How San Antonio, Texas is More Queer-Friendly Than You Think
When Visit San Antonio first sent me the invite by way of Out Traveler to join them for their third annual River Pride Parade hosted by Bud Light, I had a number of reservations.
First, I have never been to Texas, and they don’t exactly have the best rep when it comes to queer representation. From my Californian perspective, they were ready to welcome any gay person with a gunshot. I’d always wanted to visit the state in general, especially since Californians keep heading over there, but I was nervous.
Second, Bud Light seemed like a weird choice for a sponsor. They’re back-and-forth with their “support” of the LGBTQ+ community and I don’t know. I felt a little weird.
That said, however, I found that none of that actually applied. Don’t get me wrong, Texas is still full of anti-LGBTQ+ people. San Antonio, however, is full of queer representation and is a welcoming space cloaked in a hip, upbeat, and very clean city.
The Bud Light River Pride Parade
As mentioned, I was specifically in San Antonio for their River Pride Parade. San Antonio is basically known for two things: The Alamo, and the river. There’s really hardly anywhere you can go in the city where the river isn’t somewhere nearby, and it’s an integral part of the city.
This year, the event drew nearly 40,000 people in the crowd, which marked it as their biggest event so far. Jorgeous, a San Antonio native from RuPaul’s Drag Race, opened up the show on her own float, which left me totally gagged. She’s one of my favorites, and I had no idea she would be there. The parade was also on my birthday, and I ran into her at the bar she performed at later in the evening, Pegasus. When I did, I asked her if we could take a picture and a shot, both of which she obliged.
It was awesome.
The rest of the parade was also awesome, and it was a lovely gathering of people. This was the first year they held the event at night, which I think was a great choice. San Antonio isn’t exactly cold in the summer, and that humidity on top of the scorching sun makes an outdoor event where you bake in it that much harder to stomach.
Apart from the few hours of time it took for the parade, I also had an amazing weekend in San Antonio. Here’s a look at some of the other things I did and places I visited. Be sure to scroll to the bottom to check out my full vlog of the experience!
Hopscotch
I have to say, even though it was the first thing I did as soon as I stepped off the plane, I really think Hopscotch was my favorite thing I did in San Antonio.
This is a unique and immersive museum and art exhibit that’s meant to use its artwork to tell stories and messages of the past, present, and future. The artists who showcase their work bring various environmental messages, such as the Rainbow Cave constructed from nearly 60,000 plastic bags to give a visual representation of how many bags San Antonians cycle through every day.
My favorite exhibit was RGB, which tells the story of humankind in a very unique way. As the colors shift between red, green, and blue, the images shift with the colors and tell different variations of the same picture. For example, in the human images, it shifts from a skeleton to adding the muscular system to bringing in the full image of a man shown from different perspectives.
Ocho
On the first night, our meal was hostel by Executive Chef Kirk from Ocho at the historic Havana Hotel. Kirk is a transgender nonbinary chef who also took home the title of Chopped champion during the show’s 47th season. They are also the owners of the Milpa Food Truck.
First of all, the dinner was delicious — and abundant — and Chef’s love for cooking shows through their dishes. They’re inspired by both their Texas and Mexican culture, with the food derived from the rise in popularity of the Tex-Mex style of cuisine.
There’s also a speakeasy underneath the restaurant remnant of the prohibition era when the hotel was first built, which was also a fun place to visit. Kirk also wound up giving us a tour around the hotel and told us various stories of its alleged haunted past.
La Vida Coffee
I actually really loved La Vida Coffee, because there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes action going on here that I think is really awesome for not only the community in San Antonio, but potentially even a little further out into the full community of those who suffer from diabetes.
The owner, Victor Rivera, is a Type 1 diabetic who also has an affinity for flying. There are various planes and flight paraphernalia around the shop, which gives it some extra character. There’s also the best selection of sugar-free options in town to cater to the diabetic clientele. There’s also a guestbook for you to sign, as well as a separate one for pilots who have flown in from out of town to log their flight miles and time.
Victor also works alongside one of his younger staff members, Destiny, who has a dream of opening her own bakery. He’s helping her get the commercial oven space she needs to get it done, and will also give her a home for her goods once she starts moving forward with her business.
The Alamo
The Alamo is… The Alamo. I mean, it’s a pretty big deal as far as American history goes, for sure, and it was definitely worth a visit.
In case you need some help as you try to Remember the Alamo (pun intended), it’s most known as the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, which played a major role in Texas pulling away from Mexico. The battle only lasted for about 90 minutes before it was over.
One of the coolest parts of the exhibit, to me, was the portrait projects for the soldiers. Many people have heard of David “Davey” Crockett, who was a former congressman from Tennessee. A lot of the Defenders never had proper portraits painted of them, so everything that’s painted and hung to honor what they did in the battle is a depiction of what they looked like based on descriptions of who they were.
Box Street All Day
Box Street All Day opened as a food truck in 2015, then transitioned into a catering company before it opened as the brick-and-mortar it is now in 2021. According to Co-Owner and Executive Chef Edward Garcia, they developed something of a “cult following” when they operated as a catering company, and the standing room only in the restaurant goes to show how popular they’ve remained throughout the years.
Like Chef Kirk, Chef Edward draws on inspiration from his home and culture, and the idea behind Box Street was to give people a place to feel loved and welcome. He said he cared more about people’s memories of the place and the good times they had there than the food they ate, but the food was still a memorable aspect of it all.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Box Street Brekkie, which is a little bit of everything and shows a modern-day twist to the standard American breakfast with eggs, bacon, an incredible Brussels hash with herb oil, and house-made milk bread and jam.
