Walking the Riverwalk with Family

Phillip and the kids joined me for a short stint of walking the Riverwalk at the Pearl Brewery on this Memorial Day weekend. It wasn't overly busy. There were a lot of senior/prom/quinceañera pictures going on. It's a very pretty place.

 The map we're using. 

We walked from the place marked Pearl down to Jones Ave Bridge. 

There was free parking last week at the Witte Museum and free parking for the Pearl this week. Downtown parking can get expensive, so I'm pleased to find parking areas that don't cost anything.

Taking pictures of ducks and turtles. 

Twenty-five long-eared sunfish (fiberglass) hang from I-35 overpass. They light up at night ~ that would be a pretty sight to see. 

It was pretty hot and sweaty even though we didn't walk very far and it was evening.  We stopped for ice cream before heading to the van. 

This ice cream place is called Lick Honest Ice Creams. It's delicious ice cream. Tastes homemade. I sampled their cilantro lime and LOVED it. We also tried coffee, strawberry and chocolate chip mint. Real ingredients (you could taste the herbiness in the cilantro and mint flavors). A bit pricey for ice cream ~ but it's probably the best ice cream I've ever had. Besides what my grandpa used to crank for us. You can't beat your grandpa's homemade ice cream.

Walking the Riverwalk

When we first visited the Riverwalk, I was intrigued by the idea of walking the whole thing. I didn't know how long that would take, but it felt like it would be a fun thing to conquer. 

It's been several years since the idea struck me, but I finally sat down to plan it out. It's a lot longer walk than I thought (they've recently extended it to around 15 miles), so I'm going to have to take it a little at a time. I tried to go on Mother's Day, but it rained. Last Sunday I planned to go and it rained. This week, it was cloudy. But not rainy. And the sun came out as I walked, so that was awesome. 

The part I walked today was from the Witte Museum to the Pearl Brewery. I got mixed up in Brackenridge Park, so I probably walked around in circles for a little while. I can't read maps for anything. The map I used to plan it was also available on signs along the trail. 

So many cattle egrets! (See them roosting in the tree?) They were picking up grass and such for their nests as I walked through the park. And I know they are cattle egrets from this lovely post which identifies many other birds in Brackenridge Park.

An anhinga maybe? 

There were a lot of anhingas in Florida. They dive underwater to catch fish and then stand there drying their wings for a while.

Okay, this lovely site just told me that they are probably cormorants. They have no oil glands to repel water, so they have stand this way to dry their water-logged wings.

This is at the Tunnel Inlet Plaza. 

I guess there are two tunnels in downtown San Antonio that divert water from the River to keep it from flooding downtown. 

At the Pearl Brewery. 

This is where the Riverwalk got pretty. The walk from Brackenbridge Park to the Pearl was a bit ..... puddly and concretey. I don't know which arm of the river I was following, but it was mostly puddles and the trail was a lot of buildings and cracked roadways and sidewalks. So I'm thinking I got the ugly part of this walk done with and can enjoy the beauty of the rest of it. :-)

There was a lovely golf course along this route ~ I shouldn't disparage that part of the view.

And this was on my way back through a different trail in Brackenridge park. That's the San Antonio River spilling over the road. We have had a lot of rain lately. 

It was pretty hot and sweaty by the time I drove home, but I absolutely loved all of it! There were a lot of people out and about ~ lots of colorful parties happening at the park, people golfing, others walking/biking/jogging the trail. I look forward to continuing the adventure.

Elizabeth's Texas History Projects

Elizabeth took Texas History at the homeschool co-op this past year. These are some of the projects she did for the class. 

Texas Monopoly. 

An example of a mud house built by Indians living in West Texas.

Yellow rose of TX and the best beloved TX flag. 

A French newspaper (in French and English) and macarons to represent one of the people groups that populated Texas.