Rivercenter Mall

Visit the Rivercenter Mall to take care of all of your shopping desires!

SeaWorld® San Antonio

This year, SeaWorld® San Antonio enjoys a Sea of Surprises with new interactive pathway experiences, even more up-close animal encounters and the Surprise Squad, treating guests with prizes and special experiences every day.

Experience the new nighttime seasonal Shamu show, “Shamu’s Celebration: Light Up The Night,” as well as a new ski show. Guests will have the chance to float, wade or walk among hundreds of tropical birds in this exciting attraction.

Connect with the greatest depths of the ocean at SeaWorld® San Antonio, where the wonders of the aquatic world come alive right here in the heart of Texas. Marvel at the grace and power of killer whales in the awe-inspiring Shamu® show One Ocean®.

Get your thrills on amazing rides such as Great White, Journey to Atlantis, Shamu Express, Steel Eel and Rio Loco. Meet your favorite furry characters at Sesame Street Bay of Play® and experience unforgettable, up-close animal interactions that are guaranteed to leave your senses swimming. Experience amazing animal encounters, thrilling rides, and dazzling live shows at SeaWorld® San Antonio, the world's largest marine life adventure park.

Things to do-

With so many choices, where do you begin? Right here. Take a look at all the amazing things to do while at Six Flags Fiesta Texas — from pulse-pounding roller coasters to gentler options for tots. Cool off at White Water Bay or take a break at one of our entertaining shows. Catch a bite at one of our restaurants and don't forget to pick up your souvenirs so you can remember the day!

Majestic Theatre

Located in the heart of downtown San Antonio, Texas, the Majestic Theatre was built in 1929 and was designed in a Spanish Mediterranean style by John Eberson for Karl Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theatres.

The Majestic Theatre is an example of Arts Center Enterprisesability to work within public, private partnerships — in this case the City of San Antonio as owner of the theatre, and Las Casas Foundation, a local non-profit organization, in a successful effort to turn the historic movie theatre into a landmark, modern performing arts facility. During the 1980s and 90s, $9 million renovation and stage expansion costs were raised by Las Casas Foundation, with substantial investments from the City of San Antonio, ACE and local philanthropies.

The 2,264 seat Majestic Theatre is a National Historic Landmark, and is currently home to theBroadway in San Antonio series, along with a wide variety of concerts and performing arts attractions. The Majestic Theatre has operated under Arts Center Enterprises’ management on a self-sustaining basis since 1989.

Top 10 Travel Therapy Tips To Beat Epic Airport Security Lines

1) Get Thru Lines Faster: Avoid the epic lines all together by signing up for TSA PreCheck ($85 for 5 years) or Global Entry ($100 for 5 years), NEXUS ($50 for 5 years) that fast tracks you through security. I’ve gotten through security lines in five minutes that took other people two hours! Sure, there are some steps you have to take and the cost, but isn’t it worth $17 a year for five years ( TSA Pre-Check) to avoid those huge lines?

2) Get to the Airport 2 to 3 Hours Before Flight.

3) Research Before You Fly: A quick Google search or social media search ( #IHateTheWait) will let you now what airports are seeing the longest security lines so you can plan accordingly. It’s no surprise you’re often seeing the longest lines in the largest airports like Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago’s Midway, New York’s JFK and La Guardia, New Jersey’s Newark, and Seattle’s Sea-Tac, but smaller airports are also feeling the crunch, so don’t let the size of an airport fool you.

4) Look for Shorter Lines: Don’t just go to the first security line you see if that line is long. As a TSA agent if there’s a shorter line somewhere else.



5) Pick Your Line Carefully: When it’s your turn to go through security quickly check out who is in front of you and don’t get behind the family with a bunch of kids, or someone who is untying their shoes or looks confused like they don’t fly often. Instead pick the line where it looks like there are business travelers, people who know what they’re doing, because that line is going to move a lot faster.

