Samantha Brown's Places to Love

-I'm in a city that is one of the top tourist destinations in the United States, well-known for its richly preserved heritage and a river that everyone loves.

But this river, more than a unique attraction, is what brought people here thousands of years ago and to this day remains a constant source of inspiration which you can experience through history told, art and music enjoyed, and, of course, the food.

It's where people have always been on a mission to protect the city they love.

I'm in San Antonio, Texas.

[ Upbeat tune plays ] I'm Samantha Brown and I've traveled all over this world.

And I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" is made possible by... [ Bird chirping ] -The rhythm of the waves.

The calming sounds of nature.

On the Southwest Florida coast, there are wide open beaches and hundreds of islands.

Sometimes doing nothing can mean everything.

Learn more at fortmyers-sanibel.com.

-We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal to ensure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-All the untamed beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the American Southwest, experienced on a journey by rail.

Rocky Mountaineer, proud sponsor of "Places to Love."

-The world is full of breathtaking destinations and experiences.

AAA wants to help turn vacation dreams into reality.

Wherever you want to go, AAA has services to help you before, during, and after your trip.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

-It's been a long time since I've been to San Antonio, and the very first thing I wanted to do was eat!

-Hello.

Hi!

-Hi!

-Carnitas Lonja, with its unassuming building, does one thing so well, the only choice you really need to make is not what, but how much.

I'll do your half-pound of carnitas, please.

-Sure.

Alright.

-We opened the restaurant in 2017, and we serve carnitas breakfast and lunch ever since.

I'm Alejandro Paredes, and I'm the chef-owner of Carnitas Lonja.

-So, I've actually never have ever had carnitas.

-The traditional dish is pork.

-Pork.

And it's stewed pork?

-We just call it cook it in lard.

[ Laughter ] -This is a truly Mexican dish.

This isn't -- This has nothing to do with Tex-Mex.

-It has nothing to do with Tex-Mex.

It's something very traditional from Michoacn.

-Michoacn.

-Big bite.

Big bite.

-Oh.

Okay.

A big bite.

Alright.

Big one.

-[ Laughing ] -The carnitas are super-soft.

Oh, my gosh!

And to achieve that tenderness, the pork is cooked for three hours and then rested for two more.

I took a really big bite, so it's gonna take me a little while.

And this is what you are known for.

-Yes.

-Which is a good thing because it's the only thing you serve.

-[ Laughs ] Yes.

-So it's a good thing you did that right.

-Yes.

-So why only one thing?

-Here in the States, when you go to a Tex-Mex restaurant, they have the whole thing in one place, and I don't think, like, they'll take the same care of all the different items on the menu, so I decided to just go for one thing.

-And why carnitas, then?

If it was just that one thing, why did you choose this?

-We couldn't find good carnitas here in San Antonio because this -- here is barbacoa.

It's all about the Barbacoa & Big Red.

-Okay.

[ Laughs ] -So I started cooking carnitas in my house, and then people were like, "Oh, man, we should have carnitas here."

And I'm like, "Ah.

Maybe one day."

And that day came.

-But then on top of that, you have been nominated for a James Beard Award.

What was that award for, nomination for?

-For Best Chef in Texas.

-Best Chef in Texas?

-Yes.

-And you do one thing.

-That's why everybody was surprised.

[ Laughter ] -But what isn't a surprise is how quickly Carnitas Lonja has become a San Antonio favorite.

San Antonio is famous for its river that flows through and below downtown, creating a subterranean escape that remains hidden from the busy city streets above.

Down here along the water, you can enjoy shops and restaurants and now, for the first time in decades, kayaking.

This has to be one of the most unique physical attributes of a city anywhere in the world.

-In the early 1900s, there were a number of severe floods, and the city's original plan was to actually pave over this river.

It would go underneath the city, come out on the other side.

And there were a number of prominent women that were like, "No, this needs to be a river walk.

It needs to be the Venice of the United States."

