San Antonio suggestions anyone?
 

Spending a week (Sun - Friday) end of September - alone - attending week long course at CIA (cooking, not spying). I will be free each afternoon from about 2 PM, will have a car, and a hotel on Riverwalk. I have never been to Texas. Since classes start at 7:30 AM and I am not a late night person anyway, not looking for exciting nightlife. Will probably cruise by The Alamo, since I am there. Interested in locally-oriented museums, food in places a female alone would feel comfortable. Found a couple of food-tours online that might be interesting.

Walk down to La Villita some afternoon. The shops are fun to peruse.

There's a couple of good art museums in San Antonio-- McNay Art Museum (closed on Mondays but open until 9pm on Thursdays) and the San Antonio Museum of Art (closed Mondays, but open until 9pm on Tues,Fri and Sat)

The Alamo Drafthouse is a neat place to see a movie and eat dinner. (Because they serve alcohol, no unaccompanied minors which is nice for adults.) You'll be comfortable going here alone.

Visit the Mission San Jose, part of the Missions National Historic Park. It's about a 20 minute drive from the Riverwalk area, but you should be able to see it adequately (1 - 2 hours) before it closes at 5pm.

Definitely stop by the Alamo, You'll be surprised at how small it actually is and you can easily tour it and the grounds in an hour.

We were totally bored by La Villita, but we loved our walk around the King William neighborhood:

http://www.sanantonio.gov/historic/D...g_William.aspx

Outside of San Antonio, there are some excellent caverns - Natural Bridge. Not sure if you'll have a car, which you would need to get there.

http://www.naturalbridgecaverns.com/...e))/Index.aspx

If by any chance you have a free day, Gruene is a fun town about 40 miles from San Antonio.

I second the above recommendation of Gruene. We loved that little town and you must see the oldest dance hall in Texas: http://gruenehall.com/ We also enjoyed having dinner next door.

gail - arriving 21st or 28th?

Food - several options right by the CIA school which is in the Pearl. http://atpearl.com/ At one of my faves, Midtown Arcade, do not miss soft lobster taco and if you enjoy beef - even just a little bit - go for the rib eye.

Up Broadway a bit from the Pearl just past the Witte museum (which you might enjoy as it is definitely focused on the South Texas region) on the left as you go away from downtown is the Boardwalk strip center. Couple good places there; Boardwalk Bistro serves a nicely varied menu including a great lamb tagine. You'll probably get your fill of Latin flavors at the school but if you want to have some authentic Mexican food - not TexMex, but Mexican dishes like cochinita pibil - across the street is an unassuming place named Picante Grill. Believe the owner/chef is a graduate of the CIA school.
Keep going north on Broadway, pass University of the Incarnate Word and you enter Alamo Heights (locally referred to as oh-nine for the zip code, or Alamo Whites for the demography.) The supermarket on the left is a better local equivalent of WholePaycheck. A bit further up on the left Cappy's and/or Cappycino's (same menu, more casual in the latter) would be comfortable for a female dining alone.
Keep going further north on Broadway until you get to the intersection with Austin Highway (which is really not a highway at all) turn right and up a few blocks you will arrive at the McNay art museum on the corner of North New Braunfels. If you don't stop at the McNay but continue on Austin Highway about a half mile or so you will come to Tong's Thai on the right and Silo (upstairs, more formal) /Nosh (downstairs, more casual) on the left. Tong's is reliably good Thai, and Silo was one of the first of the "cool young chef serving local food" places in SA.

On the other side of downtown, the Southtown area is where foodie heaven is currently centered. On South Alamo street you'll find Rosario's (TexMex and MexMex done well, do not miss the chocolate flan) and Feast (foodie small plates place) and further down Liberty Bar (laid back ambiance, inventive but not bizarre menu moderately priced, homemade bread to die for. In its original location near the Pearl Liberty was the venue for the first Fodor's gtg way back when.)

<i>And this is just a sampling in one section of town - no wonder I have to hold my breath to button my jeans!.</i>

Great list Seamus! We love Cappy's, either lunch or dinner. Tried Silo for the first time for lunch last week, but their 1604 location. It's amazing what they created in a strip mall! Once in that door you are totally submerged in their atmosphere, and the strip mall outside their door ceases to exist! Have you been to Andrew Weissman's creation in the old Liberty Bar--Minnie's Tavern? We tried to get reservations last year just before we left for FL, but it was a no go, and we have sort of been hors de combat since we got back, but I'm back in the saddle again and raring to go--anywhere!.

Gail we would love to do a little Fodors GTG if you have any free time during your stay!

Yes, Silo delivers the whole package. Same is true at the original location on Austin Highway - from the neighborhood and building exterior one would never expect the sort of food and ambiance they provide.

Minnie's was something of a disappointment, OO. Maybe my expectations were too high, as anything else AW has done was typically great(love Sand bar in the Pearl and Luxury is fun if the lines aren't too long) but our meal was just so so and not worth the price. May have been just an off night, but there are so many other options that we have not gone back for a "second chance" visit.

gail, if you are still reading, do let us know if you would be up for a gathering. We are very low key / laid back / casual and adore welcoming Fodorites from other locales. Plus, we need to celebrate OO's new hip! You can contact me using [email protected]

I would love to have a low key GTG while there. I arrive afternoon on Sunday 9/21 and leave the following Friday afternoon. I am staying at a RiverWalk hotel and will have a car. Also, as a rehab RN, love to celebrate new hips and knees (especially since I will need perhaps one of each in future). I am taking the cooking course and making the trip to celebrate my 60th birthday. I have purposefully avoided GTGs in past - probably from a couple of decades of nagging my now-adult kids to be careful about on-line friends. But have recently met a couple of Fodors friends and lived to travel again. I will email Seamus and feel free to share that email with others in setting up some sort of GTG. Dinner, late lunch or drinks would be fun.

OK, the ball is now rolling. If you are a Fodor's user in the South Texas area and did not receive an email from me it likely means I don't have an email for you. If interested in joining our informal group send me a message to [email protected] and I will add you to the list.

"recently met a couple of Fodors friends and lived to travel again" hehehe -- it was a slow release toxin.