Why Visit San Antonio? 10 Reasons You Should! | Evans Road CBD Store

Here are ten reasons you should visit now:

• The Riverwalk Expansion

Paseo del Río in San Antonio remains its biggest draw. And while the below-street-level promenade continues to teem with visitors, the crowds have been thinned out by massive expansion projects and lured residents back downtown.

Completed in 2013, the eight-mile Mission Reach extension connects four of the five frontier missions of the city in the 18th century (excluding the Alamo) with walking and biking trails and restores the San Antonio River to its natural state.

• UNESCO Recognition

In 2015, the five Spanish colonial missions of San Antonio, as a group, were designated a World Heritage Site, joining on the UNESCO list the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, and just seven other cultural properties in the United States.

Everyone remembers the Alamo, the northernmost Spanish colonial fortress in the city, thanks mostly to high school textbooks. But because of its size, and one of the four missions that make up the National Historical Park of the San Antonio Missions (the Alamo, whose real name is Mission San Antonio de Valero, is run independently).

• Miró at the McNay

The McNay Art Museum is the first modern art museum established in the state of Texas, the product of a 1950 legacy by local painter and oil heiress Marion Koogler McNay, who, along with her 24-room Spanish Colonial Revival estate to house them, donated an impressive collection of Postimpressionist acquisitions.

The calming oasis in the peaceful Alamo Heights neighborhood of San Antonio (approximately five miles north of downtown) has grown its holdings to become a popular destination for aesthetes from near and far. In addition to its diverse permanent collection, which includes works by Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, Henri Matisse, and Edward Hopper, the must-see “Miró: The Seeing Experience” is on show now through early 2016. Joan Miró, born in Barcelona (1893-1983), was an admirer who became a friend of Picasso’s (both spoke Catalan), and his vivid, graphic works are a fascinating feast for the eyes.

• Culinary Explosion

A decade ago, it seemed that San Antonio was all Mexican food all the time. But the city has been spreading out, by the looks of it.

From the exuberant Asian-fusion hot spot Hot Joy to the globally influenced small-plate eatery Feast, head to the Southtown neighborhood for the buzziest new restaurants in San Antonio.

• Blue Star Bliss

At the heart of the mixed-use Blue Star Arts Complex, the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum may lie, but the cutting-edge cred of the Southtown compound is reinforced by a range of galleries and artist studios with signs that invite visitors to drop in and say hello.

Stop by the newly opened Blue Star Provisions, a small grocery store offering a delicious kolache range, once you’ve had your fill of art. Originating in the Czech Republic, these yeasty pastries stuffed with sweet and savory ingredients were popularized in Central Texas by Czech Moravian immigrants who settled in that area.

After that, if you have time and energy to spare, venture across the river to admire the grand houses of the King William Historic District of San Antonio, a neighborhood founded in the 1860s by German immigrants.

• Top-Notch Performance Space

On the River Walk last year, the gleaming Tobin Center for the Performing Arts opened and has been driving downtown revitalization efforts.

The sleek space is grounded by its place in the historic Municipal Auditorium of the city. The inside has been converted into a high-tech, acoustically sound, 1,738-seat main hall that hosts performers and events as diverse as Texas troubadour Robert Earl Keen, comedian Janeane Garofalo, and The Nutcracker. 

• Rooftop With a View

The latest local favorite for a night out is Paramour, an 8,000-square-foot room that sits atop the Phipps building in downtown San Antonio.

At this self-described “boozy oasis in the sky,” the party begins early and goes late, but the best time to visit is at sunset to take in the RiverWalk ‘s Museum Reach section and the rest of the city skyline. 

• Get up close and personal with dinosaurs

Staring into the rheumy, implacable eyes of a T-Rex, it begins to dawn on you that The Witte Museum (pronounced ‘Widdy’) is no ordinary museum. Suddenly the beast lowers its head, bares its fangs and releases an unearthly guttural roar.

If you like your museums high on thrills, interactive and thoroughly entertaining, chances are you’ll love The Witte. Established in the 1920s and revamped in 2017, this state-of-the-art museum is a fabulous compendium of artefacts, telling the story of Texas from prehistory to modern day with verve.

• Hang out with real cowboys and cowgirls

San Antonio, the starting point for the great cattle drives after the Civil War, is strongly believed to be the American cowboy’s birthplace. At the Witte and the first-rate Briscoe Museum of Western Art, you can learn more about them, but drive out to the dusty Bandera outpost of Texan Hill Country, a town an hour west of the capital, and you’re going to see the real deal.

• Experience different cultures

San Antonio is a city with a cultural mosaic that is fascinating. Stop by the Market Square Mexican market, where mariachi bars spill out onto the plaza, or head east to the Carver Community Cultural Center, which was established as an African American community center in 1918.