Help!! Need advice on LackLand

Daughter is graduating Oct.6. Should we arrive on the 4th or 5th ? Need advice on hotels and do we need a rental car. If so can you get one at the airport. This is all new to us and any input would greatly be helpful. Anyone who has been through this, I would love to hear from you to hear your exprience. Thanks

Help!! Need advice on LackLand

Search previous threads for more specifics. For example this link is great tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60956-i76-k695258… There are others.

My general recommendation would be to stay in the airport area or a little more towards Lackland around the Crossroads Mall are, though there are some spots closer to Lackland. I would think a car is a must, since you%26#39;ll probably want to do some touristy things like the Riverwalk, Alamo or even Sea World.

Help!! Need advice on LackLand

Thanks so much Octoboy, the thread is very helpful to us.

If you have never been to our fine city,come on the 4%26#39;th...As forty somethings you will have fun...Staying downtown on the river is great and affordable,if you know how to look...If you rent a car,I would stay at the Omni..You will save the $15 parking per day downtown..Lackland is a great training facility,but not a great area of town....October here has great weather!...If you decide on the Riverwalk,I like The Drury for value...Also on Priceline,I have gotten the DT Hyatt for $80...Do your homework...A lot of these Hotels offer perks like a free breakfast buffet....Is this your only child??

1life2live..She is one of my youngest. She%26#39;s a twin. I have heard so much about the riverwalk from my co-workers and they say it is a must to see. I am looking forward to seeing SA. Thanks so much for the advise. Do they have transportation from the city to the base?

Our son just graduated from Lackland August 4th, and I wish I would%26#39;ve known about this site before then! I don%26#39;t have a calendar in front of me, but I would definitely suggest being there on that Thursday before graduation (I%26#39;m assuming that%26#39;s the 5th?). We arrived in San Antonio at 10 that Thursday morning and went straight to the AFB to sign in and go through orientation. Honestly, I wouldn%26#39;t come before that unless you want to go ahead and drive to San Antonio (about 20 minutes) the day before to do the touristy thing. We rented a car (Alamo) right at the airport. It was quick and painless. And it was relatively easy to get to the AFB from there (again, about 20 minutes on the highway - not too bad).

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Lackland, which is right down the street from the AFB. It is nice and clean, but we did not enjoy the ';restaurant'; at all. Service was not good (though they were ';short-staffed'; at the time), food was something I could%26#39;ve popped in toaster myself, and I don%26#39;t want to talk about what came running out towards my husband%26#39;s shoe (hint: rhymes with Coach). But the managers made sure we were taken care of in regards to everythng else. The whole area around Lackland seemed run-down and old, but the Holiday Inn seems like a relatively new building in an old town, and the rooms were clean (pool was clean, a bit small). The motel next to us was the Rodeway Inn. Whew - all I can say is I%26#39;m glad we did not reserve there. Please take care when finding your lodging. I%26#39;m sure there%26#39;s some real nice places around there that we just didn%26#39;t see . . .

Thursday after the retreat ceremony (tissues, please!) the cadets had base duty, so you have to stay on base. There%26#39;s nothing but junk food places, and every place to eat on base was CROWDED like crazy. They were having a buffet dinner at Mitchell Hall and I would definitely recommend that above eating at any of the fast food joints on base, for the sheer reason of it was not that crowded and you can sit down and talk.

Friday after graduation they were granted a town pass and could go almost anywhere within the loop (it%26#39;s a highway that goes around San Antonio in a circle). We chose to go to San Antonio, and the Alamo. Oh - park in the garage at the Riverwalk Mall, if you can. It was $13 for the whole day, but the car was out of the sun. JUST REMEMBER which entrance you walked out of, because we found out that there were two (and we were at the wrong one initially). The Alamos was nice for about 30 minutes. Then we went to Riverwalk, which is also very nice and there are a lot of places to eat, and shopping. There were several people in our party that had walking-issues, and I think my husband and I would%26#39;ve enjoyed it more had we been on our own, but we really didn%26#39;t get to see as much as I would%26#39;ve liked. The Riverwalk mall is also very nice. However, that wasn%26#39;t exactly the whole day, and we honestly felt like we had seen it all (but probably didn%26#39;t). Saturday was another town pass, but our son came back to our hotel and swam for a while. Then we drove out to a big movie theatre that I can%26#39;t remember what it was called, but if you look at the map they give you of the loop (you%26#39;ll get one from the rental car company, the AFB, the hotel - everyone%26#39;s got them) look at where the AFB is located on the map, then go clockwise (north) to where the airport is, and it was about halfway up. The movie theatre was very nice. The locals there will know what it%26#39;s called (there%26#39;s a mall, too, but it%26#39;s kind of a few streets over from the movie theatre).

