With all the hubbub about this year marking the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, it’s all too easy to forget that 2011 is also the 175th anniversary of another pivotal moment in U.S. history, the defeat of American defenders by Mexican troops in the 1836 Battle of the Alamo.
Perhaps you’re not an Alamo aficionado. Or maybe you’ve yet to reflect on the powerful quote, “There was no back door in the Alamo,” attributed to San Antonio Congressman Maury Maverick, or the less powerful quote, “There's no basement at the Alamo,” attributed to Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
Whatever your connection to the Alamo – formerly known as the mission San Antonio de Valero – one fun fact remains constant: San Antonio is a family destination that belongs on your radar.
And if you need more incentive to find out I’m right, I’m giving away a vacation package to San Antonio in cooperation with the San Antonio Vacation Experience (SAVE), a partnership of local businesses and the city’s convention and visitors bureau, VisitSanAntonio.com. Even without a free trip it’s worth signing up to receive SAVE coupons for popular San Antonio points of interest.
Getting back to the free trip, just what would you win, you may ask?
One lucky winner will receive two nights at the El Tropicano hotel as well as passes for four to SeaWorld San Antonio, the Witte Museum, the Alamo IMAX Theater, and the Double-Decker Tour of San Antonio.
The winner would need to book and use the hotel stay by end of year 2011, and expiration of the passes will depend on the individual vendors. Airfare and ground transportation are not included, but there would be nine car rental companies (Alamo being one, of course) competing for your business at San Antonio International Airport. And, as always, you can use our Travel Search price comparison tool to find the lowest rates on flights to San Antonio.
How to Enter
The window to enter the sweepstakes opens this Saturday morning, July 23 and closes at midnight the following Saturday, July 30. During that time you’ll want to visit this blog, where you’ll see a new post posing three questions. You'll discover the answers in our San Antonio Travel Guide. Once you have your answers, you'll want to email them to me at an address I’ll provide on the 23rd, at which point you’ll be entered in the contest.
After the sweepstakes entry window closes on the 30th, I’ll pick a winner at random, after which I’ll contact you and put the folks at Visit San Antonio in touch with you so that they can send off the prize package. I will also acknowledge the winner in my August 2nd post.
So come on back on the 23rd to enter the trip giveaway. And if you wouldn’t mind, tell your San Antonio-loving friends about it, too.
In the meantime, have a look at what a dozen of my fellow travel bloggers are posting about – not just because you may learn more San Antonio fun facts, but because they’re also doing the sweepstakes, with giveaway entry windows that close before mine opens on the 23rd.
Additional Sites Giving Away San Antonio Trips
July 11-18: Delicious Baby
July 12-19: My Itchy Travel Feet
July 13-20: ThePlanetD
July 14-21: BootsNAll
July 15-22: YTravelBlog
July 16-23: PauseTheMoment
July 17-24: Traveling Mamas
July 18-25: TravelsWithTwo
July 19-26: MommyMusings
July 20-27: Vagabondish
July 21-28: TheVacationGals
July 22-29: Landlopers