rosario's again. i'm telling you, that salsa.

of course, no trip with marty would be complete without him doing his pole trick somewhere in town.