Join correspondent Tom Wilmer reporting from San Antonio, Texas for a Christmastime exploration of the historic city of more than 1.5 million that paradoxically has a most welcoming small-town feel.
![Christmastime partiers floating down San Antonio's Riverwalk](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1305c50/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x961+0+0/resize/880x661!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb9%2Fb6%2Fdfaefcfd43498c0a75e473d3b460%2Ffloating-down-the-riverwalk-in-san-antonio.jpeg)
We’ll start our exploration with Dee Dee Poteete, Visit San Antonio’s regional Communications Director who shares cool tales of the city’s unique, historic charms and destinations.
![Dee Dee Poteete, Visit San Antonio](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/756ed8d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/272x272+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F62%2F63%2Fb5ededfa4c3fa0081709dd3d9c78%2Fdee-dee-poteete.png)
And then it’s a visit with Nina Shorkrian, Senior Marketing Manager at the JW Marriott Hill Country San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa where she shares touching tales of just how the resort does such an enchanting job of crafting a winter wonderland specifically for families.
![Nina Shorkrian, Senior Marketing Manager at the JW Marriott Hill Country San Antonio Resort and Spa](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/351b4e2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/422x504+0+0/resize/880x1051!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Faf%2F16%2F25b0f7f84a2cb285bcf2e3a790b5%2Fnina-shorkrian.jpg)
![Snow Flow Mountain at J.W. Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/dd098d9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3210x3074+0+0/resize/880x843!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbc%2F41%2Fd8f5af13469b97cd223227af3ccc%2Fsnow-flow-mountain.jpeg)
![Correspondent Tom Wilmer (left) with Marc Anderson, CEO Visit San Antonio](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2d52b91/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x1007+0+0/resize/880x692!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2F30%2Fccb44174458fb9b5f61c0391e300%2Ftom-wilmer-left-with-marc-anderson-ceo-visit-san-antonio.jpeg)
Next up we head to the heart of old-town San Antonio, just around the corner from the legendary Alamo, where Marc Anderson, President and CEO of Visit San Antonio shares fascinating insights about Holidays on Houston Street and its European-esque Christkindlmarket that just rocks with an infectious and friendly small-town feel.
![Festive San Antonio Trolly](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7264a9a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x960+0+0/resize/880x660!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F38%2Ffc%2Fd3a15f164b3293bd457fdb06cc81%2Ffestive-san-antoniop-trolly.jpeg)
![Everything in San Antonio is lit up for Christmastime in San Antonio](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b3dc48d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1164x1545+0+0/resize/880x1168!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff9%2Fa6%2Fac01df904c0eb870531cfe463de9%2Feverything-in-san-antonio-is-lit-up-for-christmastime-in-san-antonio.jpeg)
Highlights include an array of craft booths, carolers, and a stunning nighttime aerial drone-show high in the sky above Houston Street.
Anderson also shares tales of just why the city is such an endearing, welcoming, visitor-friendly destination that just happens to be America’s fastest growing city, welcoming more than 50 new residents every day.
![Reenactor at the Alamo, San Antonio TX](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/825c9cc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x1707+0+0/resize/880x1174!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9c%2Fdc%2Ff846de704fa0afeb4b011f5b700d%2Freinactor-at-the-alamo.jpeg)
![Jeanne Culver, CEO Dallas, Texas based Culver PR](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e6eeb3a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2825x2928+0+0/resize/880x912!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F80%2F60%2Fb6176c78415598b7b992c5c48cc0%2Fjeanne-culver.jpeg)
Next up is Jeanne Culver, CEO of Dallas based Culver Public Relations, who offers cool insights about the broad reach of diverse and alluring destinations around the state of Texas.
The music bridges in this show were performed by award-winning Marble Falls, TX musician/songwriter John Arthur Martinez
![Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer featured on the NPR Podcast Directory](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fdae5fb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/300x300+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F57%2F975c5b2848b5a78b82d8b1a5fb74%2Fnpr-podcasts.jpg)
You are invited to subscribe to the seven-time Lowell Thomas Award-winning travel podcast, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer, featured on the NPR Podcast Directory, Apple Podcast, and more than twenty other podcast hosting sites including iHeartRadio and Spotify
![Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer—winner of the Gold Lowell Thomas Award—Society of American Travel Writers](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e976d04/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1050x1050+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2Fd6%2Ff98dd2654f99ad77a4702bc73c68%2Flowell-thomas-award-2023.jpeg)
scroll down to view a sampler of other Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer Texas destination podcasts.