Tourism in San Antonio

Starting at 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning, the Race to the Alamo kicked off!! Our three teams had tour guides walk them to Bar Rojo at Grand Hyatt where a chartered river barge picked them up for a river tour!

Once they arrived at their destination, the SAMA B-cycle station, they were handed clues for their next challenge. Upon receiving the clue, the bloggers were instructed to race on their bikes to the Pearl and dock their bikes at the Pearl B-cycle station. Coming in 1^st was a tie between Healthy Voyager and Trekaroo.

Next challenge: The Culinary Institute of America Cooking Challenge.

After the teams docked their bikes, they headed off to the Culinary Institute of America to test out their cooking skills. The teams were given ingredients to create their own salsa. Then, the CIA chef picked the best-tasting salsa, which was Healthy Voyager. Then, coming in second was Adventurous Kate followed by Trekaroo.

After an eventful morning, the teams headed off to La Gloria to eat lunch and meet the owner Johnny Hernandez! Teams enjoyed a variety of ceviche, queso, and tostados.

To wrap up the day the teams headed to SeaWorld for a splashing good time! The One Ocean show started at 2:30, and guess who was in the splash zone after the show??? If you guess the bloggers and their race partners, you guessed right! The teams were prepped with XX-large shirts plus a team bucket and were told to catch as much water as possible. All teams then wrung out the extra water from their shirts into buckets. First place went to Adventurous Kate, followed by Trekaroo, then Healthy Voyager.

With a full day of fun events at these places:

• Bar Rojo
• SAMA B-Cycle
• Culinary Institute of America
• La Gloria
• SeaWorld

The first race day wrapped up with Healthy Voyager in the lead.

Thursday’s winner, team Healthy Voyager, won a pair of mountain bikes!! Also, each team won prizes for their readers as such as Garcia Art Glass, The Texas Provincial Kitchen, and a Del Sol tote with Papel Picado

To see videos, photos, and more race details, click here: http://alamo.visitsanantonio.com/race. Vote for your favorite team and be entered for a chance to win the grand prize trip to San Antonio.

Our three Race to the Alamo bloggers and their race partners are arriving in San Antonio today! Let’s take a second to introduce them to you.

Team #1: Sharlene Earnshaw and Michelle McCoy

Sharlene Earnshaw is the Blog Editor for Trekaroo, a family travel community and reviews site dedicated to helping families travel better. She lives in sunny Orange County, CA with her husband and four year old twins, and travels way more than any sane person ever would. Sharlene’s fellow Trekaroo blogger, Michelle, is a Southern California native who grew up in the Central Valley which meant many trips to Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.  Now that she has 4 kids of her own, she and her husband Matt love taking camping trips to those parks.

Team #2: Kate McCulley and Sarah McCulley

Kate McCulley is the founder of Adventurous Kate, which has grown to be one of the top solo female travel blogs on the web.  Kate grew up outside Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Fairfield University. She is a full-time traveler and online media entrepreneur. Adventurous Kate lives up to her name, rarely saying no to anything — Kate’s sister Sarah is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston. She worked for a number of documentary film companies before settling in her current job at Rabbit Content.  In her spare time, Sarah is both an avid consumer and producer of travel media.

Team #3: Carolyn Hamilton and Dan Hamilton

Carolyn Hamilton is an avid traveler but she found it quite difficult to find vegan-friendly restaurants abroad. After realizing she could find and/or manipulate any menu to create a meal that satisfied her as well as her dining partners, she created the Healthy Voyager to show people that your dietary restrictions should not ruin you or your travel mates’ trip, be it business or pleasure.  Her husband, Dan, primarily works as an illustrator and storyboard artist. Dan has done pre-visualization for game clients like Electronic Arts, Midway, and Playstation. He has also worked with Disney Online, and Warner Brothers in the design and development of games for their web based content.

For more info, check out each racer’s bio, watch their videos, see their pictures and read their posts about the race. Click here: http://alamo.visitsanantonio.com/race. Remember to choose your favorite team and vote for them in order to be entered in for a chance to win a trip to San Antonio!

The Race to the Alamo starts tomorrow! Who knows what will be in store for these blogger. Stay tuned!  Remember to vote!

