Day 28 - San Antonio: Casa Navarro, La Villita, Yaguana gardens, Hemisfair park

Today we used Google Trips. This app gives a list of things to do in a city of your choice. So we followed the Downtown Highlights day planner. The first stop is the Alamo, which we visited yesterday. The second stop is Casa Navarro, which is located a couple blocks away from San Fernando Cathedral off of Dolorosa st. It's an adobe house situated next to construction sites. It's hard to imagine how it was when Jose Antonio Navarro used to live here with his family. The house displays are designed for school field trips, but the movies are well made. We learned that Jose Navarro was one of the two native Texans to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836, and later the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. He was for two terms a senator for Texas when it became a state.
We forgot to take any pictures. I think we are getting a bit warn out by sight seeing.

That's why we abandoned the day planner. So we went to check out la Villita, which was one of the first neighborhoods in San Antonio. Here there are many shops with handmade goods crafted by local artists.
In the main plaza, there were a bunch of kids rehearsing for tomorrow's fair. They were amazing and super cute.

We left the Villita and walked towards the Yaguana gardens.

sculpture in the playground of Yaguana gardens

Courthouse Bexar County

Walking toward the Tower of the Americas, there were a few original homes that had been restored inside and out. We had a tour of one of them by a girl that we met in the Villita. 

Tower of the Americas, second tallest free-standing building

We walked around Hemisfair park. There were several modern water fountains and landscapes, with great views of the enormous Henry Gonzales Convention Center building.

We decided to go back to the Riverwalk. This area of San Antonio is really the party area of the city. The walkways along the San Antonio river, the bridges, the sculptures, the elegant hotels and restaurants, the pubs, the music, the river boats make this the most pleasant walk.

Arneson River Theater

Sculpture in front of the Briscoe Western Art Museum

We took the river boat tour. Totally worth it. Our driver was very knowledgeable and told us all kinds of stories about the Riverwalk and its history and its businesses.

I love to get in fancy hotels, check out the furniture and sit on couches like I belong there.

Later at 9PM we went to the square in front of San Fernando to watch the light show. I had never seen one before. It was all about Texas through the years.