Talley Your Adventure – The Blog

Back when I first graduated with my undergraduate degree in History & International Studies, I moved out to Spokane Washington and ended up working for a couple years for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. While I can’t say anything spectacular came out of the experience, I can say that an amazing friendship developed that continues today with a co-worker at the time – Erika! We’ve been on a couple trips together so far – Olympic National Park being one of the most recent – but COVID and other events (she has two kiddos!) has extended the amount of time between out latest visit. Erika is pretty active outdoors as well, so finding a good travel excuse as well as activities that kept us fit and outdoors was essential. Hello, Texas! The Rock & Roll 5K, which I ran with another friend in Vegas about two years previous, was quickly approved by both parties. We settled on a cool hotel along the Riverwalk. Why San Antonio? Well, I’m now living in Virginia and she still lives in Spokane – so it was an attempt at meeting ‘halfway’!

When thinking of visiting San Antonio, the Riverwalk and the Alamo are usually high on the list. This was no exception for us tourists! After our 5K, we walked around town to view the Alamo. The Alamo Church is free to visit and there are volunteers scattered amongst the artifacts to help answer any questions that you may have – I had a great time talking with one of them about the cannons that dotted the landscape. While the ‘battlefield’ was small, the historical integrity and preservation was amazing to see. Truly the state of Texas cares a lot about this site! I really enjoyed learning about the different flags/countries that ruled over the state of Texas and the veneration that lives within each Texas when it comes to their beloved state flag. Very cool history portrayed here – definitely worth a visit!

A lot of the rest of our time was spent strolling along the Riverwalk, and we were able to secure a boat ride along the river for part of the day! We had a great time learning about not just the history of the town, but the haunted history as well. It ended up inspiring us to visit multiple haunted bars and restaurants for the rest of our trip. We really enjoyed asking the bartenders and servers at each new place we went where we should go next, if they had seen any hauntings themselves, and what they knew about ghosts in the area. Usually we had a really fun and engaging experience! Many of them knew about the history and legends and pointed us to new places to explore.

The Riverwalk is absolutely gorgeous. We made a point to walk it each day so that we could enjoy not just the river, but the unique buildings and facades. There were unique statues and artwork at each turn. Sit for awhile at a local spot and people watch as well. Especially after the 5K, it was really exciting seeing who stuck around to explore the town and trying to figure out which one was more ‘local.’

I’ve really enjoyed staying at IHG hotels and was able to convince Erika that we needed to be extra fancy and stay at the local InterContinental in San Antonio – which boasts a lounge and since I am a Diamond Elite, I have access! It was definitely worth the experience. We had breakfast to ourselves each morning and one day, they even brough us a mimosa. We had happy hour each afternoon with Texan inspired snacks, and enjoyed watching the different sports games that they had playing when we decided to sit back and relax in the hotel.

Regardless of what brings you to new places, always keep exploring! Erika and I had never been to San Antonio before, and to be honest, Texas had not really crossed our minds to meet up. After doing a bit of research, I realized that San Antonio was actually perfect for the both of us! We are really excited to plan our next trip in 2026. If you find that you want help planning your own trip, contact Talley Your Adventure and let us help!