There is so much more to do pit there, I believe, that we just didn%26#39;t do for one reason or another, but all in all it was the greatest trip in the world to me because I got to see our son graduate from Basic. I think you will feel the same. Good luck to you all!!!

Thank you so much airforcemom,your experience there with your son will greatly help me with my trip in October. Is there a certain time that the parents have to be at orientation or does it go on all day? You have to be so proud of your son ! Will your son stay down there for his tech trainning? My daughter will stay in SA for her TT.

craftyb4, there is a wonderful website that I read over and over: …about.com/cs/airforcejoin/a/afbmt1.htm . It really explains a lot about basic training and the graduation ceremonies, and was really right on target with how our actual experience went, also. The Thursday orientations are at different times, a few in the morning and one or two in the afternoon. They are about an hour long (you only need to see one). They%26#39;re not mandatory but I would definitely recommend it because they explain a lot to you. There is also an Airman%26#39;s run at 9am Thursday morning (the time may be different for October, though). We did not get there in time for that, but from what I understand you can stand outside the Reception center and all the Flights are running by. You wouldn%26#39;t be able to speak to your daughter at that time but if you happen to see her run by you can cheer her on! When you get to the reception center, you want to sign in so that your daughter knows she has visitors after Retreat (though no doubt she will know anyway!). Take note of her Flight/Troop number so you can find her more easily after Retreat. We got the the Base around noon, saw an orientation and then went out to the bleachers to wait for the Retreat ceremony. It%26#39;s best to get out there early to get a good seat because by 3:30 it%26#39;s pretty filled up. We ended up sitting towards the bottom of the bleachers in the hot sun, but let me tell you this -- it was all worth it, because after weeks of not seeing or talking to my son, the minute I saw the first Flight of Airmen walking over the bridge towards the bleachers (and they were still very far away!) I broke down in TEARS because I knew they were finally coming! When they march in front of the bleachers don%26#39;t worry if you don%26#39;t recognize her because they all look alike. After the retreat ceremony you can go onto the field and FINALLY get to be with your daughtert!

You should be receiving a brochure from your daughter soon, and it will have a vehicle pass and some more information about the whole graduation process. They also have a travel agency listed, but honestly they didn%26#39;t help us very much and you can do just as good a job on your own getting the hotel, flight, and rental car. The SA airport has all the rental car companies right down where the baggage claim is, and it was simple checking in (but have reservations beforehand) and getting out. The brochure will list a lot of the hotels, but I would still go online and look at more pictures and descriptions before you choose. I forgot to say earlier that we had passed a Red Roof Inn pretty close to the base, and it looked pretty new, also (but we didn%26#39;t go in or anything). Oh, and if you do stay close to the base, the area doesn%26#39;t have much of anything to do, and really just consists of a lot of fast food places. If it%26#39;s somewhat important to you to be close to nicer things, I would recommend going more towards SA (which really isn%26#39;t that far from the base anyway). Chances are, that%26#39;s where your daughter will want to go on town-pass, anyway :)

My son is in Tech school at Keesler (in Biloxi). What is your daughter training in? Good luck and God Bless to you, your daughter and your family! We, and other military families, have so much to be proud of, having children in some of the most important jobs in our country. I know graduation weekend is going to be wonderful for you, where ever you stay and whatever you do. Also, please, let me know if you have any more questions. As you can tell, I love to type! :)

Airforce mom....you are a gem! I can%26#39;t thank-you enough for your information that you have shared with me. My daughter%26#39;s TT will be weapons. I%26#39;m also proud of all the young people that are giving their all in the military. I think there is a special bond between parents who have sons and daughters in the armed forces. God be with you and your son.

Hello - We think our son too may be graduating Oct. 6th but we haven%26#39;t heard officially. He has only been able to call home once. How did you find out? Would welcome any other advice as where to stay in SA!! Have been thinking the Riverwalk area, more to do there within walking distance and figured he%26#39;d welcome the change of scenery. Any help is welcome!!

Dordle...That is her date to graduate if everything goes ok. I just wanted to have all the info before that date so I know want to do and where to stay since I do not know the area.