Hannah's BRATchelorette Fiesta

Over spring break a group of sisters and friends gathered in San Antonio to celebrate Hannah's BRATchelorette fiesta. And we had SO. MUCH. FUN!

[Invitation from Etsy. Also, here is our personalized Google map for the weekend: Hannah's BRATchelorette Weekend Map. For future reference, the following bars and restaurants came highly recommended, but weren't appropriate for our group size/budget, weren't in walking/river taxi distance, or we just didn't have time to squeeze them in: Barbaro, Bliss, Blue Box Bar, Botika, Cured, Down on Grayson, Feast, High Street Wine Co, Hot Joy, JazzTX, Sternewirth, Supper, The Brooklynite, and The Esquire Tavern.]

In preparation for the weekend, I put together bachelorette survival kits, which included sugar skull candies (found at Whole Earth), Bandaids, Shout wipes, Emergen-C, DripDrop, Pepto, Advil, cacti nail files, mini bottles of tequila, Kleenex, and hair ties in mini Mexican mercado bags.

We also stocked up on beer, wine, and paloma ingredients for the room/walking around (the Riverwalk is open carry!).

With a weekend of absolutely beautiful weather ahead of us, we were ready to go!

On Thursday after work, the bride + bridesmaids headed down to San Antonio and checked into the Hotel Indigo Riverwalk. After cleaning ourselves up a bit, we walked the very short distance to Ocho...an absolutely adorable, Cuban-style restaurant inside Hotel Havana that overlooks the river. I am still dreaming about their churros.

After dinner, we headed downstairs to Hotel Havana's speakeasy-style bar before heading back to our hotel for a little decorating. 

We lucked out that Hannah's room had a patio (and had I known, we would have requested a room with a patio facing the Riverwalk), and it was the perfect place to hang at the beginning/end of each night.

On Friday morning, some more of Hannah's friends joined the fun, and we were picked up at the hotel by Cottonwood Wine Tours for a "Guadalupe River Valley Tour" of three wineries and one moonshine distillery. Since it happened to be St. Patrick's Day, we wore fun shirts for the occasion. #LuckyBride #shHANNAHgans

Our first stop of the day was at Sister Creek Vineyards, and we got a tour of their facilities before our tasting. The wine was all pretty tasty, and the staff very friendly. 

The second stop was Singing Water Vineyards, which was my favorite by far. It was on a beautiful piece of Hill Country property, complete with a tasting room, huge outdoor pavilion, and a gorgeous deck overlooking the creek.

Next we headed to Comfort, Texas for lunch and the last two tastings. It was such a cute little town, with lots of fun restaurants and shops along the main road. We ate at Comfort Pizza, which definitely hit the spot after drinking wine all morning. The pizza was fantastic, and the patio was absolutely perfect.

After lunch, we walked down the street to Comfort Cellars Winery. The wine was decent, but service not so great. 

But they did let Hannah up on the ladder, so bonus points for that.

Our final stop was Hill Country Distillers. That stuff was strrroooong, but it was definitely a fun experience. And the coffee-flavored moonshine was surprisingly good.

They also had a full bar, and my gin cocktail was a delectable way to end the tour. 

Overall, I would highly recommend Cottonwood Wine Tours, and I really want to try their tour around the Fredericksburg area next.

After returning to San Antonio, we walked down the Riverwalk for dinner at The Luxury. Y'all....this place was so cool. The laid-back restaurant sits right on the river, with tons of patio space and a food truck feel. Also, the buttermilk chicken sandwich and fries were amazing, the green beer was flowing, and those swings!

Saturday morning we hailed a water taxi to the Pearl Brewery district for brunch. The water taxi trip was fun, but I was amazed at how few there were and how long we had to wait for a ride. [We bought a 24-hour pass, but weren't able to get one later that day for dinner. Blerg.]

The stretch of the Riverwalk between our hotel and the Pearl Brewery district was very pretty with lots of interesting and artistic features. It was also super walkable and well-lit, which was nice when we were walking around that night.

Our first stop in the Pearl Brewery district was brunch at Southerleigh, which is connected to Hotel Emma. [While Hotel Emma was a bit too pricey for a bachelorette weekend, I already have plans for a staycation there with Josh. It is amazing.]

The restaurant building was originally Pearl's brewhouse, which was built in 1894, and it has a cool, industrial-chic vibe. The food and drinks were also great, and I highly recommend the Country Ham Benedict and Pineapple Cocktail. 

Jordan gets big points for calling ahead and ordering mimosas for the table plus a michelada for Hannah.

After brunch, we spent some time exploring the Pearl Brewery district, including all the cute shops and Local Coffee. My only regret is that we didn't make a stop for macarons at Bakery Lorraine. Next time they will be mine.

The San Antonio Museum of Art is located halfway between the Pearl Brewery district and our hotel, so we clearly had to make a stop in honor of our art-loving bride. And I think this may have been her favorite part of the weekend.

I mean...it wouldn't be a true bachelorette party without a little male nudity ;).

After resting for a bit at the hotel, we donned our Mexican fiesta attire and headed out for dinner followed by a Riverwalk bar hop...but not before kicking off the evening with tequila shots.

We started the night back to the Pearl Brewery district for dinner at La Gloria, which had a fun atmosphere, a huge patio overlooking the river, tasty interior Mexican food, and delicious (and strong) margaritas.

We were told the wait would be nearly two hours (seriously?!), but decided to get some drinks on the patio and take a chance (while watching our spot in line on the app they use). Sure enough, it only took about 30 minutes to be seated. Just enough time for the margaritas to really kick in :).

After a stop at nearby Stay Golden Social House, we headed to the opposite end of the Riverwalk (very much the "dirty 6th" side) to visit some more typical bachelorette party bars. 

 In order to protect the innocent, I will refrain from posting the photos/videos from the latter part of the night...with the exception of this one because nothing better depicts my thoughts about being on the dance floor of a slightly-sketchy club that late. #MamaOnTheDanceFloor #Old 

After a recovery breakfast at Pete's Tako House on Sunday morning (including some of the best tortillas I have ever had!), we headed home. While I was very sad for the weekend to be over, I was also very much ready for a nap and a meal full of vegetables. 

We absolutely loved celebrating our Hannah Banana!