And it was their vision that actually created this river walk.

-How long have you been conducting tours?

-I started putting the bug in people's ears about five years ago about, "Hey, we need kayaking on the River Walk," and I was just sort of laughed off.

Kayaking hasn't been allowed on this section of the river since the late 1970s.

-Oh, my goodness!

-Yes.

-Why so long?

-Tourism.

-Mm-hmm.

-The barges move people faster than kayaks do.

-What was that first kind of crack in the foundation where you were finally in?

What did that look like?

-The crack was no tourists.

With the pandemic, the city came to us and was like, "Hey, how do we get locals back downtown?"

I was like, "We kayak."

-Yeah.

-If you don't have the tourists, who's gonna eat your breakfast, your lunch, your dinner?

Who's gonna buy your souvenirs?

The city's got 2 million people in it.

We needed the locals to come back downtown and enjoy their San Antonio River Walk.

So we opened up Friday through Monday, five weekends in October, and we sold out all the tickets within five hours.

-And what I love is you brought locals back into the city.

And what saved this, what made people realize how special it was, are the local businesses and supporting each other, and that will never go away.

Being an Air Force veteran, Sarah knew how mentally beneficial kayaking could be.

-Nothing really triggers when you're on the water, and it was just this, you know, eight-year journey that culminated last year with kayaking on the River Walk.

And it's very physical.

So not only is it mental health, but it's also your physical health, and you can just come out and enjoy three and a half miles of Downtown San Antonio.

-So, most people are aware of the San Antonio River Walk, and they're familiar with the downtown area, with the barges and the restaurants and the hotels, everything that's really close to the river.

But we're in a new section of the San Antonio River Walk that we call the Mission Reach, and what this is is one of the nation's largest urban ecosystem restoration projects.

We've really taken the San Antonio River that was channelized in the 20th century.

It was turned into a drainage ditch for flood control.

And what we've done here is turn it back into a natural native river.

-This is the same river that... -Same river.

-...I was kayaking downtown.

-Yes, we've discovered you can actually have flood control and a natural environment work together.

They don't have to have one or the other.

We've planted over 23,000 trees.

We now have over 300 species of native trees, grasses, wildflowers.

Because these little trees, just a decade ago, you wouldn't have hardly seen them.

They were just twigs.

And we're seeing all of the species come back.

We are seeing the birds come back.

We're seeing fish come back, pollinators come back.

The Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration Project grew the San Antonio River Walk south of downtown by over 9 miles.

And that's something that is relatively new in our community.

So the restoration is actually still in its infancy, and it's growing and growing.

We actually removed about 3.5 million cubic yards of soil.

We were reshaping the river, we were scraping the sides to get rid of all the non-native grasses and all the non-native vegetation.

And we come back, and we replanted everything native.

-Wow!

-So there are some non-natives that still sneak in because you can't keep them all out.

-We like to call those "tourists."

-Correct.

-You can't keep us out.

We love San Antonio.

-And some of those we love.

-We're gonna come from all over.

Sorry.

-We welcome -- We welcome those kind of non-natives.

-While parts of the river look totally natural, other parts have a little more planning.

-This is what's called a riffle.

Rivers need those, as well.

So as the water is running over all of these rocks, it's aerating the water.

-Huh.

-So this is actually a habitat feature.

But for kayaking purposes, we have 33 of these rock-like structures through this 8 miles of the river for habitat regeneration.

So we made those kayak chutes through the middle of every one of those 33 riffle structures.

So what we have here is habitat and recreation all in one spot.

-Fantastic!

With this river restoration, you've not only helped the natural world, the fish, the pollinators, but you've also helped the community, too.

-Absolutely, and that was really what we were trying to tell everybody when we were building this so many years ago, that it's not just for the fish and the birds.

There's 16 miles of hike and bike trail.

So it's really a quality-of-life benefit for the citizens that live here or those who are visiting our community.

