I recently had the chance to take a paid trip to San Antonio to work for a few days as a preschool photographer. I rarely turn down a chance to travel, much less paid travel.

Since I usually work about 6 a.m. to noon when I'm working as a preschool photographer, I knew I'd have lots of time in the afternoons and evenings to do some sight-seeing. Because I was traveling alone, I would also have as much time as I wanted to soak up the sights through the lens of my Canon. 

I began making a list of places I wanted to photograph. I picked a few of the normal must-sees, such as the Alamo, and threw in a few new places I'd never visited before, like the Japanese Tea Gardens.

After loading up Crush (my mini Jeep) so full that a passenger wouldn't even fit, I hit the road.

Just a few short hours later I arrived in what, to me, is one of the most Texan places in Texas- San Antonio. I dropped my bags at the hotel and headed out to see what all I could visit in my first afternoon.

My first stop was to see a ginormous pair of cowboy boots outside of the North Star Mall. Unfortunately the scenery surrounding the boots was just a mall and highway, but I was still impressed at what is probably the biggest pair in the world.

Next, I headed down to the Riverwalk area to see a few familiar sights.

Emily Morgan Hotel

Tower of the Americas

Since I'm a bit navigationally challenged, I took a photo of the map to help me out.

But luckily, I didn't need this map to know where Texas was located in the US. I've got that one down to memory ;)

Have you ever ridden one of the Riverwalk boats? If you haven't, I highly recommend it. Roddy and I rode one on our last visit to San Antonio and not only were the views nice, but I really enjoyed learning some of the history behind the buildings along the river.

If you're up for some free entertainment along the Riverwalk, just enjoy the duck show. They're quite fun to watch. Warning though, they may try to bite you during dinner...I'm speaking for personal experience.

The water features surrounding the Riverwalk are beautiful!

And to me, you can't really enjoy the experience of the Riverwalk without a little Mariachi and some colorful lights.

On my second day in the San Antonio area, I took a little side trip to New Braunfels and Gruene...two of my favorite places in the area. I first stopped for Fish Tacos at Wahoo's and some bodily injury at the Texas Ski Ranch in New Braunfels. And after I beat myself up for a while, I figured a nice dinner in Gruene would restore my energy.

I'm feeling relaxed just from looking at that river. Isn't it beautiful?

And right next to the river are huge cypress trees with long roots just soaking up the water.

On my third day in San Antonio, I visited the Japanese Tea Gardens. It's truly a beautiful and serene area. It is colorful with greenery and flowers and fish, and it's relaxing with quiet fish ponds and a flowing waterfall. And it has a very interesting history. I won't go into the details, but you can visit this link for more information: Japanese Tea Garden

And after visiting the Japanese Tea Gardens, I headed back to the Riverwalk area to see El Mercado and to get some night shots of the Alamo.

When I first got to the Alamo, it was very crowded. 

But if you're patient, you can get a clear shot without all of the tourists.

Hasta luego!

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