Music Under the Stars – Pops Concert

Please join us for a festive evening of music at Mission San José on Friday, September 28, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. Our annual tradition of the free “Music Under the Stars” concert performed by the USAA music groups continues. Los Compadres, the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and USAA are sponsoring this free outdoor pops concert for the whole family at Mission San Jose.  A variety of musical selections appealing to the whole family will be performed by the USAA Concert Band, Chorus and Jazz Band under the direction of Alan Sierichs.

At this year’s “Music Under the Star’s” concert, the USAA Chorus performs patriotic, country, swing and pop music, while the USAA Concert Bank presents a salute to the 2012 Olympic Games, classic America marches, and selections with an international flavor. The USAA Jazz Band rounds out the program with swinging music from the great American songbook.

Please bring blankets, lawn chairs and your own refreshments. Parking with on-site security is available at Roosevelt and New Napier Avenue.

Pack a picnic, enjoy a beautiful evening and a free concert at the “Queen of the Missions” on Friday, September 28, 2012 at 7:30pm. For more information email: loscompadres@sbcglobal.net or call (210) 922-3218.

Allow The Madison – San Antonio Riverwalk to be your home away from home.  Call us at 210-544.5416 or complete our contact form.

“Dance the Night Away!” – An Interactive Outdoor Film

Sunset Station is pleased to present: “Dance the Night Away!” an interactive outdoor film.  Join us Thursday,  September 20, 2012 at the Lonestar Pavilion for a free community event for a night of dancing-both on and off the screen.  At 7:00pm, we will have a dance workshop and teach one of the dance scenes from the movie, Footloose (2011).  The movie Footloose will start at 8:30 pm with live, trained dancers performing some of the dance scenes with special guests from the previous workshop.  The evening ends with a DJ, so we can all “Dance the Night Away!”

Sunset Station, originally built in 1902, is the renovated Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. Nestled in the historic St. Paul Square District of downtown San Antonio.

While in San Antonio, allow The Madison – San Antonio Riverwalk to be your home away from home. Call us at 210-544-5416 or complete our contact form.

Sunday Jazz at the Witte

Sunday Jazz at the Witte is back for its eighth season! Kicked off by the UIW Jazz Ensemble in April, this season’s line up brings out some of the best local and regional bands jazz has to offer. Bring the family and enjoy a relaxing afternoon in the calming courtyard, lay down your blankets or lawn chairs and enjoy the outdoors.

This Sunday, September 9, 2012, from 4-7 pm, Jazz at the Witte features John Magaldi & Primetime Jazz Orchestra. Your admission is included with museum general admission. Admission is free for Witte and KRTU members.

When you planning your extended stay to San Antonio, allow The Madison – San Antonio Riverwalk to be your home away from home.  Contact us at 210-544.5416 or complete our contact form.

FotoSeptiembre USA 2012

This annual international photography festival is a unique, eclectic, month-long celebration of the photographic arts. Dozens of exhibits showing traditional photographs, digital images, photography based works, photographic installations, funky camera, and alternative processes, are presented in galleries, museums, art centers and other exhibition spaces throughout San Antonio, the Texas Hill Country and in the festival’s web galleries. Free. For more information and gallery listings click here.

While staying in San Antonio, allow The Madison – San Antonio Riverwalk be your home away from home.  Call us at 210-544.5416 or complete our contact form.

Get to Know San Antonio

Stroll through the restored Japanese Tea Garden.  Swim with the dolphins at SeaWorld San Antonio.  Have an exquisitely-good tamale at Tellez, a great local dive.  Take a river taxi from one end of the River Walk to the other.  Have a mojito at the Menger Hotel‘s historic bar.  Watch the sunset from the 759-foot Tower of The Americas.  There’s even more to do and the fun never stops when you live in San Antonio.

