We made a 2-night stop in San Antonio for the main purpose of riding our bikes on the Riverwalk Hike and Bike Trail.  Plus, San Antonio is kind of a cool town.

If you have ever traveled to San Antonio, either for work or pleasure, you are most likely familiar with the Alamo and the Riverwalk in the downtown area.  What you may be less familiar is that the Riverwalk continues for a good 10 miles south along the San Antonio River and past 4-5 other restored missions (the Alamo being one of them) right along the river, and another 4 miles north up to the San Antonio Zoo, all on trail.  You’ll have to zoom in this map to see.

We stayed at Yanawana Camp, an RV campground.  Not making this up.  This is a 5-site campground, and at the time of this writing it is just a few days before Christmas.  Will it surprise anyone to know we are the only campers here?  Full hookup sites, by the way.

This place is terrific, though.  Maybe a two-minute bike ride to get onto the Riverwalk Hike and Bike Trail.  The campground is just inside the San Antonio city limits and approximately a 10-mile bike ride to the Alamo and the downtown area.

The bike trail (all paved or concrete) is fabulous for riding, with near constant views of the river.  Once you get on the trail, there are no roads to cross or traffic to navigate, other than other riders and pedestrians, which were few.  The missions and their grounds along the way are all open and available to explore – with some fabulous architecture, beauty, and rich in history.  The trail is well marked and there is a trail map that points out various sights with mileages – extremely helpful.

We got our map from the campground hosts, but I am sure they are readily available if you know to ask. Regardless, there are signs all along the trail with the same map on it, and that indicate where you are.  You will see the missions, the aqueduct built many years ago, and see a number of art works along the trail.  The trail is really great, and far more interesting than most rail-to-trail rides because it curves along the river as opposed to a straight ride on an unused rail line.

Very close to the trail was a cemetery, which would not normally attract our attention. In this case, though, the gravesites were adorned with fresh bouquets and holiday wreaths.

But if one is to exercise like this, mustn’t one have sustenance?  We found ours at 2M Smokehouse.  Can I get an amen?  This place is great!  For several reasons, we got our meal to go, but this is some truly awesome BBQ.  We sampled the brisket, pork ribs, turkey, pork belly, and sausages.  Let me just say the skies opened and the angels sang to us.  SO good.  And it’s not just us saying so – 2M Smokehouse has won a MICHELIN Star.  Don’t plan on dinner – they are open 11 am – 4 pm.  Sorry, no food pictures, but trust us.

Continuing our travels, we are heading to Marathon, TX for a quick stop and then on to Terlingua for Christmas.  Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and we’ll see you next stop!