The San Antonio Botanical Gardens
While the San Antonio Botanical Gardens might not be the place for everyone, I really enjoyed my visit out there, despite how hot and humid it was. I always enjoy a chance to pull back from people and reconnect with nature, which is exactly what the botanical gardens offer.
I also enjoyed all of the bunnies, birds, and butterfly sculptures placed throughout the park. They give you a map at the entrance that shows you where each sculpture lies, though truthfully the map is a bit confusing and hard to read. The sculptures, however, are very colorful and vibrant and add a lot to the park. It’s also cool to go to the sections with log cabins and a deeper look into life before technology.
The gardens are also part of the package deal you can get if you get a CityPass. I hadn’t heard of this before, but it’s available in a number of cities. For a locked-in price (the San Antonio one is $59), visitors can choose any four of a number of attractions to visit in the city of their choice. The gardens were among my selection, as was the Alamo. I didn’t wind up using my other two options, so be sure to check the vlog at the bottom to see what prevented me from doing so.
Paramour Drag Brunch
I love a good drag brunch. I recently did drag makeup for the first time with Trinty the Tuck from RuPaul’s Drag Race, I discovered drag when I first moved to San Diego, and I’ve also had the pleasure of both interviewing and seeing several other queens perform in person.
At the Paramour Bar in San Antonio, I also got to see the legendary Lynz Andrews perform live, as well as her daughter, Miami, who I swear is off to Drag Race soon and is easily top 4 material. I also got to lip sync for my life, though I was definitely prepared and also didn’t know the words. And also discovered that even when I’m supposed to lip sync I really can’t help singing along.
The brunch was also great, and it was the first time I ever got to do a drag brunch that was also a buffet. Since the night before attending said brunch was my birthday, I was incredibly hungover for the actual experience and did not eat as much as I normally would have under these circumstances. As it was, I still had a great time, and every drink was totally worth it.
San Antonio Museum of Art
I love a good museum, and the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) did not disappoint. This is another option available through the CityPass, which I had originally intended to use a slot for, but my particular visit was hosted through the museum itself.
There are two different towers in the museum and plenty of different types of artwork along the way. One tower focuses more on standard art and paintings, while the other takes on more of the sculpture work and three-dimensional pieces. There’s plenty to choose from, whether it be native Texas art, European or Chinese, and you can easily get lost within the four walls (trust me, I did.)
Those interested are also able to book tours through the museum to get a better deep-dive with more information on all of the different sections and pieces of artwork.
Hotel Emma/Pearl
Over in the Pearl District, I met up with an old friend at the Hotel Emma for some drinks. I didn’t know she lived in San Antonio now, and she saw my photos from my time there to invite me out to meet up.
What I wish I had known prior to going was that the City Brewery was founded on the Pearl grounds back in 1881, and had grown to be the largest brewery in Texas by 1916. Since it was the only brewery in San Antonio to have survived prohibition, it would have been cool to check it out — but I’ll add that to my bucket list for my next visit.
The Hotel Emma played host to said brewery, and is now a 146-room riverfront hotel. We went to the regular bar to catch up, because it had been over a decade since we saw each other, and the history of the place was lost on me as I carried on having a good conversation with an old friend.
Elsewhere
Along the journey with my friend, Megan, we stopped at a place called Elsewhere, which had also served some pre-packaged drinks at the Pride event the night before. This beer garden has everything you need from drinks to hookah in a relaxing and outdoor environment.
Megan and I spent some time enjoying some hookah, which was an old past time we used to do together in college. I haven’t really smoked the stuff since, so it made me cough a lot, but it was nice to have that small sense of nostalgic reconnect to what some may refer to as “the good old days.”
I also love the positive atmosphere in Elsewhere and the messages of being kind to one another that are placed everywhere. It’s also a very inclusive here, so it’s a great spot for queer people to come and be their authentic selves.
Rosario’s
Rosario’s has been around town since the early 90s and has a few locations around town. They’re known for their award-winning from-scratch menu that’s an infusion of traditional Mexican dishes with a contemporary twist. The chalupas were out of this world, and the sweet corn appetizer completely hit the spot. Plus, they also have their jumbo margaritas to wash it all down, which were a highlight of the meal.
The restaurant originally started out in 1981 with 18-year-old Lisa Wong, who invested the $7,000 her parents had given for college into her first establishment, Lisa’s Mexican Restaurant. She rescued Rosario’s from being a failed restaurant in 1992 and has kept it alive for over 30 years.
They’re also extremely accommodating. It was meant to just be me heading in for dinner, but they allowed me to add Megan in at the last minute to join me, which I was extremely grateful for.
The Hotel Contessa
At the end of the day, I rested my head on a pillow provided by the Hotel Contessa, which was a lovely and accommodating place to stay. It was also conveniently located to everything I did while in San Antonio, and is an easy walk to bulk of activities I experienced.
It was also great to see how supportive they were of the queer community and the pre-party they held in their bar prior to the Pride celebration. Again, I was really nervous about heading to Texas for a Pride event specifically, but everything about my experience wound up changing my mind right around, and I’m grateful it did.
If I could just say one thing about the hotel that might not be the most positive, it’s that the water pressure and plumbing don’t seem to be the best, and the service in the morning for breakfast is lackluster to say to least.
