10 Things We Love about Living in San Antonio

These are in no particular order.

1. It is a big city with a small city feel.
San Antonio’s growth really took place after the 1968 Hemisfair. The city retains the feel and friendliness of a smaller city. As long as you can avoid rush hour, you can get around the city quickly. During the week, we can get to work in 10 minutes and on the weekends we can be in Downtown or Alamo Heights in 20 minutes.

2. So Many Good Restaurants!
This is not always good for the waistline or pocketbook, but it sure is fun to go out to eat around here.
Favorite Pizza: Rome’s Pizza
Favorite BBQ: Rudy’s
Favorite Deli: Shilo’s
Favorite Tex Mex: I could not pick just one...

3. The city has a unique character.
San Antonio has been influenced by Texas, the South, Mexico and German immigrants. All of this mixes into a culture that I don’t think can be replicated. Where else can you find the Alamo, Riverwalk, and surrounding Hill Country towns?

4. Spring, Fall and Winter
When it is not 100 degrees, the weather here is great.

5. Our Friends
We have made great friends here. They are the friends that you can have fun with who will also be there for you when you need them. We are grateful for the friends we’ve made over the past seven years.

6. Having Family Here
John's sister lived here for a few months and now my parents live here. We’ve tried to persuade more family to move down but no luck so far...

7. We’ve created a home here
We been in our house for five years and have slowly made it our own. (Well, Alex’s stuff quickly took over when he arrived!) It has been satisfying to work on projects including Alex’s room, the garden, and the shed, and we have many more to do. (I’ve torn down about half the wallpaper in the master bathroom...) We have good neighbors and can walk to the swimming pool and playground.

8. Being part of UTSA
I started working at UTSA in 2004, and John was not far behind in 2005. We have both held a couple of positions within the university, but we have been “part of the university” from day one. We have seen the campus continue to grow and change over the past 7 years. We are now watching the University start a football team and have our season tickets.

9. There is so much to do in San Antonio
We have lived here for seven years, and I still have a list of things I want to do here. We still need to visit Sea Word, The Witte Museum, and the Children’s Museum. There are fun annual events including Fiesta San Antonio and the Texas Folklife Festival.

10. There is so much to do just a short drive from San Antonio
There is the Hill Country and Austin within an hour or hour and a half from the city. In a few hours, you can be on the beach.

Fore more "10 Things" posts, visit shimelle.com. Coincidentally, she wrote ten things about her city today.