THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503030079
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
SAN ANTONIO is the oldest city in Texas. Located in the south-central part of the state, it has a population of about 1 million, ninth-largest in the United States, according to city officials; slightly more than half its citizens are Hispanic. It is home to four Air Force bases (Lackland, Kelly, Brooks and Randolph) and the U.S. Army's Fort Sam Houston, which has more than 800 historic buildings.
Getting there: All major airlines serving Norfolk International fly to San Antonio.
Getting around: Most attractions are downtown and easily walkable. San Antonio also has a wonderful trolley service that takes you anywhere downtown for 25 cents, and to the outlying areas for 40 cents.
Area attractions: A reader survey conducted by Texas Highways magazine rated San Antonio as the state's favorite vacation destination and friendliest city. It also is home of the state's two top tourist attractions - the Alamo and Paseo del Rio (River Walk), in the heart of the city. Also downtown: La Villita (little village), the oldest part of the city, carefully restored and full of arts and crafts outlets; El Mercado, largest Mexican market outside Mexico; Spanish Governor's Palace, San Fernando Cathedral (oldest in the U.S.), HemisFair Park's 750-foot tower with restaurant and observation deck, Institute of Texan Cultures, Arneson River Theatre, Hertzberg Circus Collection, numerous art galleries, IMAX Theatre, Cowboy Museum, the King William Historic District featuring Victorian homes of wealthy, mostly German businessmen and the Alamodome, which seats up to 65,000. The Alamodome replaces the 1968 HemisFair Arena, which seats a few more than Norfolk's Scope but is being torn down because it is outdated. In the outlying areas: Sea World is the world's largest marine life theme part, and Fiesta Texas is a kind of Tex-Mex Opryland.
Special events: After Mud Week festivities (first week in January) the main winter event is the annual rodeo and stock show, held each February. Fiesta San Antonio (April 24-30) is the city's version of the Mardi Gras but with a Mexican flavor. Mariachi bands serenade along the River Walk, which is the focal point of an ongoing costumed street party. Flower-draped floats parade through Alamo Plaza on April 28. The Institute of Texas Cultures will present the 24th annual Texas Folklife Festival Aug. 3-6.
Accommodations: San Antonio hosts more than 1,500 conventions a year. Needless to say, there are a LOT of hotels rooms. What should be noted is that there are more than a half-dozen really INTERESTING hotels that break out of the cookie-cutter mold.
In 1859, a 50-room limestone hotel called The Menger rose alongside the Alamo - a mere 23 years after its fall. This sprawling structure that looks today as if were designed by a committee, is a unique melding of past and present. Trendy shops vie with fascinating historic photos for attention in and around the two lobbies: a three-story original Victorian space remodeled in 1909 behind the main balconied facade, and a huge main lobby added during 1949-53 improvements. Soft music emanates magically from a playerless grand piano at one end of the main lobby. Beneath the hotel is a network of tunnels that once saw barrels of brew rolled in from Menger's brewery, vaults used for food storage and a wine cellar. A pamphlet describing a self-guided hotel tour advises that the tunnels are not open to the public, nor are the authentically restored Victorian guest rooms in the original section. You can visit the Menger Bar, a replica of the House of Lords Pub in London. Teddy Roosevelt recruited many of his Rough Riders in this bar, which originally faced Alamo Plaza but was disassembled and moved piece by piece during Prohibition to its present location. Lots of interesting names on the guest register: R.E. Lee, U.S. Grant (not at the same time), Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., Sidney Lanier, Oscar Wilde and William Sidney Porter (O. Henry). Gutzon Borglum, designer of Mount Rushmore, kept a studio at The Menger for many years. One of the most recent: Bill Clinton, who observed, ``Mango ice cream at The Menger Hotel is one of the great treasures in American life.'' It has been on the menu for more than 100 years.
Also near the Alamo, the Crockett, a cattlemen's favorite, and the Ramada Emily Morgan, in what was once a high-rise medical arts building. Emily Morgan, by the way, was a mulatto slave, called the ``Yellow Rose of Texas,'' and heroine of the Texas Revolution; she was a spy in Santa Anna's tent who allegedly betrayed his plans and led to his defeat.
The Sheraton Gunter, the cattle barons' place, built on the site of old military headquarters served by Albert Sidney Johnston and Robert E. Lee. Tom Mix rode in here on his horse and registered; Will Rogers was here, Mae West, Gene Tunney, even presidents.
Nearby is the St. Anthony, with a lobby called ``Peacock Alley.'' Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson spent their honeymoon here.
Near La Villita, The Inter-Continental Plaza San Antonio and the Fairmount, over which Robin Leach went ga-ga in Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. On the river the elegant La Mansion del Rio, the oldest part once a boys' school.
Job opportunity: There's a ``help wanted'' sign in the window of the Esquire Bar on Commerce Street. You'll understand why if you know that the bar is 77 feet long, supposedly the longest in Texas.
Info: A Visitor Information Center, open every day, is across from the Alamo. Or contact San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 2277, San Antonio 78298; (800) 447-3372. Available from the bureau is a new cultural guide, ``Art is a Part of our Heart.'' by CNB