Texas In January

Texas is a HUGE state, and a great location to visit no matter the time of year. I've been here in the heat of August and the mild chill of January. While there are deffinite advantages to a summer time visit, don't discount a winter visit to the lone star state.

Weather
Winter in southern Texas is mild, the farther south the more mild. But you will get temps in the 30's some days so check ahead for the forcast before you pack. While snow is rare, wet weather with rain and cloudy days is very frequent in the winter. Expect highs in the 50's and lows in the 30's.

Make several variations of plans so that a little rain or mist doesn't ruin your outside fun.

Destinations
Don't expect to enjoy water based activities like kayaking, swimming or tubing in the winter. Most of these outdoor type activities are not available in the winter, Lady Bird Lake in Austin is deffinatly a summer destination! Also, the zip lines over Lake Travis are closed for the winter, as are most amusement parks like Six Flags Fiesta Texas (opens Feburary 28th).

BUT there is a wide array of activities perfectly suited to a cool weather visit! Texas is a state steeped in history, rich and waiting for you to discover it. From Spanish conquistadores and missions,  cowboys and Indians to cattle barons,  and art museums Texas is full of year-round adventure.

San Antonio 
San Antonio is a huge sprawling urban center branching out from the downtown area. While not one of my favorite destinations in the great state of Texas, it has some great highlights that are not to be missed, and a convenient little airport and central location between Austin and Houston. 

Fredricksburg
Situated in Texas Hill country is an enchanting little German town home to unique shopping, tons of romantic Bed and Breakfasts, several award winning wineries and intimate gourmet dinning experiences. Recently named on CNN's list of "6 most romantic small towns in America" Fredricksburg, TX is more than deserving of the title. Take a weekend to visit and discover the charm of the Texas Hill Country for yourself.

San Antonio

San Antonio
San Antonio is a huge sprawling urban center branching out from the downtown area. While not one of my favorite destinations in the great state of Texas, it has some great highlights that are not to be missed, and a convenient little airport and central location between Austin and Houston.

Stay
Its hard to choose a hotel in the San Antonio area, there are just so many. Identifying what you want to do during your stay can help narrow down some areas and options.

• Drury Hotels
• I am a huge fan of Drury Hotels, and San Antonio is home to some of the newer additions to this company. The happy hour, fresh breakfast, and clean rooms are wonderful, as well as the kid friendly atmosphere with pools and workout facilities. Also the price is well within budget, without feeling like it. 
• Omni Hotels
• On the pricier end of the world is the Omni Hotel and Resort chain. I have stayed at the Omni at the Colonnade and enjoyed the great workout facilities, indoor and outdoor pool areas as well as the in house bistro. Again, there are multiple Omni Hotels in the area and deciding if most of your activities will take place downtown, or in the outskirts will help you choose the best location. 
• Resorts 
• On another hand, there are a plethora of resorts with lazy rivers, day spas and the sort a short drive into the hills from San Antonio. Some of these can be booked relatively cheaply through PriceLines "name your own Price" option. 

Play
Don't cheat yourself out of some great sights while in the area. Most of these are free or inexpensive activities great for a couple, or a family. San Antonio is not know for its nightlife, nor should it be.

• Historic Mission Trail



Mission Conception 

• Not so much of a park, this trail links four of the remaining missions established by  Spanish colonization of the southern frontier. Established in the 1700's these four missions and the Alamo, formerly known as San Antonio de Valero, make up the surviving medieval outposts of Spanish presence. 
• As this trail takes you through some sketchy areas and neighborhoods I would recommend traveling by car and stopping at each mission to enjoy its history and beauty. No two missions are alike in style, and each has its own piece of history to share.
• The Mission Conception is the best preserved of the four, while the Alamo is the most famous and located in downtown San Antonio.

• The Riverwalk 
• The San Antonio Riverwalk is an impressively built up region along the canalized San Antonio river featuring a huge number of bars, clubs, restaurants, shops and beautiful sights. 
• As long as you stay on the riverwalk you can have open containers and drinks. And yes, there are margarita stands right where you enter.

• The Alamo 
• The Alamo gets it's own dot here. Yes, it is impressive and its story is unique and integral to the history of Texas independence. A must see landmark and bucket list item. 

• McNay Art Museum



McNay Mansion

• A treasure of a small museum housing everything from medieval European art to impressionists, modern sculpture, Pablo Picasso, and contemporary video art and photography. They offer an afternoon sized stroll through a wide variety of time periods and styles. Enjoy the newly expanded galleries and don't forget to stroll the grounds.
• The McNay mansion was originally built in 1927 by Marion McNay, a passionate proponent of the arts. Upon her death, the home was bequeathed to the city of San Antonio to house Texas' first modern art museum. Along with her extensive collection of books, which is the base of the art library housed here, she also dedicated a large portion of her fortune. 
• Admission is $10 for adults, Kids under 12 are free, $5 for students (13+), active military and seniors (56+). 
• Closed on Mondays, the museum opens at 10am all other days of the week. 

