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Going to San Antonio and Sarasota...what to do


DaddyBuiltRacing

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The wife and I are going on vacation the 2nd week of March to San Antonio (visiting family) and then flying to Sarasota (visiting friends). Neither of us have ever been to these places, so we are wondering what there is to do, where we should try and eat at, ect...We will be in San Antonio for 2 1/2 days (Thursday/Friday, leaving saturday) before heading to Etoile Texas to my aunts house. We will be in Sarasota for 3 days

 

We are for sure going to The Alamo and Riverwalk in San Antonio. One day in Sarasota will be designated to the beach.

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Is the Riverwalk all that and then some? Or is it just a bunch of hype thats gonna be a letdown? I have heard all this great stuff about it, so hopefully it is great. I wanna check out the Natural Bridge Caverns, they look pretty cool.

 

I was 12 so I thought it was pretty badass to eat dinner on a boat while cruising through downtown.

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If you are in Sarasota, make sure you hit up The Daiquiri Deck on Siesta Key, Munchies 4:20, St Armand's Circle, Mote Aquarium (if you are into that thing) and MOST IMPORTANTLY New Pass Bait Shop! They have THE BEST burger I HAVE EVER eaten!!!

 

:thumbup:

 

KillJoy

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I don't mind aquariums, they are usually cheap and keep the wife happy haha. I will definitley chek ou thte burger place, I am a sucker for good food.

 

While the wife is hanging out at the beach with my buddies wife, what sort of things might we find to do? Laying on sand really isn't my idea of a fun time, I have done parasailing (Virginia Beach) so don't really wanna do that again but would like to try something new. I've never snorkled, maybe rent scooters and thrash them around town?

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I don't mind aquariums, they are usually cheap and keep the wife happy haha. I will definitley chek ou thte burger place, I am a sucker for good food.

 

While the wife is hanging out at the beach with my buddies wife, what sort of things might we find to do? Laying on sand really isn't my idea of a fun time, I have done parasailing (Virginia Beach) so don't really wanna do that again but would like to try something new. I've never snorkled, maybe rent scooters and thrash them around town?

 

 

Well, for Sarasota....

 

New Pass is "right at" Mote. So... if you do one, do the other.

 

I do not know about under water stuff there. You can DEFINITELY fish! I was down there weekend before last and we went night fishing. Definitely a fun time!

 

They have the para sail thing there as well. There are scooters and bicycles on Siesta Key. Not sure about the other places.

 

KillJoy

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Is the Riverwalk all that and then some? Or is it just a bunch of hype thats gonna be a letdown? I have heard all this great stuff about it, so hopefully it is great. I wanna check out the Natural Bridge Caverns, they look pretty cool.

 

It is worth seeing and you have to go BUT harness your expectations. I have been to San Antonio 4 times, it is a nice place with a mix of decent tourist attractions. If you are into swimming in petroleum I would personally hit the beach at Corpus Cristi. It is almost a 1.5 hour drive but is a pretty cool area. Austin is a really nice place too.

 

There is a Sea World and Six Flags too.

 

Texas is beautiful if you get away from the big cities.

 

-Erik

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The riverwalk blows almost as hard as the Alamo. I've been many times and I've never had a good meal. If you just want to get blitzed and stumble around looking at retarded people, it's great, but there's absolutely nothing there but bars and shitty restaurants. Total tourist trap. I mean, go once so you can see what it's like; it's definitely pretty down there. But don't stay for dinner. Grab a beer and leave.

 

The Market Square is actually pretty cool to wander around in, and there's good food there and abouts. It's still touristy but there's stuff to do. Downtown SA is neat to drive through but I haven't found much to keep me entertained there.

 

I've never been to Natural Bridge Caverns but I've been to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Camp right next door, and it's awesome. You buy a couple bags of food and drive through feeding all these animals. It sounds dumb but I had a lot of fun. I had my kids with me though. Still, a fucking Ostrich stuck it's head halfway through my car and ate out of my hand. And it was cheap to get in, too.

 

Up that way you start getting into hill country. If you want a great scenic drive take River road from New Braunfels to Canyon Lake. New Braunfels is a neat town in and of itself, lots of German heritage. There's strip on the way back via another road called the Devil's Backbone that's pretty cool. Looks like it's on RM32, via a road called Purgatory Rd. How cool is that?

 

People talk about Texas Pride like it's the best BBQ in Texas, but for my money find a place in Cibolo called Harmon's. There's lots of good tex mex too but I mostly found places around Randolph so I'm not sure if all my recommendations will be that useful to you.

 

I'll come back if I remember anything else. I spend about 1 month a year there for work. I generally hate it, but there's some bright spots.

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If you are in Sarasota, make sure you hit up The Daiquiri Deck on Siesta Key, Munchies 4:20, St Armand's Circle, Mote Aquarium (if you are into that thing) and MOST IMPORTANTLY New Pass Bait Shop! They have THE BEST burger I HAVE EVER eaten!!!

 

:thumbup:

 

KillJoy

 

all of this. if you want a quiet beach, check out Longboat Key. they have a few public beaches there.

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all of this. if you want a quiet beach, check out Longboat Key. they have a few public beaches there.

 

 

LBK sucks. :)

 

Siesta Key is PRIMARILY private. If you would like quickie access to the private area.... give me a holler when you are there ;)

 

KillJoy

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As long as you check your bag alcohol in it is fine just be sure to cushion it as I had a bottle of Patron silver bust on me once....had to toss that suitcase :(

 

 

The riverwalk is nice for a romantic dinner with the wife I think but I'd think after a day walking it you'll be over it. The alamo was meh to me I was expecting more honestly.

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If you are in Sarasota, make sure you hit up The Daiquiri Deck on Siesta Key, Munchies 4:20, St Armand's Circle, Mote Aquarium (if you are into that thing) and MOST IMPORTANTLY New Pass Bait Shop! They have THE BEST burger I HAVE EVER eaten!!!

 

:thumbup:

 

KillJoy

+100

 

We always eat at the Cuban restaurant Columbia in St. Armand's Circle. There are great beaches along Siesta Key and Longboat Key. The Mote aquarium was neat. They had some big sea turtles and a dolphin rehab center, in addition to the usual fish, urchin's, etc.

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Siesta Key has a great public beach.

 

St Armands Circle is great for shopping/eating as mentioned.

 

Check out the Ringling Museums - their home, art gallery and circus museum are pretty impressive (if you like museums). http://www.ringling.org/

 

Myakka River State Park is also not too far if you perfer nature:

http://www.myakkariver.org/index.php

 

My folks used to live in Sarasota - used to get down their 2-3 times a year, but it's been some time now sinceI've made the trip...

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we go to sarasota about 3-4 times a year (once with the family, and the others for mancations). +1 for new pass grill bait shop. we stop there for bait every time we go fishing and either get breakfast sandwiches or burgers.

 

two other fantastic restaurants there are

 

walt's (seafood restaurant)---insanely good, fresh caught fish/seafood

 

pac rim (sushi)

 

sarasota brewing company has great wings and homemade beer

 

captain kurt's is right down the street from the daquiri deck, and has great food for a quick lunch. hit up big olaf's for icecream.

 

check out siesta key beach, its one of the best beaches in the world.

 

we'll be in sarasota the first week of april

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