Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/586302
The tamale festival took place at Pearl, a one-time brewery site that is quickly becoming a shopping and dining hub. It is also the home of the Texas outpost of the revered Culinary Institute of America, which trains aspiring chefs. Visitors can taste their efforts at the CIA's on-site Latin American restaurant, Nao. Pearl will get another boost in fall 2015, when Hotel Emma opens its doors in the 19 th - century brew house. "Stylish" and "quirky" don't even begin to describe this place, where you'll be able to dine in a banquette fashioned from an old brewing tank in the hotel bar or— should your budget allow—stay in a two-level suite with a terrace and a dining table seating 16. (Less opulent rooms are also available.) CITY LANDMARKS Pearl is adjacent to one of the city's crown jewels, the San Antonio River Walk. This roughly eight-kilometre stretch of the San Antonio River, augmented with bypass chan- nels, winds through the heart of the city. Pearl is at its northern edge, and the River Walk banks are pretty quiet out that way, populated mainly by joggers and dog walkers. Farther downtown, however, the River Walk is thrum- ming with restaurants, bars, shops and hotels, as well as a massive convention centre. It would be easy to spend a day or two just strolling its banks, crisscrossing it on little bridges and puttering along it in a tour boat. A stone's throw from the River Walk is per- haps San Antonio's best-known attraction, the Alamo. Those raised on tales of Davy Crockett or John Wayne movies will enjoy the tour guides' detailed descriptions of the famous 1836 battle. That fight was part of the larger Texas Revolution against Mexico, which then governed the region. The Alamo began its life as a Spanish mis- sion, one of five in the San Antonio area. The other four comprise San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and they are well worth a visit. It's easy to get a sense of how FALL/ WINTER 2015 DREAMSCAPES 37