San Antonio

San Antonio, a Texas city of about 1.2 million people as of 2005, is the 7th largest city in America. The area where San Antonio now resides was inhabited by American Indians for a very long time. In 1691 a Spanish expedition came to the region and named the river, where San Antonio now sits, the "San Antonio River". The city was actually founded in 1718 by Spanish settlers who constructed a small mission (church) to bring Christianity to the American Indians living in the region. Because of its Spanish heritage, the city has its own unique atmosphere that has some elements of Old World Spanish architecture and Modern American architecture.

The economy of San Antonio is focused in four basic areas - financial services, health care and medical research, military, and tourism. In recent years, because of its robust economy, San Antonio has become one of the fastest growing cities in America.

San Antonio is home to some major corporations such as AT&T, USAA, Valero Energy Corp., Tesoro Energy Corp., Clear Channel Communications, Frost National Bank, H-E-B, Southwest Research Institute, and Zachry Construction. San Antonio is also home to the NBA champions - the San Antonio Spurs. Toyota opened a new automobile plant in San Antonio as of 2007, which is expected to bring even more growth to the San Antonio economy in the coming years.

The city has a very large medical and healthcare infrastructure. The South Texas Medical Center is the largest medical research and healthcare center in the South Texas region. It consists of a medical school, dental school, nursing school, many hospitals and clinics, and numerous medical research facilities. Also, located in San Antonio is the Brooke Army Medical Center, one of the U.S. Army's main medical care and training centers as well as Wilford Hall Medical Center, one of the U.S. Air Force's top medical care and training centers.

San Antonio has one of the largest concentrations of military installations in America. There are 2 large U.S. Air Force bases and 1 large U.S. Army base. All new recruits to the U.S. Air Force are trained in San Antonio at Lackland Air Force Base, which is one of the largest military training complexes in the world. Lackland also trains more seasoned U.S. and foreign military personnel in a wide range of technical specialties. Randolph Air Force Base handles pilot training. Fort Sam Houston is the main medical training complex for U.S. Army personnel.

Tourism is one of San Antonio's largest sources of revenue. The city draws over 20 million tourists each year. One of the main attractions is the beautiful and famous River Walk, a small river that winds through the center of the city that is lined on both banks for 2 and 1/2 miles with walkways, shops, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, and bars. There is even a fleet of small cruise boats that operate on the river and take passengers on a narrated tour of the River Walk. The downtown area is full of historical attractions such as the Alamo (the most famous attraction in San Antonio and most sacred site in Texas), the Spanish Governor's Palace, the Menger Hotel, the Buckhorn Saloon, Market Square (an authentic Mexican market area), La Villita (an arts and crafts shopping area), and many others. Nearby is the Missions National Park, a chain of 4 old Spanish missions established along the San Antonio River in the 1700s. Also nearby are the San Antonio Botanical Garden, Institute of Texan Cultures, Witte Museum, and the San Antonio Zoological Gardens and Aquarium (considered one of the best in America). Further out are SeaWorld San Antonio and Six Flags Fiesta Texas, both large theme parks.

San Antonio has many fine restaurants, especially downtown on the River Walk. All types of cuisine are available throughout the city but Tex-Mex cuisine is what San Antonio is famous for. Although Tex-Mex is now found all over the world, San Antonio is considered the capital of Tex-Mex cuisine. Tex-Mex is a special type of Mexican cuisine that is prepared Texas style. What is Texas style? No one can really agree completely but Texas cuisine tends to use more yellow cheeses, more beef (especially beef chili), more beans, more spices, and more starch such as tortillas, crispy tacos, and nachos than that seen in normal Mexican cuisine. Tex-Mex is considered to be Americanized Mexican food that originated in Texas. It is delicious.

Every year, since 1891, San Antonio holds a 10 day long festival in April. The festival is called Fiesta. It attracts people from all over the world. Fiesta includes 3 major parades, one of which is a parade of floating floats on the River Walk. During the 10 day festival there are over 100 events assisted by over 75,000 local volunteers. Just some of the events include the Oyster Bake at St. Mary's University, Louisiana cuisine during Taste of New Orleans, and multicultural cooking at Night in Old San Antonio. There are also many musical events that cover a wide range of music. And there are many sporting events as well.

San Antonio presently has 11 colleges and universities. The largest university is the University of Texas at San Antonio, with a total enrollment of over 28,000 students as of 2006. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is home to the School of Dental Surgery, School of Medicine, and School of Nursing making San Antonio a major medical training and research center. Other major universities include Trinity University, St. Mary's University, University of the Incarnate Word, and Our Lady of the Lake University.

Because San Antonio is situated in south Texas, the weather tends to be quite hot in the summer and mild in the winter. Summers see daily temperatures above 100 F and it is not unusual for temperatures to reach as high as 110 F in August. Winters see daytime temperatures often in the 60s with nights going down into the 40s. Rainfall varies from year-to-year but generally San Antonio is a dry city with abundant sunshine nearly every day of the year.