Remembering the Alamo

It's not set in stone, but I think I am going to spend winter semester in San Antonio. I miss it so much sometimes! For those that don't know, I grew up with my dad in the army. I lived in San Antonio a total of 7 years (with 2 years in Maryland in between). Now that he has retired, my parents have chosen to reside in Arizona. Here are a few of the places I have been missing:


McNay Art Museum. Once a house owned by a lady who had quite the little collection (Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Auguste Rodin, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso, to Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, John Sloan, and Marsden Hartley to name a few); in her will she asked for it to be made into a museum. I went here for the first time in 3rd grade and have been back many times since. I have great memories of this place. I'm hoping I can get an internship here. This also happens to be the most popular place in San Antonio for girls to take their quinceanera pictures (these are a big deal).


May sound silly, but Central Market really is the best grocery store in the world. Whenever anyone would come to visit we would take them. I met Tommy Lee Jones here once.


King William's District. The most amazing houses surrounded by excessive amounts of green. Lots of old pecan and cypress trees. I love getting lost in this neighborhood.


Twin Sister's Bakery and Cafe. My mother spent a year trying to recreate their peanut butter granola bars (our recipe ended up being better in my opinion). This place has art work for sale on the walls and brussels sprouts in their sandwiches. Last time I went here, there was an old VW van outside owned by a folk band playing inside whose youngest member had to be at least 45. It's located in a little subdivision called Alamo Heights whose high school Jay Leno once named the snobbiest high school in America.


Don't forget the River Walk. Yes, it is very touristy, but you can find some pretty good texmex down here and you really cannot deny its beauty. This is a picture of my cousin and me when she came to visit my junior year of high school.

Apple Annie's Tea House is about as wonderfully tacky as you can get. Order the queso soup. I love to go here with my girlfriends. It's located in the most perfect location - the Artisan's Alley which just so happens to be home to some of the best antique shops in all of San Antonio.



Sam's Burger Joint. San Antonio has a major lack of good live music. Sam's really tries (although often fails). Luckily Austin is only an hour and a half away. The burgers are great however and they have the best decor (think Hard Rock Cafe, but more original).


Bet you didn't know we have one too. It's called the Tower of America's and was built in 1968 for the World's Fair. A couple of friends and I climbed it (the stairs of course) to help raise money for Cystic Fibrosis. There was a lady throwing up on one of the platforms on our way up.



My old house on post is probably what I miss most, although now I am only able to admire it from the outside (think 12 foot high ceilings, old maid’s quarters, butler’s parlors, bath tubs with feet and creaky wooden floors).




Just wanted to include these pictures as well. The first is from my 12th birthday (I actually lived in a house down the street from the one pictured above at the time -this was from the first time I lived in San Antonio). The girl in the top row in the very middle attends TCU and has been my best friend since 5th grade. The other picture is from my junior or senior year of high school. A few of my siblings and I are playing hopscotch outside a building on post called the quadrangle. Built in 1876 (and therefore the oldest building on Fort Sam) deer, rabbits, peacocks etc. run around free on the inside and you can feed all of them! Geronimo was housed here (legend has it that he refused to eat army food, and the wild animals were added for him to hunt) after his surrender in 1886.


Really there is so much more (some of the best estate sales by the way) and I cannot wait to visit all the places I’ve been missing. I lived here last winter and bought the most amazing cake stand (you can’t tell but it has a little bunny and flowers on it) a type writer and 5 or so 8-tracks. I didn’t have room to bring everything home with me and so I am very excited to see them again. Anyone that wants to come visit me is more than welcome!