Downtown San Antonio

Beyond The Alamo and River walk there's a lot more to see in downtown San Antonio. We decided to explore the El Mercado market which is the largest Mexican shopping center in the city. It consists of indoor and outdoor shops with all the normal touristy stuff. You can buy anything from blankets, to pottery, leather purses, pure vanilla, and much, much more.

El Mercado Market

Feels like I'm in Mexico

Look at all those birds

Colourful pottery everywhere

Couldn't find anything in the market that we just had to have so we pushed on. This time we took the trolley to our next destination. It was super cheap and fun.

The trolley

Beautiful landscaping in downtown area

One of the most unique buildings in downtown San Antonio is the Emily Morgan Hotel. Overlooking the hollowed battlefield of The Alamo, this hotel was originally built as a medical center in 1924.

The Emily Morgan Hotel

Another building with lots of history is the Casino Club building on Market Street. It was San Antonio's first social club and theater formally opening in 1858.

The Casino Club Building

The Torch of Friendship is an abstract sculpture in downtown San Antonio that stands 65 feet high and weighs more than 45 tons. The sculpture was presented to the city from the Mexican government in 2002. In the background you can see The Tower of Americas.

The Torch of Friendship

All this sightseeing is making me hungry. When in downtown San Antonio you have to eat at The Buckhorn Saloon & Museum established in 1881.

Buckhorn

The Bar and Restaurant

Over 520 species of wildlife represented

Now before you think I like hunting, I don't. All these animals were mounted before I was even thought of. I came here for the food. We didn't go through the museum. Susan did try her hand in the shooting gallery. It's okay all the animals in the world are safe, she was 0 for 16 shots.

After lunch we went to Brackenridge Park for a walk but also to see some cool ducks. The San Antonio Zoo is attached to this park. As we walked by some people feeding the geese, one goose got very aggressive with Susan and bite her 6 times. Yes I came to her rescue.

Susan was goosed by this goose

An Egyptian Goose

A duck having a bad hair day

Lots of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks