Club Wyndham La Cascada is in San Antonio, TX. It had been several years since I was able to go to San Antonio, so I was excited to visit again.

Video by Must Do Travels

Day One Travel and Arrival

Given my distance in Virginia from Texas, a flight was the best way to start this trip. I was able to find a round-trip flight for under $250 with a modest layover on the way and an even shorter one on the return leg of my trip.

There are two airports in my area that are fairly close and it ended up that Norfolk International, which is the closest, had the best deal on a flight.

The flight was long because of the layover of almost 8 hours, but when I landed at  San Antonio Airport  I was happy to find a nicely laid out airport that is easy to navigate. When you land, you see there are 17 gates and both a North and South Concourse. This makes it very simple to find your bags, ground transportation, and or pick up your rental car.

I had booked a rental car in advance, so I was ready to go with a nice car as well. I am a guest of TZort for this trip so I am already saving on the great resort, and I was able to get a wonderful deal on a flight. The only missing part of the money savings was the car rental. Those rates seem to be climbing some. But San Antonio, Texas, has so much to do, and seeing the investment in a rental car seemed to really make sense here.

After getting my car, I headed straight for the resort. I was ready to get in and get set up, to relax a little after my flight.

This resort is huge, and very impressive when you first drive up to the resort. Since this is in the heart of the city valet parking is provided and is a must. It just makes the entire experience much better. The parking per day here is $22 but a small price to pay for the convenience. Since it is in the city, I could see some guests that came to visit not bringing their car and just depending on Uber, Taxis, and other modes of travel when they were in town. It would be fairly easy to do just because you are so close to things from this resort location.

This resort has villas available from 1 to 4 bedrooms in size. With the 1 and 2-bedroom units, one parking space is made available, and the 3–4-bedroom units have access to two parking spaces.

The villas or units here average from 1,000 to over 2,000 sq ft. So, they are all very spacious and comfortable. On this trip I was solo, so I was staying in 1 bedroom. You can view all 4 villa sizes on their website.

Each room has a modern fresh feeling to the design that puts you at ease as soon as you enter the space. I find most well-designed spaces have that effect on me. Perhaps it is because in my personal life, I live a little more cluttered in my home office and living area, and when you stay somewhere, that is well laid out, you feel like a weight has been lifted from you.

The resort itself has some nice amenities, and the rooms do too.

Villa Amenities

Then the resort itself offers all of these options.

Resort Amenities

After checking in and getting settled, I realized I had not eaten in about 9 hours, so I was ready to get some dinner. I found an Irish Pub near the resort and headed over. Francis Bogside had just what I was looking for. Some pub food (meaning a great burger and fries) and beer. After traveling, I like to unwind with a few drinks. It helps that sense of movement stop and calms me down. Since it was close to the resort, I did not drive over I just grabbed a cab. I could have easily, but I was winding down, so I just went door to door in a local cab.

The food was good, and a few black and tan were even better.

After dinner and drinks, I was back to my room to relax and get some rest before tomorrow.

Day Two at Club Wyndham La Cascada

Waking up was easy thanks to another morning of travel where I forgot to close the drapes. The Texas sunshine is intense, so I woke up fast yet easily.

First things first were breakfast. I knew if I was going to see the city and be active, I should start out with a good breakfast for the day. I had heard about a great breakfast place called the Guenther House so I called about a table and the tour of the property that they offer last night and headed over this morning.

The restaurant is in a historical home built around 1915-18 and has an amazing feeling to the property. This is one of those restaurants that have such a well-thought-of menu that they serve breakfast all day long. I love trying a little of everything when I am somewhere new, so I sampled the 1851 platter which had a bit of several of their breakfast favorites included.

The meal was amazing and the tour of the property was the perfect fit for walking a little of the meal off afterward. Some visitors might want to do the tour before the meal since it does really give you a feeling for the historic value of the home and the larger area.

