You aren’t that far from Lockhart, and some of the best BBQ in the country. I prefer Smitty’s, but Blacks will do in a pinch.
Seconding Mi Tierra. Last time the wife and I were in town, we ate there a lot.
I could be talked into a San Antonio Dopefest. This summer is gonna be hectic as hell, as I am going through Mastership training, but after July 15th, things will settle down quite a lot. SWMBO and I can head over and visit her daughter while we are there.
Giving this thread a bump as OMG it’s less than a week before we go! Just wanted to check if anyone had some tips about stuff that’s happening at the moment in San Antonio and the area?
We’re planning on renting a car for a day trip on the Tuesday or Wednesday, haven’t quite decided where we’ll go yet though. We’ve found a hop-on-hop-off sightseeing tour that takes in many of the missions as well as the Alamo. We’re not sure yet how much of our time will be spent at WorldCon, and we’re catching up with some writer friends of my husband, so might do some group activities with them in the area.
Nothing much to add, really. After reading thru the thread, it seems that you’ve already received too many excellent suggestions, on things to do and see. 
As others have already admonished, be prepared for the heat.
Not trying to scare you, but it can be almost overwhelming if you’re not used to it.
Sunscreen and plenty of water are neccessities.
A small collapsible umbrella isn’t a bad idea, if you think you’re going to be somewhere there isn’t any shade available. 
(And sometimes, ‘shade’ can be hard to come by.)
Welcome to Texas… y’all come back now, ya’ hear? 
Cheers!
I suspect it will be the humidity rather than the heat. Where I grew up in New Zealand (Christchurch) had lovely hot dry summers, then as an adult I moved north to Auckland, which is sub-tropical and humid, took some getting used to!
All of Texas is suffering from severe to extreme drought. I don’t think there will be much humidity.
Sandra_NZ
When you get to San Antonio, please let us know! As far as any of the out of town locations that are mentioned above, or a few more that I know of myself, I know where they all are! If you would like someone to show you around. The wife and I would be proud to avail ourselves.
We live about 30 miles from SA and I have a 4 door pickup.
Crane
An update from one of the locals (me):
As of One AM on Sunday morning, it’s currently 80 degrees and 71% humidity. My A/C cranks all day long and it never gets that cool in my place (I have a lot of windows for ambient light and heat). We’ve been hitting around the 100 degree mark for a few weeks now.
So, yeah, drink a lot of water and be prepared to be sweaty.
Checking in from the Marriott Rivercenter lobby, loving the air conditioning. It sure is humid, we did a 30 min walk from the King William district around the river this afternoon and were exhausted by the end!
I started a Lonestarcon 3 thread over in CS.
Hope you’re having a lovely time! It’s unseasonably humid, but the temps are riiiiight where they usually are.
Pretty sure a local guy told me that Mission San Juan is about as close as one can get to seeing how the Alamo probably looked before the walls were torn down.
All these posts and no one mentioned that you absolutely have to tour the basement of The Alamo? You people are slacking off!
Basement? We were there on Tuesday, got inside just as a guy started a talk on the battle using a diorama(sp?) which really helped as I didn’t know much about it (although the names have filtered down to my New Zealand childhood). But I didn’t see any basement?!
We are hiring a car again on Monday, expecting the traffic to be busy for Labor Day but the roads are great around here… Once you get used to driving on the wrong side of the road! 
Ok, that isn’t fair. My guess is that Pee Wee Herman never made it as far as NZ.
It is a pop culture reference on a character who was tracking down his beloved bike and was told it was in the basement of the Alamo… there is no such place.
But while you are here try to watch Pee Wee’s Big Adventure… it is a funny movie.