San Antonio Has an Energy You Can Feel

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Pearl is perhaps the third most famous attraction in San Antonio, a former brewery complex now filled with a food hall, space to picnic, a riverside arena and many cool bars, cafes and restaurants.
Pearl is perhaps the third most famous attraction in San Antonio, a former brewery complex now filled with a food hall, space to picnic, a riverside arena and many cool bars, cafes and restaurants.
Brian Benavidez leads the way with a speaker so that the people on his tour can hear the commentary, downtown San Antonio.
Brian Benavidez of Mural Rides leads the way with a speaker so that the people on his tour can hear the commentary, in downtown San Antonio.

I’ve spent the past two days in San Antonio and I am really feeling that this city is growing on me. I had some ideas about what to expect but as so many times during my travels, when I’ve been able to ride around and talk to lots of people it becomes clear. There are so many things to do in San Antonio, and there is a liveliness and a good energy here.

IMG 3138Some places like San Antonio are on the way up, growing, enlarging, improving, and others struggle.  The city’s southside is filled with empty buildings and vacant lots that are just waiting for the right person…and many apartments are under construction here, not all just for the very rich. Rent is affordable here, I was told.

The one quote I heard, again and again, is that the city is like a small town…many people know each other and it feels smaller than a city of 7 million.

We took a bike tour of San Antonio, riding around downtown, and for the most part, we were on bike paths. A beautiful new bike lane was just being finished,  and we viewed one of about 200 murals that have been commissioned across the city.

Murals Everywhere

Pabst Blue Ribbon recently moved its headquarters to San Antonio, so the company paid to have ten of the murals painted.  Brian Benavidez, the owner, is a true bike nut, and he told us that the city is very supportive of bicycle riders.  In fact on the night we were riding, Brian said a social ride would put more than 100 cyclists out on a group ride, sort of like the famous Critical Mass rides in Portland.

There are many open-air bars and music joints in the city, one that we passed is located right next to the river and has swings as well as many outdoor tables, it’s called Elsewhere.   Because of the climate, there are these kinds of juke joints scattered all over, along with open-air taco stands and bars.

Riverwalk view from Tre, the restaurant at the San Antonio Museum of Art.
Riverwalk view from Tre, the restaurant at the San Antonio Museum of Art.
The lobby of the elegantly restored Hotel Emma at Pearl.
The lobby of the elegantly restored Hotel Emma at Pearl.
Charcuterie plate at Cured, featuring aged hams and other farm-raised meats.
Charcuterie plate at Cured, featuring aged hams and other farm-raised meats.

I took a tour of the Hotel Emma which was built at the former Pearl Brewing company complex and this part of the city is one of the highlights…Pearl.  It has a large square where people can picnic and relax at tables that was once a parking lot. Thank God for that.

San Antonio Restaurants

And there is a food hall and many other restaurants including Cured, where I dined last night.  Getting a chance to tour the top floor “Emma Room” was a trip–what a gigantic and opulent suite, complete with an oversized deck and a second-floor bedroom.

There is so much cool, fun, and intriguing about San Antonio, it is hard to know where to start. And after two days here I am seeing what so many others realized–this is a great place to live, well, at least now before the terrific heat of summer engulfs the place.  That’s about the only thing that would keep this New Englander from living here, I’ll take a snowstorm over a humid July day any time!

To find out more about San Antonio visit this website, visitSanantonio.com, or a local site like SA Current.