Southtown…History, Art, Restaurants and More

San Antonio entices travelers from around the world with splashy attractions like the River Walk and SeaWorld, as well as such popular sites as the Alamo and the historic mission trail. But what many visitors—even native Texans—don’t realize is that San Antonio shelters a thriving bohemian district just beyond downtown. Three overlapping neighborhoods (King William, Lavaca and Blue Star), known collectively as Southtown, harbor a welcoming vibe that dovetails centuries of history with modern art-house culture.

Bounded loosely by South Flores and South Presa on the west and east, Durango and Lone Star to the north and south, Southtown is rich with galleries, coffeehouses, hipster dive bars, artists’ compounds, vintage clothing stores, crafts ateliers, family-run taco joints, and chic new bistros (Oloroso, a hottie of the moment). All draw loyal customers, as do longtime favorites Rosario’s, El Mirador, and the stately Guenther House. The result: a vibrant “arts underground” that invites exploration.

Southtown is sophisticated, welcoming, and sprawling: A day-long walking tour isn’t enough to see it all. So, unless you have the legs of Lance Armstrong, it’s wise to employ a combination of transport modes: perhaps a pedicab for King William, the 150-year-old National Historic District founded by German émigrés; your own vehicle for St. Mary’s and South Alamo; and a tram or taxi from downtown to enjoy South Flores.

In the King William Historic District, pick up a walking-tour map from the San Antonio Conservation Society headquarters at 107 King William Street. Southtown encompasses King William, a diverse residential collection of Victorian architecture, and the South Alamo Street/South St. Mary’s Street Historic District, dotted with more modest, late-19th- and early-20th-Century houses. The development of this area parallels San Antonio’s 19th-Century growth, and these days, many structures are beautifully restored and carefully maintained, with styles ranging from Italianate, Neoclassical, and red-tiled-roof Spanish Revival to classic Victorian and Central Texas limestone. Some houses, such as the Ogé House, built in 1857 by Texas Ranger/cattle rancher Louis Ogé, double as bed and breakfasts.

Have I given you enough reasons to visit Southtown?   Well, here’s the one more…take a couple of minutes and watch this video and see what you are missing out on.  While you are visiting San Antonio, allow The Madison – San Antonio Riverwalk to be your home away from home.  We are located in the King William Historic District.  Call us at 210-544.5416 or complete our contact form.

Cycling-Friendly Vibe

Forty-one miles of developed Greenway trails are now open to the public. The Linear Park Development Program for Salado Creek, Leon Creek, Medina River and the San Antonio River is funded through sales tax approved by voters in 2000, 2005 and 2010. Approximately 1,200 acres of property along San Antonio Creekways have been acquired for the program since its inception.
Claims to Fame: An emerging cycling-friendly vibe is fueled by a proposed 1,700-mile bike network of lanes, paths, and sharrows, a new bike-share system, and an inaugural Síclovía that drew 15,000 riders. Boneshakers Bicycle Pub borders a riverside bike trail, houses a bike shop, and serves only Texas beer.

Parks and Recreation Department’s Dance Program

Madison residents find more to do in San Antonio. Whether you aspire to become a professional dancer or you just want to improve your coordination, get some exercise, or have some fun, there’s something for everyone in the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department’s dance program. Classes, opportunities to try out for dance troupes, and public performances are available.
Most class locations have multiple levels of instruction, open only by teacher promotion. All classes are subject to cancellation when enrollment minimums are not reached. Teachers may not accept new students while preparing for annual cultural recitals. Classes are $30 for youth up through age 17 and seniors ages 60 and up; Youth may enroll in a second class during the same session for $15. Classes are $60 for adults ages 18 to 59. There is no discount for adults or seniors in the same family or a discount for any additional classes.

San Antonio Museum of Art…It’s a Wonder!