• Brackenridge Park 



Japanese Tea Gardens

• Home to the Japanese Tea Gardens, the San Antonio Zoo and the Sunken Garden Theater Breckenridge Park offers a whole day worth of entertainment. 
• Japanese Tea Gardens. This spot is picturesque no matter the season!
• San Antonio Zoo. The animals are more active in the cooler weather, moving around and not hiding from the blazing sun in their dens. 

Eat
I love food, you can tell from my Yelp account that I go out a lot, and love to add to the culinary conversation. Cooking and eating are a passion of mine, and here I give you a short list of the places that I am in love with in San Antonio area.

• Mariscos El Bucanero



Maricso Pina

• Don't be scared. They offer traditional Mexican seafood with live bands, bright decor and great drinks at low prices. The ceviche is fresh, there are tostadas and four sauces instead of chips and salsa (green isn't hot), the drinks are fresh and strong, and they even offer a small number of "American Dishes" for the faint of heart. 
• Get the Marisco Pina, and love your life. Seafood stew served in a hulled pineapple with fresh chunks of pineapple and broiled to crisp the cheese on top. This beast is easily shareable and served with rice, lettuce and tomatoes on the side. 
• Guacamole is actually made fresh table side and is a generous, super flavorful portion. 

• Aldo's Restorante Italiano



Beef Carpaccio 

• Don't get put off by the reviews noting the chilly service. They offer traditional Italian fare (not spaghetti and meatballs) that is worth putting up with a less than ecstatic waiter. 
• Situated in a converted home, Aldo's is visually pleasing with trees wrapped in lights, a beautify entryway and closed-in wrap around porch seating area. There is a main dinning room, but I preferred the intimacy and unique style of the porch seating areas. 
• Enjoy fresh bread with oil and garlic as you wait for the beef carpaccio and sip your choice of wine from from the extensive offerings. 
• The portions are sharable, and there is no extra plate fee here. 

• Kirby's Steakhouse 



Potato crusted calamari 

• Ranked #4 on about.travel's "Best Steakhouses in San Antonio" you cannot miss this gem if having a steak in Texas is on your bucket list too. 
• An intimate setting, great atmosphere, private party rooms, even private booths with curtains, full bar and dinning room. This restaurant is the place to go for a nice evening, and some pricey indulgence. 
• You are going to pay for culinary perfection, BUT they offer a FREE APPETIZER for YELP users (up to $14). I recommend the potato crusted calamari, not its not squid covered in mashed potatoes, they use a potato flour that gives a great crispy outside without imparting any unwanted weight or oily taste. Served with a rich, garlic tomato sauce. 
• The 18oz mesquite cold smoked ribeye is my favorite item on the menu, an absolute treat  don't pass it up for a more expensive filet minion. Bask in the glory of a professionally prepared, aged, smoked and rested steak. 
• Desert is also a must, the creme brûlée is to die for.

• Pho Cong Ly



Pho Ga with all the fixin's

• Feel like something lighter? Looking for lunch? Try my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in San Antonio. This restaurant has been here forever, living quietly in a strip mall, its the place that locals know about and rave about. 
• Enjoy a hot bowl of pho (soup), or a fresh vermicelli dish (thin noodles). Ordering by the numbers is perfectly acceptable and encouraged. The waiters will chat with you if you ask them how to pronounce the Vietnamese words, but don't worry, the menu is in English too. 
• They also offer Chinese food for the less adventurous in your party.

Great American Road Trip 2013: Take 1 Vegas to Texas

As OMS3 (third year medical students) we are gifted our last actually Christmas Vacation for more or less the next ten years. Last year we took full advantage of those precious fourteen days off and ventured off for A Great American Adventure!

Google Maps only lets you add 10 destinations!

Along the way we learned a ton of invaluable lessons, saved a few lives, ate a ton of great food, saw amazing sights, nearly broke a tailbone and drove over miles. Here are a few stories, tips and recommendations for planning and inspiring your own amazing road trip.

Hoover Dam is a short 35 mile drive from Las Vegas, and for this trip a no-brainer must-see. This was my second time visiting Hoover Dam, like Vegas I hadn't stepped foot there since I was seven years old. At that time the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge was just a plan in the works, all traffic went directly over the dam. It was amazing to see the changes, as well as feel the awesome power and sheer size of the construction again.

View from the parking area on the far side of the complex

Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge 

Drought and sunset on Lake Mead 

Original generators are still fully functional and operational

We highly recommend taking one of the tours through the dam, there is the Dam Tour a full hour of information and guided tour of the inner workings and passageways of the dam and its history. The Powerplant Tour a  30 minute tour into the dam, its power plant and intake pipes.

We arrived too late for the Dam Tour, and were not disappointed by the Powerplant Tour and visitors center.

