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Photo courtesy of Shiner Beer.

Sometimes we can’t help ourselves. Despite our better judgment, we fall for the bad boy who flits in and out of our life. Days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months; still, we can’t let go. We know full well we’d take him back tomorrow.

Such is our relationship with Prickly Pear Summer Lager, Shiner Beer’s withholding seasonal brew. First introduced in 2012, the fruit beer dipped out in 2017, later showing up for sultry flings in variety packs. In 2020, it seemed finally ready for a serious relationship before rejoining singles mixers again.

We still miss that six-pack.

It’s with some trepidation that we report that Prickly Pear has come lurking around again. In an imaginative campaign by Austin-based creative agency Bakery, the seasonal brew announced its return to Texas shelves. Based on real social media concepts, the ad tells the story of fans’ undying love for the beer via a friendly yeti, a wicked witch, and a Norma Rae-like revolt.

“Every time we post social content for Shiner, no matter what it’s about, we’ll get non-stop comments about Prickly Pear,” explains Rodrigo Rothschild, creative director at Bakery, in a release. “After about a thousand of them, we wondered if you could write an entire script just using all these weird and random comments.”

It’s easy to see why Shiner drinkers are so enamored with the beer. The company uses Texas native prickly pear with Citra and Golding hops and its proprietary yeast to create a brew that is neither too tart nor too sweet. The crisp libation also rings in at a modest 4.9-percent ABV, making it an ideal patio pounder.

“Prickly Pear is a special brew for us because it features uniquely Texan ingredients,” says Nick Weiland, Shiner’s brand director. “We recommend pairing it with carne asada tacos or a grilled chicken salad for the ultimate summer session.”

Alas, a session is all Prickly Pear’s many admirers will get. Though the lager is eager to romance them with tubing trips, backyard barbecues, and days at the beach, it will once again hit the road at the end of July.

Freetail Brewing/Instagram

What's brewing in San Antonio: 5 San Antonio-area breweries win at World Beer Cup, and more news

San Antonio Brewing News

Editor's Note: With a new craft beer spot popping up in San Antonio seemingly every month, we've started a new column to track all things beer in Alamo City. Here's our roundup of everything that's brewing in San Antonio.

Local breweries among World Beer Cup winners

Five San Antonio-area breweries were among winners of the World Beer Cup, which was held during the annual Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America events. All of the 2023 events took place in Nashville; More than 200 beer professionals judged World Beer Cup entries in 100-plus categories, where gold, silver and bronze medalists were named.

In the end, Freetail Brewing Co.’s "Imagine 14 Years" won a gold medal for hoppy lager. Imagine 14 Years, released as part of Freetail’s 14th anniversary celebration last fall, is a variation of the brewpub’s award-winning "Imagine a World with Beer Cellars Instead of 401ks."

Five Stones Artisan Brewery’s "Norma Jeane" was awarded a bronze medal in the fruit beer category. While "Norma Jeane" is part of Five Stones’ seasonal lineup, it has been popular with Five Stones fans since its launch. Located north of San Antonio, Five Stones marked its 10th anniversary earlier in May. “The beer has given us both grief and joy in our pursuit to get it right. Being awarded bronze at this competition blew major wind in our sails as a brewery and a family,” the folks at Five Stones said in a social media post about the award.

Three Hill Country breweries claimed World Beer Cup honors, too. Fredericksburg’s Altstadt Brewery’s hefeweizen was a gold medalist in the South German-style hefeweizen category. Blanco’s Real Ale Brewing Co.’s "Scots Gone Wild" received a gold medal in the wood- and barrel-aged sour category. Johnson City’s Pecan Street Brewing Co.’s rye lager received a bronze medal in the rye beer category.

Other distilled news and notes

Maverick Distilling in downtown San Antonio has released its limited-edition Samuel Maverick Barrel-Aged Texas Dry Gin, which was distilled in small batches using locally grown Texas ingredients. It was then aged in bourbon barrels on-site in the underground vaults of the historic Lockwood National Bank. Only 250 bottles were produced for this small-batch release, which was barreled at 120 proof and aged in No. 3 char white American oak barrels.

“With our barrel-aged Texas Dry Gin, we wanted to create a spirit that is refreshing and unique to the Lone Star State,” distillery founder Dr. Kenneth Maverick said. “Gin continues to grow in popularity as people discover that good gin doesn’t taste like bad medicine. We wanted to offer our customers another version of gin and knew that the impressive botanicals that we use for our Texas Dry Gin would evolve into something beautiful with barrel aging.”

In a May 9 media event previewing the new gin, Maverick provided an update on his facility, saying they have eliminated full kitchen service in favor of partnering with neighboring restaurants and food trucks. Distillery visitors will be able to order food for delivery onsite. Maverick Distilling is open to the public, but it is also available for private special events, from family celebrations to corporate functions. Maverick did say, however, that there are plans to expand the original craft beer offerings.

The biergarten at Faust Brewing Co. in New Braunfels is buzzing once again. Having closed their doors to the public at the outset of COVID-19, the brewery is back open with an expanded biergarten, a new food trailer serving pub grub, and improvements around the tasting room.

Additionally, Faust now has a liquor license and is able to offer spirits, and the brewery owners are promoting their ability to host special events on site. While Faust had a soft re-opening April 1, the brewery hosted the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce for a formal opening and ribbon-cutting May 18 to celebrate their revamp.

Photo by TX Troublemaker

Alamo City's best bars and restaurants crowned at 2023 Tastemaker Awards

TOAST THE TASTEMAKERS

Ah spring! The wildflowers are blooming, the sandals are coming back, and our celebration of the best of San Antonio hospitality — the Tastemaker Awards — is once again heating up the night.

