THE NEW SAN MARCOS

The View Below The River Pub

When we first bought this house, we used to spend a lot of time over in the little college town of San Marcos, about 30 minutes south of us. For one thing, they had the only movie theater nearby. For another, our daughter was in school there, at Texas State, and enjoyed introducing us to all of her favorite hangouts, such as the infamous River Pub, and a ginormous hodgepodge of a shop called The Paper Bear.

After awhile, however, it seemed that most of these places were getting kinda seedy and run down. Paper Bear ended up cutting their size in half when the economy crashed (tho still a lot of fun), and the River Pub shut down altogether. Meanwhile, more and more new stuff was popping up in Kyle, just 20 minutes east of us, including a giant new movie theater/arcade/bowling alley/restaurant/bar/church called EVO, as well as a Target, a giant HEB and our favorite Mexican joint. So, we ended up spending more and more time over there, instead.

Lately, however, I've been hearing rumors -- rumors about an influx of retirees to San Marcos, and all the new restaurants popping up that are no longer geared strictly towards the college kids. After spotting this list of 10 things to do in San Marcos on Facebook, we decided it was definitely time for a little adventure!

Note the rooftop party bar.

First stop was AquaBrew restaurant and brewery, for brunch.

Shared Communal Tables Inside, Beer Garden Out Back

I opted for the grilled pimiento cheese breakfast sandwich with fried egg and bacon jam.

Definitely a moaner!

Hubby went for the fresh blueberry pancakes.

Can't wait to go back so Hubby can try some of their craft beers, and I can make a tappas-style meal out of their upscale Pub Snacks.

Next stop was another new EVO theater called The Spot, minus the arcade, but with the addition of reclining lounge chairs and table service.

It was a mighty fine adventure.

Who knows? With that ginormous 55+ master-planned community called Kissing Tree going in over there (think Sun City), we may even end up with some clothing stores in San Marcos that actually have stuff for people over 21! Wouldn't that be somthin'?