AARP The Magazine - February/March 2012

Peter Greenberg

ROAD
WARRIOR
Big Cities,
Small Prices

River Walk, San Antonio

You can still find an urban getaway
with affordable hotels, reasonable
restaurants, and plenty of free fun.
Try these three fabulous cities.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
One of America’s great walking
cities, Milwaukee has views of Lake
Michigan that are as majestic as
Chicago’s but without the Windy
City’s high prices. First, visit the
opulent 1892 Captain Frederick Pabst
Mansion (414-931-0808; pabst
mansion.com). Next, admire more
grand turn-of-the-20th-century
mansions along Lake Drive. The hog-
packed Harley-Davidson Museum
(414-287-2789; harley-davidson
museum.com) is also worth a visit.
Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Inter-
national Airport—the “secret” alter-
native to Chicago’s O’Hare, 80-some
miles south—is serviced by low-cost
carriers and much easier to navigate.
town costs as little as $25, compared
with about $45 in Dallas. The original
3-mile River Walk is expected to
expand to 15 miles next year, all the
way to four of the city’s Spanish colo-
nial missions. The walk already con-
nects downtown to the San Antonio
Museum of Art, with its collection of
American landscapes (210-978-8100;
samuseum.org), and to the historic
Pearl Brewery complex, now home
to trendy restaurants and shops. A
handy online coupon program
( visitsanantonio.com) knocks down
the price of hotels and attractions.
San Antonio, Texas
You’ll save money the minute you
leave the airport: A taxi ride down-
Spokane, Washington
Just a few hours east on I-90 from
pricey Seattle, Spokane offers aver-
age hotel-room rates of about $102 a
night. The area’s public golf courses
are on par with those of most private
country clubs, with greens fees start-
ing at just $19. If you prefer water-
ways to water hazards, stroll along
the Spokane River on the 37-mile
Centennial Trail (don’t miss the fos-
sil beds at mile 36). ;
WHAT YOUR TAXI DRIVER
WON’T TELL YOU
Many cabdrivers wait until you reach your destination to
break the news that they don’t accept credit cards when, in
reality, they just don’t like them. Don’t assume. Make it clear
when you enter the cab that you’ll be paying with plastic—
and jump out if the driver gives you grief. —P. G.

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