A Girls' Weekend in San Antonio

Back in July, a girlfriend of mine and I spent a weekend in San Antonio! For those who know me IRL, San Antonio is one of my favorite cities to visit. It might be because it was where Drew and I went on our first vacation together in college or where we went for our first getaway (shoutout to La Cantera). We try to visit at least once per year, whether it’s a quick weekend trip or even a day trip from Austin.

My friend had never visited before so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for me to show her around one of my favorite places! Here is what we did for our girls’ weekend in San Antonio.

Travel Accommodations

Housing: We stayed at the San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk.
Our company has corporate rates so we were able to snag a great deal on our stay! This was a 5-minute walk away from the Riverwalk but away from most of the downtown San Antonio traffic – so would overall recommend this! Unfortunately, the valet line was surprisingly long and the entrance to the self-parking garage was closed. Luckily, there was a parking lot down the block for $10 per day we used during our stay.

Transportation: Car, walking, Lyft*, scootering
Since it was only a 3.5-hour drive from Houston, we drove to San Antonio. There were a few places we drove to (i.e. The Pearl) but we mainly walked to the Riverwalk and surrounding areas. On our last day, we ended up taking a pay-by-the-minute scooter to brunch! They have these all over the city and it’s a super unique and fun way to get around.

* This is my Lyft referral code for a free ride for new riders!

Packing List

Here is what I packed and actually ended up using (I always overpack because a girls gotta have options, ya know):

3 tops (shirt, tank, sleeveless sweater)
1 pair of jeans
2 dresses (1 black maxi, and this one for brunch)
Biker shorts
T-shirt
PJ set (similar)
Undergarments
Nippies
Birkenstocks
White sneakers (similar) + 2 pairs of socks
Heeled sandal
Toiletries (see my Paris packing list for my go-to toiletries)
Hair tie + no-slip hair clip
Make-up products
Hair tools + products (straightener, hairspray, wet brush, comb, dry shampoo)
Electronics
Purse
Mask
Hand sanitizer

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1

Both of us worked this day but headed to San Antonio around 4 pm that afternoon. Luckily the route is pretty straightforward from my house so we were able to make it to our hotel, San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk, by 7:30 pm. We relaxed at the hotel for a bit before getting ready and heading out to dinner.

Zocca Cuisine d’Italia

For our first night out, we walked from our hotel to Zocca Cuisine d’Italia for dinner. The walk took less than 10 minutes and was well lit and felt very safe, even at night. This restaurant is one of my favorite places to stop by, mainly for the location along the river. Given all of the capacity restrictions with COVID, we were lucky to grab a table without a reservation. While we didn’t get to sit outside because it was rainy, we enjoyed our fettuccine alfredo and margherita pizza.

Halcyon

After dinner, we took a Lyft to Halcyon in Southtown San Antonio. I had been to the Austin location so I knew it would be a fun experience. We specifically went for dessert, so we obviously had to order the S’mores for two. It came with enough graham crackers, chocolate, and (of course) marshmallows. They bring the flame?? straight to your table so you can immediately start enjoying your dessert. My favorite way to enjoy a s’more is at a crispy golden brown color, although I got a little impatient on my second and ended up getting too close to the flame and burning it oops. I loved the vibe of the bar/lounge and it reminded me of my carefree college days.

After dessert, we took a Lyft back to our hotel and called it a night, but not before watching late-night episodes of Friends!

Day 2

Our second day was a split between The Pearl area and exploring the Riverwalk. We started the day with a breakfast buffet at our hotel in the Cactus Flower restaurant. Unfortunately, it wasn’t included in our package but it was pretty good and we may have taken some items to go, but who’s asking?

The Pearl+ Surrounding Area

After breakfast at our hotel, we drove to The Pearl area for a morning of exploring. They had a parking lot in the surrounding area for $8 per day on the weekend (it’s $3 on weekdays). This area has a variety of shops, restaurants, an old brewhouse turned hotel (Hotel Emma), and even a spa. The area was historically home to a brewery but has since been revitalized to a favorite San Antonio destination. Not only is this area family-friendly, but they are also (and more importantly) DOG FRIENDLY! Next time we come, I’m bringing Gordo for sure!

They host a Weekend Market every Saturday and Sunday featuring local vendors that sell produce, meats, coffee, and my personal fave – homemade salsa! If we were local to San Antonio, I would frequent the market to buy produce and other goodies. We also explored the surrounding area, which includes many shops and restaurants. Some of my favorites that I always frequent include The Twig Book Shop and Ten Thousand Villages.

Sternwirth

As part of our exploration of the Pearl, we made our way to Hotel Emma and explored the lobby, Curio, and outer courtyard, which is my favorite photo spot. Honestly, if I had known about Hotel Emma when we got married, I would have highly considered this as a venue. The favorite part of our time at the Pearl was getting a private spot at the Sternwirth Tavern inside Hotel Emma. Every other time I’ve tried visiting this tavern, it’s been packed! Luckily we went early enough to avoid any crowds and actually get a booth. We ordered the french fries to share and I got a yummy berry mocktail!

