Summer is around the corner and local San Antonians and students taking summer school or finding a job here will find that they have some time on their hands. While that time can be filled watching TV and acting the part of a couch potato, another option is to create a bucket list and explore some of what San Antonio has to offer. Here are a few of my suggestions:
1) Eat an extra large Big Lou’s pizza
Pizza, that oily, cheesy, carb-filled delight of American cuisine, is a well known necessity for any summer break, but I’d wager most haven’t seen one quite like Lou’s 42-inch pizza. Wide as a toddler is tall, this gigantic dish ranges in price from the $51 regular cheese to the $81 super topping version. Bring a lot of friends to help eat it, otherwise tackling this challenge might lead to a very literal interpretation of “bucket list.” Big Lou’s is located at 2048 S. WW White Rd.
2) Tube Down the Guadalupe
Even with the unusually cold weather we’ve had recently, this summer is sure to have a few scorching days where it’s too hot to do much of anything. So, head up to New Braunfels, rent a big tube for around $10-15 and float down the river for a couple of hours.
3) Shoot Things at the San Antonio Gun Club
Located on 928 E. Contour Drive, the San Antonio Gun Club is a great way to spend a summer afternoon. You can rent a shotgun for $5, and buy 25 skeet for $8.75. Though it may seem rather stereotypically Texan, I’ve got to say that there are few things more fun than shooting clay projectiles out of the sky with a twelve gauge shotgun.
4) Try water slides and roller coaster rides
San Antonio is fortunate in that it has a relatively large amount of amusement parks. There’s SeaWorld, Spashtown, Schlitterbahn (New Braunfels) and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. The only downside to these activities is that they are expensive, usually ranging from $40-60 a person.
5) Camping in Garner Park
Just an hour and 45 minutes west of San Antonio is Garner State Park, a great place to go for a camping adventure. There, you can hike up into the mountains, swim in the clear waters of the Frio River and cook a fireside meal under the stars. For more information, visit the park’s website at http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/garner.
6) Bounce around at Spring Loaded Trampoline Park
I’ve talked about this place before, but I still think it merits another mention. This “park” is a large warehouse-like building in which almost every conceivable surface is covered with trampolines. It also has a basketball court entirely made up of trampolines, sort of like Slamball. If you’d like to bounce around and cross this off the list, you can find Spring Loaded at 6700 IH 35-N in New Braunfels.
7) Have a cocktail at Bar 601
From the bar’s vantage point, some 620 feet up in the Tower of the Americas, you can view downtown San Antonio from a new angle. Here, you can buy an Agave-Nectar “˜Rita, and watch the sun set over the city.
