Cool and quirky in San Antonio

March 14, 2013 3:53 PM

Moving to Boerne/San Antonio next week. Looking for two things: cool places/shops/places to visit; and web sites. I want to know about the one cemetery that has the coolest old statues, the park that offers the best secret hideouts, the store that has the weirdest hand made tchotchkes. Two particular items of interest: fabric stores (NOT Joann's - I want the cool, local place); and a place to get very nice wood for woodworking, since the hubby likes to make stuff, including guitars. Music stores would also be welcome. I'm an interior designer, and would love an introduction to the "to the trade" stores/warehouses in the area, too. Web sites that will help me get to know the area. Especially as I'm a stay at home mom, and I'd love to meet other parents and find cool places to take my kids. These could be business web sites, organizations, blogs, you name it. For the record, I'm not religious at all and I lean very liberal, so super conservative stuff is definitely not what I'm after. Thanks, mefites!
posted by wwartorff to Society & Culture (2 answers total)

We lived in S.A. for 6.5 years and really enjoyed it.

Fabric store: Creative Sewing Center on West and Blanco. They have an extensive collection of gorgeous fabrics (including huge Asian and Batik collections).

Park: Brackenridge is really neat and the hideout would be the Japanese Tea Garden.

The zoo is nifty and packed with kids and moms on the weekdays. There are a few Meetups for moms that aren't associated with churches so hopefully you can find one that you like.

For shopping, I always loved La Cantera. Oh to have a Nordstrom again. Alamo Heights also has great shopping at a higher price point. This is also where the Trader Joe's and West Elm are located.

Cool statues can be found all over the Missions.
posted by Leezie at 6:54 PM on March 14, 2013

Not sure if you're beer or bar lovers, but Hill's & Dale's Ice House is a biker-kinda bar on the ouskirts of loop 1604 (or at least, what used to be the outskirts... which were already being developed 10 years ago, so I am sure there's even more now.) Anyway, they have an amazing selection of interesting brews and people. Last I heard they had something like 50 taps from around the world. My family used to go there to catch the occasional blues band, too.

I agree that college campuses are a good place to start. UTSA is also there and I think it's a commuter school, so you might find ways to meet people with kids.

Nthing the Missions and the Majestic Theater and adding the Sunken Garden Theater.

Own cowboy boots. And go along when Rodeo hits next Feb. Now that's San Antonio.
posted by juliplease at 6:48 AM on March 15, 2013