What to Do in San Antonio with Kids

Traveling Mom — By Rebekah on June 12, 2011 at 9:08 pm

Here are a few lessons on what to do in San Antonio with kids from our recent trip. We are a family of five, with three kids aged 5 and under…but I think the tips apply for families in general, especially the pre-K and elementary school set.

Where to stay: You’ve got tons of options in San Antonio, from hotels downtown to those closer to Sea World (which is why we all really go to San Antonio with kids, right?). My all-time favorite place in San Antonio is the Hyatt Hill Country, which is definitely upscale and unfortunately out of our budget for this trip. We decided to stay on the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio, because we wanted the convenience of restaurants within walking distance.

I had a love/hate relationship with the hotel we stayed in, the Drury Inn and Suites – Riverwalk. Loved the location, which was right on the Riverwalk, loved that they offer breakfast and ‘happy hour’ food for free (although we got very tired of the same breakfast each day, and never even tasted the evening food…but free is always better than not-free!). It’s a beautiful, historic hotel, which I also loved (see beautiful photo above). However, I hated our room, which was on the 5th floor and right above the parking garage (yes, car alarms could be heard), and had one window that faced a concrete wall of the Embassy Suites next door. There were better rooms in the historic hotel with floor-to-ceiling windows (I peeked while the maids were cleaning) that face the Riverwalk, and we considered trying to switch, but the idea of repacking/unpacking all 5 of us was too much to contemplate. The contrast between the tiny, wall-facing window of our bedroom vs. other areas of the hotel was actually so hilarious that I took a photo of the stairwell just for contrast (see below). I think we’ll choose differently next time, but for our first visit, the Drury Inn and Suites-Riverwalk was serviceable.

Our hotel room window

Beautiful bright stairwell

What to do: Most families visit San Antonio to go to Sea World San Antonio, and of course, that must be the centerpiece of your trip. I recommend two days there (at least), and you can read my tips for little ones at the park on Fun Family Vacation: Tips for Visiting Sea World San Antonio with Kids. However, you should plan to spend a full day in downtown San Antonio, as well. Our day started with a riverboat ride through the Riverwalk, upon the insistence of my two boys. They had seen the boats on the river for the two preceding days we’d been in the Alamo City and wanted to ride one. The rides are a full hour long, which would have stretched them if they weren’t ready for a little rest after two days at SeaWorld. Depending on your boat driver (pseudo gondolier), you can get a great history of the city and become oriented to many landmarks of the beautiful river.

We then visited the Alamo, which held little charm for my kids, and – honestly – myself. If I hadn’t been preoccupied with keeping up with all of them, I may have pondered the historical significance of the battle and the men who made such a fight for liberty. Interestingly, as this is the first time I’ve visited the Alamo as a Mom, the biggest “aha” moment I had was looking in the single room the women and children stayed in during the siege. Thinking of the families that were forced to watch their husbands/fathers die in battle hit me harder this time than ever before. However, my present-day reality called in the form of two boys jostling through a crowd and out the door, leaving Mom (me) little time to stop and reflect.

(Note: The Alamo is celebrating its 175th anniversary. There is an I-Max movie about the Alamo that plays at the San Antonio IMax just a few blocks from the historical site. If our kids had been older, we would have definitely taken them there to give them (and us) a history lesson before visiting the old fort.)

After our short pass through the Alamo, we headed to the San Antonio Children’s Museum, which had been recommended to us by some friends who visited last summer. It was awesome, and the perfect activity for parents who wanted to let their kids burn energy indoors vs. another day in the sun. Between the PowerBall Hall, the airplane trip, Lego car building and racing, and the HEB grocery store, it was hard to get the kids to leave. We ended up returning after lunch / nap and staying until the museum closed at 5pm. (If the construction zone/Holt front end loader exhibit had been open, I’m sure we’d have had to come a second day to appease my 3-yr old!) At only $7/person over age 2, it was a bargain for the entertainment value. (By the way, when is Dallas going to get a great Children’s museum like this? The basement of the Museum of Nature and Science is OK, but a distant comparison to Houston’s Children Museum and also San Antonio’s).

Where to eat: There are so many options on the Riverwalk, you won’t have trouble finding a place. We were on the western end of the loop, so dined at County Line BBQ, PizzaRita’s (actually on the street level above its Tex-Mex counterpart, Rita’s on the River), and Texas Land & Cattle (right downstairs from our hotel). PizzaRita’s won our kids over with the great pizza, friendly staff, and (unfortunately for PizzaRita’s) fairly empty restaurant where Mom and Dad didn’t try to contain them as strictly as we might have otherwise. Yes, that’s my 2 yr old in the picture below chasing my 5 yr old around the table.