The Shops at Rivercenter

Once we parked our car for the day, we walked across the street from our hotel to The Shops at Rivercenter for a quick escape from the summer Texas heat. This was your average shopping mall but didn’t have as many name-brand stores. There were a lot of souvenir shops, though (which my friend got a magnet from). One fun attraction they had was the Legoland Discovery Center. Honestly, it looked pretty fun but it was 90% children + 10% their parents but it might be a fun place to take my nephew one day!

Riverwalk Boat Tour

As part of our tour of San Antonio, I knew we just HAD to do a riverwalk boat tour! I’ve done this a few times over the years but it had been a while since going on one. I found Go Rio Cruises online and reserved our tickets in advance. We opted for a narrated tour. They also have dinner cruises, but they weren’t running those due to COVID. The ticket wasn’t for a designated time so we had flexibility on when we could use it. The website states that the boat departs every 15 minutes, but in reality, it was every time the boat filled up…which was closer to every 5 minutes.

Once we boarded the boat, the tour guide drove us down and around the river while giving us background on some of the buildings we drove by. My favorite part of the tour was going by the Arneson River Theater, which is where the swimsuit competition scene was filmed for Miss Congeniality (one of my all-time favorite movies). The entire tour took approximately 35 minutes, but beware, it’s 100% under the sun with no cover so sunscreen, sunglass, and/or sunhat up!

The Esquire Tavern

By the time we were done with the boat tour, we were pretty hungry (this was about 3 pm) so we opted for a late lunch. I made a last-minute reservation on our way to the restaurant, but I don’t think you need one for mid-afternoon. One of Drew’s favorite places to eat is The Esquire Tavern. If you know him, this would not surprise you. Imagine a dark and moody bar/lounge that has wood wainscoting and deep red velvet damask wallpaper. It’s located along the Riverwalk (we even saw it from our boat tour) so you could sit outside in the gallery area. We opted for indoor seating to be in air conditioning.

Side note: Drew has the soul of an early 19th-century scholar so wood, velvet, and liquor are the definition of his happy place. He also tried to transform his landing/office area to have this vibe and I had to shut that down (don’t worry, what we ended up with looks AMAZE).

We ordered two orders of chalupitas with grilled chicken. Each order came with 3 chalupitas and we each devoured them. To be honest, we probably spent another hour there to drink water and cool down from the 30+ minutes of direct sunlight we were under on our tour.

Unfortunately for us, by the time we headed out to go back to our hotel, it was pouring rain so we made an umbrella-less mad dash the 10 blocks back to our hotel. Luckily for us, we were able to jump in and out of McDonald’s and the good ‘ol Shops at Rivercenter to escape some of the rain. Once we got back to our hotel, we watched a few hours (oops) of Home Town Takeover on HGTV to dry off and cool down.

Boudro’s

Our dinner reservation was around 8:30 pm at Bourdro’s on the Riverwalk. It was river level and I’d highly recommend making a reservation beforehand! Once again, we opted to in inside because (1) it was still super hot and (2) it was extremely humid. Our waiter was very attentive and made us tableside guac (we ordered it as an appetizer). I ordered the southwest caesar and Gulf coast seacakes for my main meal, but the guac was very filling so I had leftovers.

After dinner, we opted to walk alongside the Riverwalk so we could see the shops and other restaurants. It was very lively and had lots of lights but also very tight. There’s no guardrail so if you accidentally got bumped, you better be careful or you might fall into the river (ok jk but our boat tour narrator said that people do fall into the river each year). Since it was pretty late, we walked down far enough until the shops/restaurants ended and made our way to street level. We walked back to our hotel and spent the night watching (you guessed it) Friends!

Day 3

Even on our last day, we had a pretty packed morning of exploring the city. We lucked out today and it was a clear day, which meant we could walk and, even better, scooter around!

Ocho

One of the places we were both super excited to go to was Ocho. Drew and I discovered this place a few years ago and have been itching to go back ever since! We stored our luggage at the hotel and scootered over. It was only a 10-minute scooter over, but very bumpy because a lot of San Antonio’s downtown roads are pavers. We used Bird but there are many different scooter brands on almost every corner. There are specific “no-ride zones” (i.e. The Alamo), but we didn’t have any issue with that on our route.

Ocho is part of Hotel Havana, which is also right along the Riverwalk. It is an add-on to the hotel and feels like a greenhouse. They don’t take reservations but we got there around 10:30 am and were able to grab a table before the crowd arrived. I ordered the Cuban Hash and did not regret one bite! It’s a little farther from downtown but I’d love to stay here one weekend.

The Alamo

After brunch, we walked to the Alamo for our timed tour. I would highly recommend ordering your ticket at least two days in advance if you want a specific time or a ticket at all because they only allow a limited number of people in at once. I ordered the day before and we almost didn’t get a ticket! We stopped by the Alamo store beforehand (so I could get an ornament and some air conditioning).

About 15 minutes before our designated entrance time, we made our way over and the ticket-checker let us in pretty much immediately. We opted for a self-guided walking tour and slowly made our way through the Alamo and the grounds. We spent about an hour exploring the exhibits, grounds, and gift shops. They were in the middle of major preservation projects so many of the rooms were closed off from visitors to prevent further decay.

We made our way back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage, changed into athleisure (finally!), and made our way back to home-sweet-home Houston.