-There's a reason why this section of the San Antonio River Walk is called Mission Reach, and artwork installations along the river point you in the right direction.

[ Bell tolling ] There are many missions in San Antonio.

The Alamo is certainly the most famous, but one of the most inspiring within the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is Mission San Jos.

-Just walking in San Jos Mission, I see all my relatives.

I even see the ones that are not here anymore.

My name is Epifanio Hernandez, Tehuan Band of Mission Indians of San Antonio, Texas.

We are the direct descendants of Mission San Jos.

I was chosen by the National Park Service to be a representative for the UNESCO World Heritage Monument Site.

The reason the missions were chosen was because of the historical background, the people of the missions.

[ Both singing in native language ] -Epifanio and his wife, Gloria, are both descendants from the mission and are still members of the church.

In fact, they were married here over 40 years ago.

[ Both singing in native language ] Epifanio, if your ancestors lived here on the mission, they would have also helped build the mission.

-Yes.

-That must give you an amazing sense of pride, looking at what they did.

-Yes.

I mean, I -- You know, I like coming in here.

Gives me the chills because, you know, hey, I can feel my ancestors.

-Mm-hmm.

And this is a traditional -- a home that lines the walls of the San Jos Mission.

And so each family would have had three rooms like this?

Or is it broken up even more?

-Actually, in some of them, in some cases, because, you know, typically it was like this, no kitchen.

We shared the water, we shared the stream because there was an acequia outside.

-I had no idea how grand the San Jos Mission is.

I understand, like, a lot of reconstruction has happened, but just looking at the work now and understanding what they would have done hundreds upon hundreds of years ago, that's -- that's pretty fascinating.

-As I was growing and I saw my cousins doing cement work and rock work, and I'm like, you know -- I said -- I started believing it more and more.

I said, "No, we did it.

We built it."

You know?

That's my connection to this place, you know, whether it be 100 years or 200 years ago or even before the missions were built, you know, because we walked this land.

We respected this land, you know?

And a lot of our families lived on the southeast side of the mission entrance.

And about 1992-93 is when they were -- they had to move.

They had to get out because of the expansion of the National Park Service.

I was talking to a priest, you know, and I told him, "Do you know what our families do when you go inside and get ready to go to bed?"

And he says, "No, no."

I said, "They come -- They come here.

They sit down outside.

And they talk about their old ways, their stories, and they even cry."

I said, "Because this is the..." [Voice breaking] Ohh.

Gosh.

"This is the only home they ever known."

-So much of what we learn in school is that the birth of our nation began when the Europeans arrived.

You know, they came, they turned the lights on, and here we are.

But there is this whole group of people who were here far, far before the Europeans ever arrived.

Do you feel your story is starting to be told, that people are starting to finally listen to what were just stories?

-Yeah, we're starting to get the point across.

I'm sure we've gotten the point across a little bit, but most of our stories are told this way, you know?

-As they have been since the beginning, face-to-face -- the elder passing on the stories and history of a proud people and a resilient community.

Just 40 minutes from downtown is a place that feels primordial.

An ancient sinkhole is home to one of the most spectacular sights in all of nature.

This is Bracken Cave Preserve.

-The bats have been using Bracken Cave for somewhere around 8,500 to 10,000 years.

-How many bats live there?

-We have 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats living in this cave.

-Wow!

-This large, cavernous space with millions of bats living in the cave.

-Yeah.

-And the body heat.

And then all their guano, which is over a hundred feet deep.

-What is -- What is that?

-Guano is a nice name for a large amount of poop in one place.

-A hundred feet of poop?!

-That's decomposing, generating a lot of heat, and the ground is a great insulator, so it's great as a maternity colony.

-Have you gone into that cave?

-Yeah.

So, we have different research projects going on.

We have to wear special gear.

With 20 million bats living in the cave, the air is not really nice.

The ammonia levels are lethal.

-Uh-huh.

