San Antonio Wknd - March 2008

Another George Strait related trip!  We went to San Antonio for a weekend getaway and to see the George Strait Team Roping Classic held at the San Antonio Rose Palace.  Mike's aunt and uncle were also at the event, which made it more enjoyable.  They got to the arena very early in the morning to secure good seats on the benches!

We flew in Fri afternoon and got to the arena by 4pm.  We went to the Riverwalk to explore Fri and Sat evenings as well as Sun for a few hours before flying back home.  We stayed at the KOA (TA Review) to have a camping experience on our "rodeo" type weekend.

Next time we go back, we definitely want to stay downtown.

Downtown San Antonio

Both the Riverwalk and The Alamo are downtown.  The Riverwalk is a beautiful walk area along the river with lots of restaurants, shops, and hotels.  The area is very green with plants and flowers, which is a nice break for the brown, desert, dry conditions of the rest of the city.

You can take a river tour on boats that are constantly going by filled with people.  You can eat dinner on these boats also by making reservations at participating restaurants, Cafe Ole, for example, offers these "floating dinners."  There are mariachi bands, especially at nighttime, that are going through the restaurants playing for guests.

We were in town over the weekend they were celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  There was a very small parade that went down the river with floats of bagpipe players and other locals dying the river green.

The Alamo is also downtown, very close to the Riverwalk.  We spent some time going through some of the museum areas.  It was lit up various colors at night, which may have been due to an art festival that was in town the same weekend.  I'm not sure if it looks like that at night all the time.

There was so much going on downtown and you can walk to everything.  We never paid more than $10 for parking while we were downtown.  There are tons of garages and lots.

The San Antonio Rose Palace

The George Strait Team Roping Classic (GSTRC) has been held at the Rose Palace annually for several years, but started somewhere else.  This year was the 26th year of the event.  I'm a huge fan and have always wanted to go to see George rope!

We were lucky to have family there that has been going to the event for at least the past 10 years.  They sort of explained things to us and saved us seats.  People get there as early as 5am to start lining up for seats!!  I'm so glad we didn't have to get there that early, but it was very nice of them to save us seats.

The event starts on Fri about 10am and goes ALL DAY LONG!  They have hundreds of teams and they have to narrow it down to the top 50 teams for the finals on Sat.  We heard they can go as long as 2am if necessary.  We got there in time to see George Strait (GS) and his son rope.  They didn't do so well, but it was pretty neat to watch for a GS fan!  After his run, GS comes back up the arena so all the fans can touch his hand and take pictures.  We left by 7pm, so we could go find our KOA.

Things also start at 10am on Sat and are usually finished by 1-2pm.  They had "cowboy church" Sat morning also before the event.  Before things start on Sat, GS comes out and talks a little to thank the sponsors, participants, and fans.  After the winner is announced, they set up the trucks and trailers that they win and take lots of pictures with GS.

There were a few options for food on site.  One place had sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers.  Another had BBQ brisket that was just okay.  There are also several vendors selling things like cowboy boots (I got a new pair!), clothing, jewelry and furniture!

We had a great weekend and I would like to visit San Antonio again!