Keeping "Pace" with The Pearl

Our beautiful city just keeps getting better.  New urban re-use projects are creating great outdoor spaces beyond the famous downtown River Walk.   In my last post I brought you a tour of the intriguing new Hotel Emma.  Now I'll take you back a few weeks when we toured the newly opened plaza on the east side of the hotel.

The Pearl is named for the former Pearl Brewery which operated for over 100 years until it closed in 2001.  The site was purchased by Christopher Goldsbury and his Silver Ventures investment firm.  Mr. Goldsbury--one of six billionaires who call San Antonio home--made his money from Pace Foods, the company which helped make salsa America's number one condiment.  Now that The Pearl is coming together, I am amazed by his vision and community investment which has created a wonderful urban destination for locals and tourists.

Let's get walking around the new plaza.  The Second Empire style former brewhouse built in 1894 is now a guest room tower at Hotel Emma.  Photos of guest rooms show those awesome curved windows from the inside and the cupola is now a two-story guest suite.

Cruising on the San Antonio River Part 1

We plan our garden club outings well in advance and most of the time our weather is quite nice even in the winter.  Every once in a while it turns out to be a very cold day combined with an outdoor event that can't be cancelled.  That's how we ended up going for a cruise on the San Antonio River with the temperatures down in the 40's and a brisk wind making it feel even colder.

The hardy among us bundled up and boarded the barge (the boats are technically barges) on the north end of the river at The Pearl.

Yes, it was that cold!

Walking The Walk: Brooklyn Avenue to Navarro Street

This is the third in a series of posts covering the San Antonio River Walk which is one of our country's top tourist destinations and the #1 destination in Texas.  Most visitors spend their time along the small section downtown known as the Paseo del Rio.  But there's much more to the River Walk and I've set out to show you the entire 15 miles that most tourists miss and local residents enjoy.  My posts are covering the river starting at the Pearl Brewery on the north end and heading south to the missions.

In two previous posts I showed the Museum Reach section which ends at the locks and you can find those posts here and here.  Today we'll begin at the Brooklyn Avenue bridge just beyond the locks and dam and go south.  This section marks a transition from the newer Museum Reach to the older section at Navarro Street on the north side of downtown.

We start today by looking north from the locks at the section covered in my last post.

Walking the Walk: The River Walk from the Museum to Locks

The San Antonio River Walk is one of my favorite places in San Antonio.  Not the famous part with all the bars and restaurants, but this River Walk  which extends north and south into our neighborhoods.  Most tourists see a very small part of the River Walk, but it has been more than doubled in recent years and runs about 15 miles long now.  These far reaches of the river are enjoyed mainly by San Antonio residents.  Office workers enjoying a break or headed to a meeting.  Dog walkers and bicyclists from nearby residences.  I walk here to check out the landscaping ideas and to enjoy my city without battling the crowds for parking.  Last fall I shared photos of the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River Walk.  At that time I ended at the Newell Avenue bridge near the San Antonio Museum of Art.