There are a number of reasons I love my Delta SkyMiles credit card, one being the companion certificates I’m issued once a year. When I buy a round-trip ticket for travel within the 48, I can use my companion certificate to get a second round-trip ticket for $99. Good deal!

This year, we decided to use the certificate for a weekend trip to San Antonio, Texas. We were lucky to do so much traveling this year, but my boyfriend was trying to save some PTO for hunting season this fall so I wanted to go somewhere we could see in a few days versus a week.

He’s traveled to San Antonio a number of times for work (it’s the most popular convention city in the U.S.) so he was excited to show me the Riverwalk and a number of restaurants and bars with live music and fun patios.

It really was the perfect weekend get-away. The weather was beautiful the whole time and even late at night everything seemed relaxed and fun.

We arrived Friday late afternoon and spent the evening and night walking around the Riverwalk and hopping in and out of a variety of lively spots. On Saturday we slept in, took a Riverboat cruise, visited the Alamo, ate some relaxing meals and hit a few more late-night spots. Sunday we took a leisurely walk away from the river to see the old churches, O. Henry’s house, the Mexican market and more. We weren’t in any hurry to catch our afternoon flight home.

Aside from the Alamo and Mexican market, this was really an eating and drinking adventure. A few of my favorite spots:

• Durty Nelly’s: The boyfriend’s all-time favorite bar in the United States, this is an interactive piano bar with a couple of regular pianists. The one with the curly hair and attitude is the best. He can play nearly anything, but doesn’t play anything he doesn’t want to– no matter how much money you put with your request! He has a huge mirror above the piano so he can see and call out people in the audience not participating. We sat right behind him and had a wonderful time singing along and watching his fingers fly.
• Jim Cullum’s Landing Jazz on the River: A totally different live music experience from Durty Nelly’s, Jim Cullum’s Landing has live music on the patio and inside. The first night we ordered drinks and hung out on the patio where a piano/sax duet was playing. They were very good and it was low-key. The second night we went in and sat in the balcony to watch the live jazz five-person set. They were playing more traditional jazz and some big band tunes. We love that kind of music and felt pretty classy dressed up and drinking martinis in the candlelight.
• Mitierra Cafe and Bakery: Off the river and down by the Mexican market, this spot was recommended to us by a number of sources, and it didn’t disappoint. We went for breakfast and the place was already packed. You wait for seating out by the gigantic bakery display cases where people are buying fresh doughnuts, pastries and more. We promised ourselves we would grab some baked goods when we left, but we were so full from our wonderful Mexican breakfast we couldn’t muster up the room.

A couple spots I probably wouldn’t visit again:

• Boudros: Recommended to us for its guacamole and prickly pear margaritas. I think we severely angered our server, who wanted us to eat a full meal, but we wanted to stop in a number of places to get the flavor of each. Once he realized we weren’t staying for a full meal, it was work to get him to even stop by our table. He threw together our guacamole, which was a huge disappointment because we had really been looking forward to it, and the margaritas were just ok. We downed everything quickly and headed down the river to find our next stop.
• Mad Dog’s British Pub: There was a cover– I don’t know if that’s every night or just because they had karaoke– but it really wasn’t worth paying extra for our beers. There wasn’t much authentic or exciting about the atmosphere, but they had a decent beer selection. It was just ok.

I was hoping we would have time to visit some of the other missions a little ways away from the river, but we ran out of time. Anything else you love in San Antonio that we missed?