If you have not visited the San Antonio Museum of Art, you are missing a real treat.  Visitors to the museum leave amazed at the scope and caliber of the exhibits. The museum is honored to have one of the largest collections of art of the ancient Mediterranean world in the southern United States. In addition, because of substantial donations from two museum trustees the San Antonio museum of Art now possesses a collection of Asian art that is one of the finest Asian collections in the nation.

The museum has undergone continued expansion beginning In the early 1970′s when plans were initiated to purchase the historic Lone Star Brewery complex for conversion into the San Antonio Museum of Art.  This building remains it’s home with the addition in 1991, of the 7,000 square foot Cowden Gallery which was opened for changing exhibitions and, in 1994, the 3,000 square foot Beretta Hops House was renovated providing three classrooms for enriching art education programs. The Luby Courtyard was opened at the same time providing an appropriate outdoor space for family days and other art celebrations. In 1998, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Latin American Art, a 30,000 square foot wing, opened to display Latin American art from all periods. In May of 2005, the new Lenora and Walter F. Brown Asian Art Wing opened.  It is a 15,000 square foot addition that makes SAMA the largest center for Asian art in the southern United States.

In May of 2009, the Museum Reach extension of San Antonio’s famed Riverwalk was opened. To accommodate the Museum’s new riverfront access, SAMA built the Glora Galt River Landing, a shaded pavilion, esplanade and terrace along the Museum’s north side.

SAMA states their responsibility is to educate and engage diverse audiences, provide transformational experiences, strengthen our shared understanding of humanity and encourage a sense of wonder and discovery. They have far and away exceeded their responsibility to the public.

Whether you live in San Antonio or visiting, consider spending a day or two roaming the wonderous San Antonio Museum of Art. The museum is located on the north side of downtown in the historic and renovated Lone Star Brewery complex on West Jones Avenue. For more information on the museum and upcoming exhibitions, click here.

When planning an extended stay in San Antonio, allow The Madison – San Antonio Riverwalk to be your home away from home. Call us at 210-544-5416 or complete our contact form.

Villa Finale in King William

Villa Finale was the home of Walter Mathis, a leading preservationist in San Antonio, Texas. Walter Mathis is widely recognized as the catalyst for the revitalization of the King William neighborhood, now a National Register Historic District. In addition to his work in King William, Walter Mathis was an advocate for city and statewide historic preservation, as well as a civic and cultural leader.

In 1967, when Walter Mathis purchased his home at 401 King William, the neighborhood was in an advanced state of disrepair. Stately mansions had become poorly-maintained rooming houses, some altered almost beyond recognition. After spending nearly two years meticulously restoring Villa Finale, itself a former boarding house, Mr. Mathis turned his attention to the neighborhood outside his door. One by one, he bought a dozen houses in King William, performed essential preservation work on them, and then sold them to preservation-minded individuals who would continue their restoration.

In addition to his preservation work, Walter Mathis was also a prodigious collector of artifacts of nearly every type; these collections fill Villa Finale. Throughout his home, one finds beautiful examples of European furniture, and fine and decorative arts. Mr. Mathis particularly enjoyed collecting memorabilia relating to the life and death of Napoleon Bonaparte. Mr. Mathis’s interest in Texas art is represented in the collection by such artists as Mary Bonner, and Julian and Robert Onderdonk. In addition, there is a wide range of Texas decorative arts, such as Bell silver, Texas furniture, and Texian campaign ceramics.

The home and its collections were given to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2004, so the home could become the first National Trust Historic Site in Texas.

When visiting San Antonio consider a tour of Villa Finale.  All tours are hosted by an interpretive Guide who will lead your experience through the 6,500 square-foot home and its collection of fine and decorative arts.  Tour size is kept to a maximum of six persons to allow for an informal and personal visit just as guests of Walter Mathis enjoyed for nearly forty years.  All tours are approximately one hour in length.  For more information on tours click here.

When planning your extended stay in San Antonio, allow The Madison – San Antonio Riverwalk to be your home away from home.  Call us at 210-544.5416 or complete our contact form.