san antonio – grablifebythehorngs

This morning we were warmly welcomed with an amusing Texas-shaped hotel waffle at breakfast!

Our original plan today was to head straight to Austin, but we had a last minute change of heart and decided to take a 30 minute detour and add San Antonio, Texas to the itinerary (cause why not?!).

Whenever we visit a new city, we like to do some research and learn about the area’s local and iconic foods. This process usually reveals some pretty interesting information about the history and culture of the community and almost always rewards us with a delicious meal. In San Antonio, we stopped for lunch at Henry’s Puffy Tacos. “Puffy Tacos” are the “unofficial food mascot of San Antonio” and can be distinguished by their puffy fried shell, a similar, yet more tortilla-like version, of the Indian fry bread we tried in Supai, Arizona earlier this year. The puffy taco originated in the 1970s, and its story included sibling rivalries and legal battles for ownership before it eventually settled into a city-wide icon. Our puffy taco meal today included delicious fillings such as carne guisada, shredded chicken, and spicy chicken fajitas!

After lunch we enjoyed a long (and very hot) stroll on the San Antonio River Walk and made our way to The Alamo. I must admit that my knowledge of the Alamo was pretty much limited to Disney’s “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” (and Jonny’s was even less), so we quickly educated ourselves on the enormously significant landmark in Texan and US history. It was sobering but also inspiring to read about the courage and bravery exemplified by the many American soldiers who lost their lives at the Battle of Alamo in efforts to defend their territory and earn Texas their independence from Mexico.

We reached Austin just in time for dinner and headed to Pluckers Wing Bar, a local Texas chicken wing chain recommended to us by our friend Tiffany. Pluckers was founded by two college students at UT Austin in 1995, and they celebrated their 22nd anniversary just yesterday! We sampled some of their sauces with celery sticks before deciding on a combination of gold rush and lemon pepper, accompanied by a refreshing pint of Shiner blonde lager, a Texas specialty.