This was a great way to start my day exploring the historic side of San Antonio. Many people may not be aware, but San Antonio was first settled in 1718. It is remembered as the first civilian settlement in the State of Texas. The city is known for its Historic Missions that are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

From their city website:

In San Antonio, we cherish our heritage and we take our city’s history seriously. But that doesn’t mean you won’t have fun exploring what’s old and discovering what’s new. Don’t believe us? Take the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, for instance. Along with the Alamo, the park was named the first World Heritage Site in Texas by the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), and includes the city’s four southernmost Spanish colonial missions–Concepción, San José, San Juan and Espada. In the 18th century, Spanish priests established these five Catholic missions along the San Antonio River to serve as the center of an ethnically diverse society. Today, the missions–walled compounds encompassing a church and buildings where the priests and local Native Americans lived–represent the largest concentration of Spanish colonial missions in North America.

After my tour and amazing breakfast, I headed for the missions to visit in person and get a sense of the amazing history in the area. Growing up in Yorktown Virginia where Cornwallis surrendered the sword, I have a deep love of history, and local history is something that always grabs my attention.

There is a great video you can watch on the Visit Antonio website here about the mission.

After the missions, a great stop is to visit the Alamo. One of America’s most historic military efforts was the fight for the independence of Texas. It really started with the men who stood and fought at the Alamo. From my earliest memory, I recall the John Wayne movie about the Alamo. The battle of the Alamo itself lasted from Feb 23rd until March 6^th of 1836. Since those days as a Nation, we have remembered those men as heroes and many movies have been made with our nation’s best actors. All to focus on the bravery of nearly 300 men who stood against many thousand for what they believed in.

The guides at both the mission and the Alamo are some of the best park staff you will ever encounter. They are knowledgeable and share that love of history, and pride of these historic places very well.
After most of the day focused on history and bravery of others. I was ready to turn off my amateur historian for a while and just enjoy the area in a modern context.

Today for me, this meant a visit to the River Walk for a boat ride and dinner in that area. It was a wonderful way to end the day in such a historic and lovely town.

The River Walk is a 15-mile area that connects downtown to the Mission and Museum areas. Often when traveling, I prefer to go to non-chain restaurants and local joints. However, I saw a restaurant chain that I thought was gone and I decided to visit to walk down memory lane a little. The restaurant I chose to eat dinner at was a Rainforest Cafe. I remember them from 15 years ago when they were in my area, and popular with my nieces and nephews. I enjoyed the meal and the walk down memory lane more than even the, really.

There are other local places I plan to check out during my trip.

Day Three Museum Fun

Yesterday I had the privilege of seeing the missions and the Alamo. I attended the park tour with the guide at both locations and I felt spoiled to hear from the experts on both historic locations. For me, the experience was right up there with receiving a tour of the planes at the National Air and Space Museum when the tour guide was a former SR72 pilot. The experience was that powerful and the knowledge of the park rangers was that impressive.

Today I headed back to the River Walk area to pick up where I left off yesterday and see more of the amazing area. I began with a visit to the Briscoe Museum. Here you will find Western American art and history combined into a movie tapestry of culture for the region. It is worth the trip, and especially for those who want to learn more about the native cultures, and the amazing people who settle this rugged land.

For lunch, I headed to the nearby Tower of Americas and the Chart House. I have provided a link to their menu but also make sure you look at the amazing views on the website. Given the views here and the quality of the food, I am certain each week they get more than their share of proposals at this location.

This is a popular location so I encourage you to make reservations well in advance of your trip if this is a must-do on your list. You can book a table on their website, but dinner-time reservations are booked well in advance. So, you may end up with an afternoon or early dinner time the closer you are to the date you with dining here.

The food was great and the views for my meal were insane of the entire downtown. If you can not get a table for your chosen time, you may want to see about sitting in the bar and bar 601, which enjoys some of the same views.

After the great view of downtown and a power lunch, it was off to see more of the town for me.

Next on my list was the Witt Museum. This museum offers access to amazing artifacts, history, and prehistoric animals. Here you will find a dinosaur exhibit that is impressive as well as a deep but compelling look at science, nature, and culture for the entire region, as well as the State of Texas.

Ticket prices are cheap and if you happen to be in the area on Tuesday access is free. Which is an amazing thing for the supporters of this museum to do for the local area. The museum has many great exhibits, but do not miss the McLean Family Texas Wild Gallery.

It is hard to even think about leaving San Antonio after such a short stay. I will have to visit again and stay with TZort when I do to save more on my trip.

This resort will be at the very top of my list when I do. Location, Location, Location.