-And then we also have dermestid flesh-eating beetles that live on the floor of the cave.

So if a bat falls onto the floor of the cave, the beetles will swarm all over and eat it alive.

-Holy mackerel!

Fran is part of Bat Conservation International, a group of scientists and conservationists who for 40 years have spread the message of how crucial bats are for the environment.

-Tonight, this colony of bats can eat 147 tons of bugs.

-Whoa.

Okay.

-Which is really beneficial to our local farmers because most of those insects are agricultural pests.

There's over 500 species of plants that we have to rely on bats to pollinate and seed dispersal.

-The bats ascend almost like clockwork every night, and the way they ascend is phenomenal.

-You'll start seeing the bats swirling inside the caves -- the vortex of bats we call a "batnado."

That vortex moves out into the sinkhole.

The vortex creates an updraft, so it helps them get out of the sinkhole, as well.

And once it gets up to treetop level, then we literally have a river of bats in the sky.

-Have you ever heard of the term "batnado"?

Well, as 7:30 approaches, we begin to see one born.

-So, if we look down into the darkness there, it looks like the air is moving, and that's -- The bats are swirling.

They're just inside the mouth of the cave.

It starts in the back, and it moves forward.

-[ Gasps ] Okay.

Was that one?

-Yep.

-Ooh!

Hoo-hoo!

My gosh!

[Chuckling] Oh, my gosh!

This is like twenty of them, and I'm freaking out.

[ Laughter ] It's gonna be a long night with me, Fran.

And so begins an exodus of the largest bat colony in the world, all moms, on a nightly forage for food that will last for hours.

Just the moms come out to feed?

The baby grows so fast, it will get too heavy for her to carry it.

Then she puts it on the ceiling of the cave with all the other baby bats.

You're looking at 500 babies per square foot.

-And how does a mom find her baby in a cave where there are 500 bats per square foot?

By the baby's scent and sound.

-Yeah, so, the mother will call out to her baby, the baby calls back, and then she'll land on that mass of bats and sniff around till she finds her baby.

-And the return is dramatic, too.

-And they'll start coming back in around 5:30 in the morning.

-Mm-hmm.

-They tuck their wings and dive-bomb in 'cause the hawks are here for breakfast.

-Okay.

-So it literally rains bats in the morning when they're returning.

-Texas farmers know how important having the largest colony of bats in the world is to their crops, and I'm at a chef who proves it with her menu.

I'm Elizabeth Johnson.

I'm the chef-owner of Pharm Table.

My hope is to heal both people, as well as the planet, with food.

I wanted to create a way of cooking that was part of the solution and not the problem.

-Elizabeth's menu features locally farmed ingredients to create global dishes but always with a nod to San Antonio.

-I love using natural ingredients.

Here we have collard greens.

Collard greens are actually in season almost all year long here.

And if you notice, they're sweet.

They're not bitter.

And they're super, super high in calcium and protein.

And so we use that as the tortilla to encompass a sweet-potato filling, which is also -- Sweet potatoes are in season almost all year long here in Texas.

-Can I take a bite of these tacos?

-Absolutely.

-I love it.

And these are the corn tortillas that you get local.

-Those are the heirloom corn tortillas.

And we try to also feature fish that are sustainably caught.

-Mmm!

So, so good.

-Well, and what's really awesome about this is the intention behind everything that we do.

So the woman who is importing that amazing heirloom corn, nixtamalizing it here in San Antonio.

Then you have the black cod that's being sustainably raised.

And then when you take all of those ingredients that are inside, including the salsa, all of the organic, local ingredients that were made, you put it all together, and it's heaven.

-Part of the importance of this restaurant is how you are a part of the larger ecosystem of your community of San Antonio.

Right?

You support local businesses within this local business.

And so by me coming here, I'm supporting you, who's supporting all these local businesses.

-I feel like everything that we do from now forward has to be even more and more and more local.

