SAVE in San Antonio, Texas

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of SAVE for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was in college (University of Missouri), our football team did pretty well. One of their bowl games was in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to that, I didn't really know how cool the city is. While I wasn't able to attend the game, our local sports network did a great job at showing all that the city has to offer. I also got to see pictures from my friends on social media sites. To make a long story short, San Antonio is definitely on my list of places to visit!

This summer, you can experience all that San Antonio has to offer while saving money. Coincidentally named SAVE, the San Antonio Vacation Experience, gives travelers a way to get exclusive discounts, deals, and special offers to theme parks, shopping, museums, hotels and resorts around the city. The SAVE deals are for any price point or taste--from budget to luxury options. I know that a lot of families are struggling to make ends meet, let alone take a nice little summer trip. I'm glad that SAVE exisits so that families wanting to see a culturaly rich area can save some money while doing it.

I'm a big planner, and love saving money--especially on vacation--so here's a little itenerary I came up:

August 22 - 25, 2012 (two adults, G is free at all places because she is under 2)

Hotel: $10 per night savings at Drury Plaza Hotel Riverwalk. Drury is one of our favorite hotel chains--typically found in the Midwest, with tons of free extras (like AM and PM food). The Riverwalk Drury is actually not your average Drury, it looks really fancy from the photos and reviews. We'd want the two room suite with a king bed (one bed room and one living area). The regular rate is $140, but with SAVE the price is $130. Total savings: $30

Day 1: $7 per ticket savings on Splashtown water park. I'm always up for a good theme park, and in the summer there's no better place to cool off than a water park! Splashtown is great because it has free parking, 40 water slides, and all the classics like a wave pool and lazy river. Total Savings: $14

Day 2: $10 per ticket savings on Sea World (there are also discounts on tours and behind-the-scene excursions). My husband and I really want to take our daughter to a Sea World and the one in San Antonio is actually 4 parks in 1 on 250 acres! Total savings: $20

Day 3 morning: 20% off at the San Antonio Children's Museum. Part of going on vacation with a toddler is planning activities that will engage their ever-expanding minds and bodys. I love taking our daughter to kid-oriented museums. It's fun for my husband and I to see her explore a place built just for her--and get a break from the heat! Total Savings: $3.20

Day 3 afternoon: $2 off per ticket on the Alamo Trolley. We'd love to take a tour of the culturally rich heart of Old San Antonio. On the Alamo Trolley, we'd hear a narrorated history and get to hop-on-hop-off all day with the hop pass. Total Savings: $4

Day 4: Before leaving town, I'd drag my husband and daughter to the outlet malls--because mom deserves some personal fun too! Through SAVE, at the San Marcos Premium Outlet Mall you can get a VIP coupon book for free, though it usually costs $5. With SAVE you can get another free VIP coupon book (with over $900 in savings) for use at the Tanger Outlet Mall. Total Savings: limitless! :-)

I've found that SAVE is not only helpful for finding deals on lodging and activities, it's great for planning your San Antonio trip in general! I love the map feature, because you can see how far apart your activites are, and plan out a route.

Explore the SAVE – San Antonio Vacation Experience website for even more ideas to score trip savings. Also, be sure to follow @SAVEinSA to get updates on Limited Time Offers, deals, and other ideas to help you plan your trip to San Antonio.