SLOW SALLY & CREW

On several previous road trips from Canada to Mexico, we passed through San Antonio, Texas without ever contemplating dropping in to visit. In my mind, it was just a big sprawling city between destinations. This preconception was turned upside down last year when I saw an Instagram photo of San Antonio’s famous River Walk. It was almost as stunning as it was unbelievable – a little piece of Venice in Texas!

This year, San Antonio lay directly along our route to Mexico, so we decided to stop in for a day of urban exploring. From Hill Country, we headed south to San Antonio, armed only with high hopes and an Instagram photo. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, just ‘winging it’ when it comes to travel is a sure way to experience either pure awe or utter disappointment. In San Antonio, we experienced a bit of both. Based on this latest escapade, we’re sharing with you some dos and don’ts for an urban vanlife adventure in the second largest city in Texas.

Don’t… drive into the City during rush hour on a Friday evening. This may seem obvious, but it never crossed the minds of two adventurers, just meandering through Texas, blissfully unaware of the day of the week or the fact that productive people would be busily commuting to and from working. We spent 45 minutes sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, desperately navigating our way along the huge freeway and snaking interchanges in slow, not-so-manoeuvrable Sally, with the lovely sunset shining directly into our eyes. By the time we arrived our Cracker Barrel ‘campsite’ on the outskirts of the city, it was dark, and our nerves were frayed.

Don’t… leave your van’s headlights on for several hours after arriving at your destination, whether it be Cracker Barrel, or another campsite. All evening I was wondering why people were rudely shining the headlights at us. In hindsight, they were trying alert us to the fact that we were idiots. These attempts to get our attention went unheeded and it wasn’t until Walter’s bedtime walk that we realized the headlights were still on. Facepalm moment! On the bright side, it was a good test of our battery, which thankfully still had enough juice to get Sally started in the morning.

Do… park for a night (or two) right downtown in San Antonio, along the famous River Walk. Overnight street parking in a van or RV seems to be accepted (or at least tolerated) by the city, it’s cheap (~ $3 USD/day and free overnight), and it feels relatively safe. It makes a perfect base for exploring the city and is better in every way than camping at the noisy Cracker Barrel.

Do… plan your sightseeing around the River Walk. It’s touristy but truly spectacular. The downtown section is particularly interesting and connects many of the city’s best sights and attractions. In our opinion, the River Walk alone was worth the visit.

Don’t… visit during the bi-annual maintenance of the River Walk. During the maintenance period, the City drains several sections of the river, transforming it from a magical aquatic environment to a sad, dirty, empty canal. Maintenance began the day we arrived – argh! – and affected the section we were parked along, among several others. Thankfully some sections, including the portion that loops through the downtown, were unaffected.

Don’t… expect to find a lot of action in the city’s Main Plaza. But, do visit it. The San Fernando Cathedral and surrounding civic buildings are historic, ornate, and photo-worthy. But the vibe in plaza is strange. In a part of the city that would typically be bustling with activity on a Saturday morning, the plaza was dead. Many of the storefronts were empty with broken or boarded up windows. It felt like a ghost town, and we wondered aloud “where are all the people?”. There must be an interesting explanation for it.

Do… visit South Town. This is where we finally found lots of people! It’s an artsy, creative, eclectic part of downtown full cool buildings, funky shops, and inviting cafes, restaurants, and bars. We spent much of the afternoon in South Town sipping coffee on Halcyon’s dog-friendly patio and later, drinking local craft beer at The Friendly Spot. Everyone else was there to watch football on the big screen but we were there to enjoy the energetic atmosphere. I’m sure the fact that we had our backs to the screen was puzzling to all the football fans. South Town was an unexpected highlight of our time in the city.

Don’t… show up at the Alamo at the end of the day (~5:30 pm); that’s when it closes! It was yet another reminder that a little planning goes a long way. Expect to find a lot of people at the Alamo, even at closing time. It was nearly impossible to snap a picture of the renowned building without capturing hordes of tourists in front of it. That said, do visit the Alamo because it has great historical significance – “Remember the Alamo!”.

Do… consider taking a free walking tour of the city with Amigo Walking Tours. It’s very highly rated on Google, and it would have been a perfect way to learn more about the city and get answers to so many of the questions that we pondered as we spent the day exploring. Unfortunately, by the time we learned about the tour, it was too late.

Don’t… just show up to San Antonio and wing it like we did. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know we have a bad habit of showing up without a plan, especially in big cities. A little planning would have gone a long way to making our experience in the city a much smoother and richer one. That said, I do maintain that there’s something exciting about showing up to a place and just seeing what happens!

Do… Stay Tuned!

Stay tuned for our next post, in which we’ll share a side of vanlife that most people don’t see: the mundane, the bad and the ugly.