Take some time driving up to the dam to stop and check out the vantage points along the way. There is a parking area that lets you walk over the Memorial Bridge for spectacular views of the Hoover Dam.

Staying overnight in Flagstaff, AZ put us in perfect driving distance to spend the day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. My traveling partner was beginning to feel under the weather, so most of the driving was left to me. We also found out that it is very hard to find cold medicine that does not contain phenylephrine! And it takes enough time so that I never got to see Horseshoe Bend.

View from the South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park 

The North Rim is over 12 miles away across the canyon here

The Grand Canyon is one place that I hope everyone sees in their lifetime. Pictures do not begin to do justice to this wondrous place.

In the winter months only the South Rim is open, entrance fee of $25 fora private vehicle.

We spent most of the day walking the ridge trail, taking pictures and venturing as close to the edges as we dared.

Bring lunch with you, as there are no great options for food. There are some, um, things....but save yourself and bring a lunch.

Phoenix, AZ is home to one of our good friends and fellow classmates. He opened his home to us for a few days, and good thing! My traveling companion got horribly ill in the time it took to drive from the Grand Canyon to his apartment. We ended up not seeing any of the city, nor the surrounding hiking spots (poop). And two days later and packing a case of gatorade we headed off to the next stop on our journey.

My only decent Saguaro picture

A complete side-track: I realized we were passing through the Saguaro National Park near Tucson, AZ and just had to see one of these giants. This is the only place in the world where the nation's largest, most iconic cacti grow naturally.

It was pitch black and cold but damn it, I got to see the cacti!

Also, this about where the "check engine" light came on.... No worries! it was only about 9pm, dark, in the Arizona wilderness and oh wait, no cell phone service.

This is when we learned that taking pictures of the directions from the phone for future reference was a great idea. In areas where there is no signal you can still look at the picture of the map and directions.

Also in this area were great cattle crossing signs, but we didn't see any free range cows going by.

White Sands National Monument was another spot I just had to see. My companion was feeling better, but I was doing the driving still. New Mexico has inland boarder patrol stops, and they are serious. I nearly said "New Jersey" when they asked me what country I was a citizen of.....Yeah, I know. It's startling to run into a boarder checkpoint while still in your home country.

So why the dunes? Sand sledding!!! At the park office they sell new and used saucer sleds along with surfboard wax (get it) and then you go off into the wilderness to find the biggest dune you can and try not to kill yourself. It was so much fun! These dunes are not like Kitty Hawk, NC, they are special and smooth, 275 square miles of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals

Aside from tailbone-breaking fun, the area is also home to the White Sands Missile Range where the first atom bomb was detonated.When missile testing is being conducted they shut down Route 70 between Las Cruces, NM and Alamogordo.

This is so much fun

Texas is huge. Vast, wide-open stretches of land with nothing visible for miles. Leaving Las Cruses, NM we made our way east across west Texas aiming for San Antonio, TX. Get gas at every opportunity through here. 

Our first intended stop in Texas was San Antonio to visit friends and family. No visits to the Alamo or the River Walk this trip (but I have been to both) just a walk through the Japanese Tea Gardens and San Antonio Zoo.

Entrance to Japanese Tea Garden, San Antonio 

Next over to Houston for New Years Eve at friend's house. And off to Austin for two days because I love that city.

Two of my best friends recently moved there so check back for some great insight on Texas trips, this state deserves it's own page...or at least several posts.

Austin is full of live music, a wide array of food and some of the best street entertainment and art culture you can find.

Coy Pond!

The best Mexican food I've ever eaten: 

The best Mexican food I have ever eaten was near San Antonio in a strange little place called Mariscos El Bucanero. 

If you are ever in the area go there, and get this pineapple loaded with seafood awesomeness, you will not be disappointed. 

Capital Building, Austin, TX

Austin offers a past rich in history and a present rich in culture, music and food.

We spend two days relaxing and enjoying the city, touring the capital building and taking in the history (by following a Segway tour), and reveling in the nightlife, music and food.

The Driskill Hotel was built in 1886 as the showplace of cattel baron Jesse Driskill. We did not stay here, but we sure enjoyed a few drinks in this classic old-money hotel and bar.

The Driskill Hotel, Austin,TX

Even the bar stools were covered in cow hide, the couches leather and all the art work original and cowboy inspired.

When you visit Austin, TX you MUST go to 6th Street in the evening and stay. Just go into every bar and listen to the music, taste the food and have a few drinks. You will not regret it.

In this area Yelp is your best friend helping you find the hottest spots and drink specials (check in specials too!).

121 5th Street, Austin, TX

The sad truth is that from Austin we had to hurry back to Kirksville, MO. I wish there were more adventures to share from this trip, but alas, it was a lot of straight driving through Oklahoma and Missouri to get back to our next rotations. 

Keep an eye out for more travels and misadventures of this medical student!