-Spend any time in San Antonio, and you know how much locals love their river, from its downtown commercial side to its more natural state, but it also creates more tucked-away spaces that remain hidden from above.

Under The Echo Bridge, you'll find a brilliant use of space where live music and a pop-up art gallery create a unique place of community that is pure San Antonio.

-This is gonna be a beautiful night here in San Antonio.

-This is amazing!

So you show your art down here, as well?

This is an extension of the gallery?

-Yeah, so, me and the artists that I show at Space C7, we always have an art show down here for the people to enjoy before the music begins.

Cheers.

-Cheers.

Jeff Wheeler is an artist and curator of the contemporary art gallery Space C7, which is right at the top of that steep embankment that Jeff and I just walked down.

-I just couldn't ignore -- The art person in me, the curator, couldn't ignore this space.

-This artist is amazing.

-Csar Martnez.

One of the most celebrated local San Antonio artists we have.

-Oh, wonderful.

Are they all the same artist here?

Is it all -- -No, we have two from Santiago, and then we have a mixture of artists that I show up in my studio.

At Space C7, we focus on Texas contemporary art, and we show not only locals coming up here, but also the locals that are well-known from here and then artists from all over Texas.

-And this is C7's mission, right, is to bring more modern art and contemporary art?

-You got it.

We're focused on Texas contemporary art and, really, with the locals.

-Wow!

The artists not only create at C7, but live in residence, as well.

So we are in what's called Southtown?

-Yes, we are.

-Does it sort of have a personality?

-The Southside has the most personality in town, and, really, it's going to be the next thing that's coming up right now.

It's trying to make art and music over here on the Southside, where maybe for a while it's been ignored.

-Okay.

Are you ready?

[ Cheers and applause ] [ Lively music plays ] -My name is Santiago Jimnez Jr. from San Antonio, Texas.

I've been playing for 60 years.

I have about 85 CDs recorded.

I've been in the Grammys three times.

I've been in the White House with Obama.

And I want to thank all the people that have seen me all over the world.

Thank you.

[ Both singing in Spanish ] -Santiago Jimnez Jr. is a San Antonian and national treasure.

Performing since he was 7, he's also quite the showman.

His accolades are great -- a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as being awarded the National Medal for the Arts for his contribution to American music.

-The music that I represent is conjunto music.

It's a blend.

[ Both singing in Spanish ] -For the traveler coming to San Antonio, what really makes our community special is that you can get two trips in one.

After you enjoy the Downtown River Walk, make sure you stay and come and mix and mingle with the community along the 9 miles of the San Antonio Mission Reach.

[ Both singing in Spanish ] -When you come to San Antonio, the river is really gonna define your experience.

It's where you can meander along and go and visit beautiful colonial missions that date back 300-plus years.

You can see Tejano culture.

You can see Mexican culture.

And it's just an incredibly laid-back, chill place to live, and I hope that you guys will come visit.

[ Both singing in Spanish ] -Because of the historical background.

I would say visit all the missions and experience the spiritual background of our people, because we are still here and thriving.

-When locals invite you to enjoy how they love a place, when you get to listen to a history by the people who made it, when a city has been a constant source of inspiration for hundreds, if not thousands of years, that is when we share a love of travel, and that's why San Antonio is a place to love.

[ Song finale plays ] [ Cheers and applause ] -For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" was made possible by... [ Bird chirping ] -The rhythm of the waves.

The calming sounds of nature.

On the Southwest Florida coast, there are wide open beaches and hundreds of islands.

Sometimes doing nothing can mean everything.

Learn more at fortmyers-sanibel.com.

-We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal to ensure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-All the untamed beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the American Southwest, experienced on a journey by rail.

Rocky Mountaineer, proud sponsor of "Places to Love."

-The world is full of breathtaking destinations and experiences.

AAA wants to help turn vacation dreams into reality.

Wherever you want to go, AAA has services to help you before, during, and after your trip.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.