This is the 2nd and finally round. I really had wanted to go out and take more pics, but time was an issue. My battery also died after these, so I wasn't able to take more, otherwise I surely would have. There's always next time.
This was the first time I've been back up there since the renovation of the tower which has expanded it considerably.
They've expanded the base to include retail gift shops, a new ground level cafe and even a 3D theatre which shows the "Eyes Over Texas" an aerial video of Texas. The price of a ticket has risen from around 4 dollars to $10.95 for adults. While that is a bit of an increase, I'm not complaining, because that price gets you onto the tower's observation deck, the Eyes Over Texas 4D video "ride" and into the restaurant at the top. The best part of this is that the ticket is good for all day the day you purchase it until 10 pm that evening. So you could buy a ticket at 8 am, visit the tower and then go back later at 9 pm that night and dine and check out the views. The ticket also gives you unlimited access to the 3D theatre ride. For photog's looking to take pictures from the tower day and night, this is very nice. So I was happy with that.
Also, do check out the Eyes Over Texas 4D Ride. It's a 15 minute video that takes you all across the state. I thought it could have been a bit more thorough, but it is fun. And if you've been walking around all day getting hot and tired it is a very nice thing to do. For anyone who hasn't gone yet, do check it out. I'm sure my fellow Austinites will get a kick out of it. They show one
very cool view of the Frost Bank Tower from the air as well as downtown San Antonio flying over the Tower of the Americas. One note of caution, if you take your camera in with you, or any other electronics, word of advice, put them in your pocket or cover them up with your shirt. You'll know why when take the "ride".
A few of them have some blurry spots on them, those are smudge marks on the protective glass wall around the observation deck. Sorry about that. I tried to avoid them as best I could.
Anyway, enjoy!
One of the huge light structures that lights up the tower.
The base has been expanded outward following the same general design as the original, just bringing out further.
The lobby area. They've expanded it all the way around like this.
Cool stuff in the gift shop. They have all kinds of Tower of the Americas stuff. Shot glasses, whine glasses, key chains, little tower models and this, a 3D puzzle.
Something else which I thought was pretty cool is they have construction pictures of the tower. Sorry for the glares, it was impossible to avoid them.
The "top house" was actually built at ground level and then hoisted into place using hydraulic jacks.
Onto the views...
Grand Hyatt San Antonio Convention Center Hotel.
Penthouse port-a-potty.
They were in the process of raising one of the cranes. Notice the red structure around the top of the shaft. That's a jack that attaches to the shaft of the tower crane. New sections of the shaft are hoisted into place using the crane's boom. They're moved along the boom to this jack which brings them in through an opening. As the jack rises they hoist the new section into place and then secure it using steel rods that pierce the legs of the crane's shaft. Once the new section is in place the jack lifts up another level and the whole process starts over with another section.
The Emily Morgan, err, Ramada Inn Hotel, built in 1926.
One of my favorite buildings in downtown. Such a neat little building.
The crane for the 17-story Marriott.
The Alamo from above.
One of my favorite skyscrapers in Texas, the Tower Life Building.
The coolest McDonald's in Texas:
Beautiful building here.
Casa Rio.
Around Sunset Station & I-37.
Staybridge Suites at Sunset Station.
I-37 making its way to Corpus Christi.
Vidorra construction site with the base of the tower crane there.
Sunset Station itself.
The Alamodome.
Outside of downtown...
Pearl Brewery factory. Nice architecture for a beer factory.
Towers on Parklane. San Antonio's tallest outside of downtown at 368 feet.
Anyone know what church that is? It looks beautiful.
View looking down towards Hemisphere Park with the convention center to the right 560 feet below.
This is the outer observation level. It's open air, but there's a ~7 foot glass barrier then bars above that. I do hope they keep the glass clean, it wasn't too bad, but there were some hand prints from kiddos.
The indoor observation deck which is just a few feet higher than the outdoor deck. Below this level and the outdoor deck is the restaurant level.
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