Annual Meetings 2021 hosted by AAR & SBL
 

San Antonio Tours

Tours fill up quickly and are first-come, first served! With the exception of the Historic Houses of Worship, all tours are walking tours.
 
To add a tour to your Annual Meeting registration, click on the MODIFY link on your registration confirmation, then skip to the tour page and add to your registration. Or, you can email information@annual-meetings.org and request a tour be added to your registration. Fees will be added to the credit card on file.
San Fernando Cathedral, Governor's Mansion
Sunday, November 21st at 10:30 AM. $25
 
The San Fernando Cathedral and Governor’s mansion tour is a little over half a mile from the convention center. Comfortable shoes should be worn. San Fernando Cathedral has a fascinating history and is indeed the oldest cathedral in the State of Texas. The guide will relate the history of this magnificent church and then we are off to the Governor’s mansion just one block away. The gardens at the Spanish Governor’s mansion are breathtaking. The tour guide will relate the story behind the historical building and the earliest history of the area under Spanish rule. Duration of the tour of San Fernando Cathedral and the Governor’s mansion is approximately one hour.
 
The Riverwalk Riverboat/Walking Tour
Sunday, November 21st at 12:30 PM $37
Monday, November 22nd at 1:00 PM $37
 
The Riverwalk riverboat tours are private. They are guided tours on a San Antonio Riverboat. This tour travels on the river loop around the city of San Antonio on the San Antonio River and the duration is approximately 35 minutes. After the riverboat tour, we will disembark and walk to an area on the Riverwalk where gift shops and sidewalk cafes can be found for a nice lunch on the Riverwalk.
 
Walking Tour of the Alamo
Sunday, November 21st at 2:30 PM $25
 
 The tour guide will relate the topics regarding the Battle of the Alamo, the duration of the tour is approximately one hour. Our visit to the Alamo will end in the Alamo Gift shop, which has an extensive inventory from inexpensive Alamo related gifts and memorabilia, such as Daniel Boone’s raccoon tail hats, “Remember the Alamo” T- Shirts to more expensive Bowie knife replicas, framed Alamo art, maps,
and books.
 
Market Square Tour
Monday, November 22nd at 10:30 AM $25
 
The duration of the Market Square is approximately one hour. Market Square is a one mile walk from the convention center. Comfortable shoes should be worn. Market Square is a fascinating look into the history of San Antonio, both colorful and interesting as Mexican Marketplace square’s south of the border. Your tour guide will tell you the story and give you a look at what a genuine Mexican Market
looks like with colorful pastel-colored walls and vendors of every kind of Mexican handicraft you can imagine. Choose from inexpensive multicolored sarapes and of course the typical Mexican “Sombrero” hat, so large it was used for shade during “siesta.” High-end art can also be found in the many galleries and Market stands found all over the Market Square. Duration of the tour is approximately one hour.
After the Market Square tour, you can choose one of many famous Mexican Restaurants to have a nice lunch. To cool down, ask for an “Agua de Horchata” (rice water with milk and sugar),just one of the many Mexican flavored water drinks you can choose from.

San Antonio Historic Houses of Worship
Monday, November 22 from 1:00 PM-5:00 PM; Cost: $30
David R. Bains, Samford University, and Daniel Sack, Washington, D.C., Presiding
 
First settled by Europeans in 1718, San Antonio is named for Saint Anthony of Padua. It became one of the largest cities in Texas after the Civil War. This tour will explore some of the houses of worship this rich heritage has bequeathed it. Probable stops will include San Fernando Cathedral (dating from 1738 with a major expansion in 1868), the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower, begun shortly after the canonization of the St. Térèse de Lisux (“the Little Flower”) in 1925, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church founded in the Government Hill neighborhood in 1883 adjacent to Fort Sam Houston. We also hope to include a visit to Jewish or Hindu community. Transportation provided.