Afternoon: Hotel check-in after 3:00PM. ORIENTATION begins in the hotel conference room at 4:30pm. Your arrival packet will contain an updated schedule of program activities, a list of fellow attendees, and your name badge. Start your San Antonio experience with an informative overview of the week to come. The site coordinator will provide contact names and phone numbers of program leaders; address responsibilities, questions, and concerns; review safety guidelines and emergency procedures; orient you to the hotel location on maps; and discuss the program schedule and what will be included in the field trips. Begin getting to know the program staff and your fellow participants with a get-acquainted session to introduce each member of the group. If you arrive late, be sure to pick up your packet at the hotel front desk. Breakfast each day is in the hotel with lunch and dinner at restaurants in the downtown and River Walk areas. This Road Scholar program offers the opportunity to study and explore America's most complete Spanish Colonial Spanish Mission complex featuring the Alamo, unlock San Antonio's colorful history, study the River Walk and its environs with historians, review the 26 ethnic groups that settled the Texas frontier, learn of famous and not so famous characters in Texas' storied past, enjoy a barge cruise on the San Antonio River, hear the origins of Texas music, prepare and enjoy the perfect enchilada and experience a traditional mariachi performance.

Dinner: A nearby restaurant offers multiple entrée choices and continuing opportunities to become acquainted with your fellow participants and program staff.

Lodging: Drury Plaza Hotel

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel provides full hot breakfast buffet each morning before the first activity.

Morning: San Antonio Overview. Discover why San Antonio is undoubtedly one of America's unique cities. Its poignant and colorful history, ethnically varied people, and blending of cultural heritages set the city apart. While the River Walk and the Alamo define San Antonio symbolically, past political and cultural wars of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries resulted in six sovereign nations flying their flags over Texas. This created a mixture of inhabitants from Mexico, the Old South, the "Wild West," and Europe. Get the facts and figures on the city's demographics, economy, weather, geography, and ecology.

Lunch: Sumptuous luncheon buffet at legendary hotel en route to afternoon expert-led walk.

Afternoon: Afternoon expert-led walk of the River Walk and Alamo. The heart of downtown San Antonio is the River Walk; the most significant historical event the battle of the Alamo.

Dinner: Happy Hour and catered dinner at the hotel.

Evening: Evening narrated barge cruise on the San Antonio River.

Lodging: Drury Plaza Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Tex-Mex Cooking/San Fernando Cathedral/Spanish Colonial Missions/McNay Art Museum

Breakfast: Full breakfast buffet at the hotel.

Morning: This morning's cultural field trip travels back in time to the Spanish colonial era of San Antonio in the 18th century at San Fernando Cathedral, the oldest cathedral sanctuary in the U.S., completed in 1750, and an active parish of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Construction began on the cathedral shortly after Canary Island colonists, granted land and title by Spain's King Philip V, settled here in 1731. General Santa Ana raised the red flag of "no quarter" from the cathedral during the siege of the Alamo. On to our cooking adventure: "All you need to know to begin Tex-Mex cooking." Meet Diana Trevino Barrios, and learn how to prepare a delicious Mexican meal with picante style! After class taste for yourself the results of these recipes with a delicious lunch at the restaurant.

Lunch: Lunch at Los Barrios. Savor enchiladas, tacos, guacamole, beans and rice and a mouthwatering dessert.

Afternoon: Cultural field trip continues: discover Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo and the McNay Art Museum and additional historical sites before returning to the hotel.

Dinner: Dinner at local restaurant features multiple entree choices.

Lodging: Drury Plaza Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full breakfast buffet at the hotel.

Morning: All that's missing as our master storyteller weaves her tales of Texas lore and legend, is the campfire's shadows on a starry night in West Texas. Stories are handed down from Native Americans and the days of the Texas Rangers. Hear about the origin of Texas' state flower, the bluebonnet, and the snake that fought in the Civil War.

Lunch: Lunch at a restaurant in Southwest School of Art.

Afternoon: Afternoon unscheduled. Extra-curricular activity options will be provided by the coordinator, instructors and staff.

Dinner: Dinner on your own to explore the River Walk's many restaurants and assorted eclectic cuisines.

Evening: Unscheduled evening to stroll the River Walk or enjoy other San Antonio sites.

Lodging: Drury Plaza Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Mary Menger/King William Historic District/Institute of Texan Cultures/Farewell Dinner

Breakfast: Full breakfast buffet at the hotel.

Morning: "Mary Menger, Alamo Plaza Proprietress, 1816-1887" - Tim Draves brings to life this famous character in Texas' storied history.

Lunch: Lunch at local restaurant en route to the King William Historic District.

Afternoon: This afternoon offers a guided walking tour of the King William Historic District. See mansions and cottages of varied architectural styles built by successful German families after the Civil War along the San Antonio River and adjacent farm lands that had originally belonged to the Alamo in mission days. On to the Institute of Texan Cultures, an educational center showcasing the 26 different ethnic and cultural groups groups that settled the Texas frontier. The Institute of Texan Cultures is located downtown on the UTSA HemisFair Park Campus, a short walk from the Alamo and the River Walk. The 182,000-square-foot complex features 65,000 square feet of interactive exhibits and displays that tell the stories of Texans. The remainder of the afternoon's guided tour features additional historical and cultural highlights of San Antonio.

Dinner: Festive farewell dinner at River Walk restaurant. Choose from multiple entrees.

Evening: Traditional Mariachi entertainment.

Lodging: Drury Plaza Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Full breakfast buffet at the hotel.

Morning: Take a peek at the system of folk medicine that came to be used by the early Texans, who often were forced to find substitutes for remedies that had been available in their previous environs. They began to share "cures" with people from other cultures: Native Americans, Mexicans, Germans, Poles, Swedes and many others. Join us as we look inside the medicine cabinets of these early settlers. Program concludes no later than 11:00 a.m

Meals Included: Breakfast