This past Christmas, I persuaded Nathan to try out a “less things, more experiences” approach to gift giving and we surprised the kids with a weekend trip in San Antonio taking place a month and a half later. We booked an airbnb house at a great price with close proximity to all of our predetermined experiences. It was a 1940s row style house and we had run of the upstairs with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, and a bare bones kitchen. I even managed to save $60 on our admission fees to the Zoo and Aquarium by prepurchasing tickets on Groupon. Woot! With all of that set all, we just had to cross our fingers that fickle February weather would cooperate.

We arrived Friday night by 10pm after Nathan got off work and went right to bed. Good thing the house was as expected and we able to do so. Saturday morning, we started off with breakfast at Lulu’s Cafe and Bakery famous for their 3lb cinnamon rolls. Obviously we ordered one of those along with some breakfast tacos. Honestly, I thought we would make good on finishing the thing, but only got 1/3 of the way through it before all threw in the towel. Thankfully, the restaurant is used to this and efficiently wrapped the thing up for us guaranteeing unrefrigerated freshness for a week.

San Antonio Zoo was up first on the list of to-dos and we arrived about 30 minutes before they opened so we got in some photo ops.

The zoo was enjoyed by all but was lacking. It is easy to say that bird species made up a little under half of the exhibits and birds just aren’t our thing. And 3/4 of the Australia exhibit was empty or undergoing renovation. But! Almost all of the animals were extremely active and their reptile house was massive with lots on display. The weather wasn’t very cooperative changing on us overnight and producing an overcast, chilly day with scattered showers. This may have helped with keeping crowds down at first, but the numbers picked up significantly by the time we left around 1:30.

After eating our packed lunch in the park, we hopped on the train and enjoyed a leisurely ride around Brackenridge Park.

With a couple hours till our dinner plans, Mom and Dad had their time with beer sampling at Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling and Islla St. Brewing. Islla St. made the must revisit list for us. Apparently they rotate their taps weekly and we were there on IPA week (my favorite) and their variety was phenomenal. Now Nathan wants to chance a stout (his favorite) week sometime.

Dinner was lined up at The Magic Time Machine. We picked this place after reading about it online for its whimsical decor and wait staff that dress up like pop culture characters. It was quite an experience! So much so, I didn’t get a. single. picture while inside. The restaurant itself reminds me of something the Mad Hatter and Dr. Seuss would make up with randomness on the walls, ceilings and floors. There were ramps, stairs, twists and turns everywhere. Many of the tables were tucked in little coves surrounded by more randomness. Our server was a young lady dressed up as “Jessie” from Toy Story and she was adorable staying in character the whole time. “Major Pain” came by the table and gave the kids crap about their butt chins and told them to get jobs.😂 “Thor” was the bartender and we caught glimpses of Jasmine, Ace Ventura, Beetlejuice, Starlord, Elsa, Shaggy and Deadpool. Quite eclectic! And as you may have guessed, the scenery is really what this place has going for it. Cheese pizza and french fries for the kids, catfish platters for mom and dad. Meh. But the kids left just mesmorized if not a little over stimulated haha and you should have seen the crowd waiting for a table at 7pm.

Sunday morning started with, yep, leftover cinnamon roll for breakfast and we were off to the Alamo! This visit was mostly for Ashlyn and her increasing interest in history and historic buildings. Besides, remembering the Alamo is always a good idea. The boys found interest in some of the larger than life statues and weapons that were on display, while Ashlyn dove right in reading all the plaques and reliving the history.

Once again, just as the crowd began to file in there, we were on our way out. We did a quick detour over to the Menger Hotel, wandered through the courtyard and peeped in the window of the bar where Theodore Roosevelt made a famous recruitment stunt for his “Rough Riders” regimen by riding his horse into the bar and inspiring the men.

After lunch and a short rest at the house, we hit 3 more breweries! Freetail brewing, Kündstel Brewing and Blue Star. The final brewery turned out to be located along the more recently developed river walk section north of downtown. 4 out of 5 of us were totally down for a stroll! 1 out of 5 (Daddy) opted to drive lol! We walked about a mile past residences and popped up just before the main river walk attraction where Nathan was parked and waiting. 😄 Dinner was at the house and we were all in bed by 8.

Monday was go home day, but after one more experience! The San Antonio Aquarium. Once again, we arrived right before they opened and were one of 8 families in the entire place for the first hour. The Aquarium turned out to be a funny thing. There were probably 10 actual tanks with fish. Everything else were exhibits with actual animals. And quite a mix of them! Kangaroos, chickens, iguanas, a sloth, cavies, rabbits, groundhogs (one was actually hanging out in a tree! What?), llamas…the list could go on. And pretty much everything was up for grabs, literally. Touching all of the critters was encouraged. But, wait! There’s more! For $3 extra you could FEEEDDD the critters! Oh wait! For $20-$40 more you can HOOOLLLLDDDD the critters! Geez Louise. The kids got the “can i’s” out of their system fairly quickly and were happy with the 2 finger touch encounters. Soon a few caretakers came around and actually offered up some hand feedings for free and the kids were thrilled with that. I guess they figured the critters have to eat one way or another and if the place isn’t swamped enough with customers, why not share the fun. I approve. After 2 hours I started tapping my foot ready to get back to the country and pick up the youngest child from the kennel. While the Aquarium didn’t meet Mama’s expectation, it way surpassed the kids’ and Daddy’s and they proclaimed it as the best thing we visited the whole trip! Lol!

Everyone really enjoyed our winter break for the change in pace. We don’t do city vacations very often and we definitely won’t be due for another anytime soon. It was AMAZING never having to drive longer than 10minutes to all of our destinations, but the noise of staying in the city! Wow. Sleep was definitely lost. We did a bunch of touristy stuff, but were lucky/efficient with our timing and always managed to leave just before a crowd showed up, but I still was done with people after 3 days haha. All in all, the kids loved their Christmas present and said it was the best time. We may just have a new thing. 🤞🏻

Now for some time in the woods!

-Lindsay