6) Travel Off-Peak: If you can avoid flying on the traditionally busiest travel days ( Friday, Sunday, Monday) and try to fly on a Saturday or Tuesday, you’ll will not only usually see shorter airport security lines but find cheaper airfare, a win-win!

7) Be A Smart Packer: Know the TSA rules before you get to the airport and pack accordingly and be ready to go before you get in line. Have things like your boarding pass, ID, computer and cell phones ready to go. Make sure any allowed liquids are in a one-quart clear bag, take off jewelry, shoes, watches, belts, anything that can cause a problem before it’s your turn to go through security. 

8) Carry-On Only.

9) Be Charged Up and Connected: Make sure your phone is fully charged so you can stay connected with what’s happening with your flight. This is not the time to run out of battery, creating even more stress.

10) Be Patient and Polite.

Travel Insurance Advice

Many travel vendors (tour companies and cruise lines) offer their own protection plans and these plans may provide very different coverage than offered through third party insurance companies. In most cases, supplier-provided coverage won’t cover you in the event they go bankrupt. When considering a supplier protection plan, you should carefully compare the coverage with third-party travel insurance products.

Who should buy travel insurance?
Travelers who want to protect their travel investment should consider purchasing travel insurance. If an illness, accident or sudden change in plans forces you to cancel or interrupt travel plans, you face two major financial losses – money you’ve invested in nonrefundable prepayments, and medical expenses that aren’t covered by your health insurance.

How does trip cancellation coverage work?
It is designed to reimburse you for forfeited, nonrefundable, unused payments or deposits if you have to cancel your interrupt your trip due to a variety of situations, including but not limited to inclement weather, illness or another unforeseen event.

Depending on your policy, it may also cover:

• Emergency medical expenses
• Transportation ordered by a doctor to the nearest adequate
• medical facility
• Reasonable accommodations and travel expenses for travel delays
• Essential items you purchase if your baggage is delayed
• Lost or stolen luggage
• How much does travel insurance cost?
• The cost of travel insurance varies from company and policy to policy. The more you have invested in your trip, the more you need to protect it. Travel insurance covers you for losses caused by trip cancellation and interruption, medical expenses, baggage, trip and baggage delay. When you consider all the protection you get, travel insurance is actually a great value.

Where do you buy travel insurance?
Most travel agents offer travel insurance and many may even require customers that decline insurance to sign a waiver form.

How to Avoid Jet Lag

You don’t have to travel to Beijing to get jet-lagged. Don’t believe us? Fly from New York to Denver and back in three days and see how you feel over the next week. The truth is, for every time zone change, you need a day to recover. So flying from New York to London can put you off base for six days (every hour of flying time approximates one time zone).

You may not be able to completely avoid jet lag, but you can be one of those people who more or less breeze through it. Here’s how.

The best way to deal with jet lag is to prevent it. Take 5 milligrams of melatonin the day before your flight at a time that equals 5 p.m. in the new time zone. Take it again on the plane if you’re travelling eastward. Continue taking 1 to 3 milligrams of melatonin at bedtime in your new time zone to continue your body clock’s adjustment.

Melatonin, also known as the sleep hormone, rises throughout the day, peaking in the evening and signalling your brain and body that it’s time for bed. Supplementing with it when travelling can trick your body into thinking it’s later than it is.

Winter Driving Tips

1. Put some extra clothing and emergency items into your vehicle; these will come in handy if you break down in cold weather. It doesn't take much -- assemble a basic kit including a pair of gloves, weather-resistant pants and/or coat, maybe an old pair of boots, a blanket, jumper cables, a flashlight with some extra batteries, and a windshield scraper (and maybe a de-icer), and you should be in good shape. You might also toss a few nutrition bars in as well; those things won't spoil until the next millennium, are packed with calories and can bail you out in a pinch.

2. Make sure your car is checked over for winter weather readiness. In particular, you or a mechanic should inspect your tires before the first big winter storm.