On your mark, get set, Race to the Alamo! August 4th, 5th and 6th three bloggers will be competing in a race around San Antonio with challenges at some of its most famous attractions.  Check out each racer’s bio, watch their videos, see their pictures and read their posts about the race. Click here: http://alamo.visitsanantonio.com/race

Ultimately, these teams need your votes to win! So follow along with the race and then cast your vote for your chance to win a trip to San Antonio!

This trip includes:

A three night stay at the Grand Hyatt, Paella lunch for four at Citrus, $500 Visa gift card for airfare and attraction passes for four to:

• The Alamo Trolley
• Enchanted Springs Ranch
• Guiness World Records Museum
• IMAX, Institute of Texan Cultures
• Laser Legend
• McNay Art  Museum
• Ripley’s Believe It or Not & Louis Tussaud’s Wax Works Ripley’s Haunted Adventure
• San Antonio Botanical Garden
• San Antonio Children’s Museum
• San Antonio Rose Live – Country Music Show
• San Antonio Zoo
• Schlitterbahn
• SeaWorld San Antonio
• Six Flags Fiesta Texas
• The Buckhorn Saloon & Museum/Texas Rangers Museum
• Tower of the Americas
• Wildlife Ranch Witte Museum

Additional transportation, taxes, gratuity, and extras not included. You can vote once a day to help your favorite team win! One grand prize entry per person.

Check back often for race updates! Remember, your votes will help that team get that much closer to winning the Race to the Alamo and give you the chance to win a trip to San Antonio!

Visit San Antonio and stay in the Omni San Antonio Hotel at The Colonnade with this week’s limited time offer. Get EXTRA SAVEing with the LTO Rate of $84 when booking. Book now to take advantage of this offer and plan a trip to San Antonio for August 2-8.

The Omni San Antonio Hotel at The Colonnade is a great family entertainment complex!  With indoor/outdoor pools and whirlpools, cabanas, and summertime weekend activities, your family will love staying here! Free backpack with games and candy for ALL kids! Plus you cannot forget the milk and cookies at turndown on arrival night. This hotel is located close to Six Flags Fiesta Texas and SeaWorld.

If you are looking for fun for the whole family, this hotel is perfect for you! Take advantage of this additional saving, so you can play more in San Antonio. Book now!

Look for a new Limited Time Offer every Tuesday for Travel Tuesday. BOOK this offer on July 26- Aug 1 to Stay Aug 2-8. See this week’s deals below:

Omni San Antonio Hotel at The Colonnade

Reg. SAVE rate: $99

LTO Rate: $84

Promo Code: SAVEP1

To book, please visit our Limited Time Offer Website at http://www.visitsanantonio.com/visitors/save/hotel-discounts/limited-time-offers/index.aspx

In 1891, when Fiesta began, the city was a booming trade center with a population of 38,000. Citizens and ladies wanted to recognize those fallen at the Alamo, and so the tradition of the Fiesta celebration began. The first parade had horse drawn carriages decorated with flowers. What’s known as The Battle of Flowers Parade is the only parade in the country to be completely planned and directed by women. Another early parade tradition, started in 1948, is The Fiesta Flambeau Parade – the only night river parade in the country! It comes from the French word for candlestick or torch, and the parade is commemorated with lighted floats and safety flares carried by local Boy Scouts.

Miss Fiesta San Antonio has been a San Antonio staple since 1949. Miss Fiesta is a scholarship pageant that makes its selection from among San Antonio college students. Also, if you like oysters, the St. Mary’s 2 day Oyster Bake is for you. Complete with live music and 100,000 oysters, this is a San Antonio Fiesta tradition that’s been around for more than 90 years!

Consistent with the vibrancy of San Antonio, the festivals celebrate life, history and art. As the biggest celebration of the year, we take great pride in this event and the people who have made it happen over the years.

Today, the parades continue, as well as the celebrations, as an 11 day all-out Fiesta. With more than 100 events, three million attendees, and heavy philanthropic efforts, Fiesta is known as “the party with a purpose.” Be sure to check out all the events and plan ahead to avoid missing anything.
Stay at a SAVE hotel for additional savings on your next trip to San Antonio for Fiesta, and always look for Limited Time Offers on San Antonio hotels throughout the year.