3. Once your vehicle is inspected and equipped, follow this advice we heard a while back from Montana's snowplow drivers: "See and be seen. Keep your headlights and taillights clean, especially in stormy weather. Keep windows clean and make sure defrosters work well. If snow has built up on your vehicle overnight or after a break from driving, clear it away so it doesn't blow off and obscure your windows."

Tips for Winter Air Travel

1. I have found that the worst winter problems for travelers frequently occur at connecting airports. If your first outbound flight is canceled and you end up returning to your own home from your local airport, that's one thing; if you are stuck in your vacation hotel hoping to get a flight home, that's a bit worse. But when you're stuck in a connecting airport in Texas calling hotels and praying for a place to stay, you're in what we call yer worst-case scenario, pardner.

For this reason, you should fly nonstop whenever possible. To find nonstop flights, do all your initial flight searches with the "Nonstop Flights Only" button checked. If you also use search options like "Show Nearby Airports" and "My Dates Are Flexible," you'll have a very good sense of how best to get from Point A to B without Point C for Connection.

SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration

SeaWorld San Antonio is decking out the halls for its annual Christmas Celebration, an extraordinary holiday event November 19 - January 1. This wintery, watery wonderland features Christmas shows, holiday lights, festive foods, Santa Claus and more!

New in 2016, the park is covered with 5 million lights, the largest Christmas light display in Texas, and guests can meet Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and friends. 'Tis the season to create family memories, only found at SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration.

Light the Way

2016 HIGHLIGHT

The crisp, clear skies provided the perfect backdrop for fireworks, twinkling lights and even snow as the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) officially kicked off the holiday season at the 30th anniversary of Light the Way. The event held Saturday, Nov. 19 brought a record breaking crowd of over 8,500 guests to the Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium where UIW Interim President Dr. Denise Doyle and her special guest, two-year old Eleanor Tucker, flipped the switch and illuminated the campus in nearly a million vibrant lights. 

 

The event was the finale to a fun-filled evening sponsored by H-E-B. The highlight of the evening was a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus who entered the stadium in a horse drawn carriage accompanied by angels from UIW’s Brainpower elementary schools amidst a blanket of snow that enchanted the audience.

Special guests for the evening included Sr. Teresa Maya, CCVI, congregational leader of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word and Dya Campos, H-E-B., director of government and public affairs. The evening began with the National Anthem performed by UIW alumna, Dionne Bedell.

Zoo Lights

Merry & Bright and Wild at Night!

Open nightly at 6:00 p.m., from November 18, 2016 - January 1, 2017, Zoo Lights is a nighttime holiday tradition for the whole family! Stroll under an array of twinkling lights while you sip hot cocoa, roast s'mores and enjoy an all-new light show. Plus, visit Santa and tell him what's on your Christmas wish list. Also, new this year is the ice skating rink and camel rides. The Zoo will close for the day at 4:00 p.m. and re-opens at 6:00 p.m. during Zoo Lights.

Santa's Ranch

This holiday season, you’ll be one short drive away from your next favorite Christmas tradition. It all started in 2003 with a goal of helping you feel the joy of the Holiday season while starting a new family tradition. All you have to do is pack your kids into the car and watch their faces light up as they take in the beautiful Christmas displays, including lit up gingerbread houses, nativity scenes, depictions of the North Pole, and more all at our Christmas ranch.

Our goal is to help you enjoy a new, or continuing, family tradition. So, bring some joy into your Holiday season by paying our Christmas ranch a visit! You’ll be awestruck by over 1.5 million, custom made lights all put up to help you experience the magic of the Christmas season.

Bring your friends and family and enjoy one of the best holiday light exhibits in the state! You’ll take a drive through over a mile of winding country roads while taking in the beautiful lights, animated Christmas displays, and enjoying homemade hot cocoa, kettle corn, and snacks. 

Click here to learn more!

Friedrich Wilderness Park

Friedrich Wilderness Park offers approximately 10 miles of hiking trails with varying degrees of difficulty. It is home for rare birds, terrestrial orchids, steep hills and deep canyons. It is internationally known for bird watching. Perched on the edge if the Balcones Escarpment, Friedrich is a nesting site for two federally listed endangered species of birds: the Black-capped Vireo and the Golden-cheeked Warbler.

When she died in September 1971, Norma Friedrich Ward bequeathed 180 acres of land on Heuermann Road near Leon Springs to the City of San Antonio for use as a public park. She also gave $100,000 to make improvements to the land. It was Mrs. Ward’s wish that the natural vegetation and native trees and shrubs be protected and that native birds and wildlife be protected and encouraged to use the park as a sanctuary.

Outdoor Cinema in San Antonio

Slab Cinema offers free public outdoor movie screenings in venues all over San Antonio! Learn more: www.slabcinema.com

Discover local talent in Southtown

Local artists are featured every first Friday of the month year-round at this event. Participants include studios, galleries, and the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum. Go support the people who make San Antonio awesome.

We Run San Antonio

If you’re health-conscious but also craving a cold one or three, We Run San Antonio has your bases covered with the pub run. The route runs through Pat O’Brien’s, Kremlin, and the Bonham Exchange, so participate at your own risk.

San Antonio

San Antonio is a major city in south-central Texas with a rich colonial heritage. The Alamo, an 18th-century Spanish mission preserved as a museum, marks an infamous 1836 battle for Texan independence from Mexico. Following the San Antonio River, the miles-long River Walk is a landmark pedestrian promenade lined with cafes and shops. HemisFair Park’s 750-ft. Tower of the Americas overlooks the city.

 

Come visit! We are waiting for you!!

McNay Art Museum

The McNay Art Museum, located in San Antonio and named for founder Marion Koogler McNay, is the first museum of modern art in Texas.

Becoming the McNay

Ohio-born heiress Marion Koogler first visited San Antonio in 1918, shortly after her marriage to Sergeant Don Denton McNay, who was called to active duty in Laredo, Texas. Later that year Don McNay died from the Spanish flu. In 1926, Marion moved to San Antonio, where she met and married prominent ophthalmologist Donald T. Atkinson. 

The following year, she purchased her first modern oil painting, Diego Rivera’s Delfina Flores, and the Atkinsons commissioned San Antonio architects Atlee and Robert Ayres to design a 24-room Spanish Colonial-Revival house that would one day become the core of the McNay Art Museum. Marion continued to collect 19th- and 20th-century European and American paintings, as well as Southwest art from New Mexico. 

When her marriage to Atkinson ended in 1936, she returned to using her first husband’s name. At her death in 1950, Marion left her collection of more than 700 works of art, along with the house, the surrounding 23 acres, and an endowment to establish the first museum of modern art in Texas. In 1954 the McNay opened its doors to the public. The Jane and Arthur Stieren Center for Exhibitions, built in 2008 and designed by French architect Jean-Paul Viguier, added 45,000 square feet to the museum and created gallery space for major exhibitions, a sculpture gallery and garden, a lecture hall, and classrooms for the museum’s many educational programs.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park may be arranged differently than other parks you have visited. This park has four distinct visitor areas, each between 2-3 miles from the previous one. Starting 3 miles south of downtown San Antonio is Mission Concepción. Another 2½ miles is Mission San José, the location of the park's Visitor Center. Three miles beyond Mission San José is Mission San Juan and Spanish colonial demonstration farm. The last and farthest south is Mission Espada.

San Antonio Missions is a day-use park, which means the visitor center and each of the four missions close at 5:00 pm. Parking lots are open before and after park hours for the convenience of walkers and bikers of the Mission Reach Riverwalk. While public parking lots are monitored by video surveillance, dedicated church parking lots are not.

There are many opportunities to learn about the Spanish and Native American heritages, lives, and legacies in all areas of the park. Whether you have an hour or a full day, the information on this site will help you plan your best use of time.