For the past few weeks, you’ve read about all the stellar nominees, then voted for your favorite new restaurant in a hard-fought tournament. Now, it's finally time to unveil the winners.

On Thursday evening, the all-stars of Alamo City’s restaurant and bar scene gathered with their hungry fans at the Briscoe Museum for our second annual tasting event and awards ceremony. Guests feasted on delicious bites from some of the area’s best restaurants, before applauding the proud winners.

And what a crew they are. Our 2023 CultureMap San Antonio Tastemaker Awards winners represent the crème de la crème of the city’s red-hot culinary scene. Meet them below and join us in raising one last glass to the Tastemakers. Drum roll, please.

Restaurant of the Year: Carriqui
There's no reason to pretend otherwise; you've had this food before. Maybe it was over a few beers at a backyard barbecue or a buzzing Rio Grande restaurant, but it is as familiar as a family group text. This Pearl spot's genius was in giving South Texas fare the respect it deserves. Instead of being fettered by the honey assumptions that regional foods should be cheap, Carriqui fires Wagyu on custom Mill Scale grills. Instead of settling for hominess, it announces South Texas as a destination.

Best New Restaurant: Reese Bros BBQ
With the cult-like status that some barbecue joints enjoy, some hot spots have forgotten there doesn’t have to be so much bite with the bark. Make no bones about it; the licorice black crust that forms on the brisket is as mouthwatering as it comes. But that alchemy is not just a flex obscuring the other parts of the operation. Reese Bros excels at sausage, flour tortillas, and simple market sides. It also excels at hospitality, not letting endless acclaim harden into an ego trip.

Chef of the Year: Robbie Nowlin — Allora, Arrosta
Casual San Antonio offers scant opportunities to dress up, so we’ll give you a reason to wear a jacket. Though no jackets are required, Arrosta’s offerings invite one to be a little more buttoned up. Nowlin’s Reggis Ova caviar is the most luxurious dish in town, even if it’s served on a humble fried dumpling. Even the fried potatoes are so gorgeously presented that they demand some decorum. Can’t imagine wearing hard pants? Waltz next door to Arrosta to experience the chef’s prodigious fare in a much more casual setting.

Bar of the Year: Amor Eterno
It's there in the name. This Southtown lounge delivers everlasting romance courtesy of velvet curtains, fuchsia lighting, and orchids languishing on the edge of coupes. The atmosphere gets a little steamier after a couple Bella Noche shots. Suddenly, disco thumps through the speakers, inamoratos file in, and the back booth becomes the most inviting spot in Alamo City.

Best Brewery: Künstler Brewing
The owners of this Southtown hot spot, Vera and Brent Deckard, are exceedingly well-traveled, a fact that informs their magpie approach to beer. The descriptions read like a travelogue — taking drinkers from San Diego beaches to Ecuadorean farms to hikes near Aschau, Germany. The flavors are equally international. Head brewer Vera works in dozens of styles, using her sharp palate to deliver inventive creations like a matcha milkshake IPA and a briny oyster stout.

Neighborhood Restaurant: The Magpie
This newly expanded East Side bistro is hard to describe. Chef Jungsuk “Sue” Kim doesn’t let genre hold her back, dishing out Korean specialties like dak galbi and Italian rabbit ragu. The wine list has an equally well-stamped passport, exploring traditional and low-intervention winemaking in equal measure. The Magpie doesn’t need to be easily categorized to make an impact. Guests happily gobble up whatever comes into the nest.

Pastry Chef: Sofia Tejeda — Hotel Emma
An alum of Mixtli and Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery, Tejeda was the first San Antonian to be nominated as “Outstanding Pastry Chef” by the James Beard Foundation. It’s easy to see why. Her dishes combine cultural specificity (see the German and Mexican influences) with a luxury fitting of the boutique hotel. We think Emma Koehler — the property's namesake — would be proud.

Wildcard: Best Burger — Last Place Burger
Maybe owner Mark Villareal stumbled upon a djinn. It seems impossible that five simple ingredients could produce so much flavor. We do know that one of our three wishes would be a never-ending supply of this food truck's astoundingly great OG burger.

Amor Eterno San Antonio
Photo by TX Troublemaker

Bar of the year: Amor Eterno

Lucy Cooper's Ice House/ Facebook

7 things to know about San Antonio food right now: Buzzy icehouse serves up new location

NEWS YOU CAN EAT

Editor's note: We get it. It can be difficult to keep up with the fast pace of San Antonio's restaurant and bar scene. We have you covered with our weekly roundup of essential food news.

Openings

One of San Antonio's most recognized chefs is going for a three-peat. Braunda Smith, known for recent appearances on Guy's Grocery Games and Chopped, tells CultureMap that she is opening a third location of Lucy Cooper's Ice House. The new spot will take over the former home of Cerveceria Chapultepec at 8403 State Highway 151 #101 at a to-be-announced future date.

A St. Mary's Strip staple is also in expansion mode. Signage for a second Tycoon Flats is wrapped around the former location of Purple Garlic at 1017 Austin Hwy. It's unclear when the new burger joint will debut. Although the banners promise a summer 2023 opening, renovation appears to still be in the early stages.

The cookie wars are coming to San Antonio as Tempe-based Dirty Dough opens at 19903 Stone Oak Pkwy #104. The franchise's schtick is that its treats feature "some combination of layers, mix-ins, or filling within the dough." But its more recent claim to fame regards a lawsuit brought about by Crumbl Cookies. The rapidly growing upstart accused Dirty of stealing its concept, logo, and recipes. The Arizona brand countered with its own lawsuit and an ad campaign, including mocking billboards on Crumbl's Utah home turf. Cookie criminologists can make their own conclusions on the kerfuffle during Dirty's grand opening on May 27.

On to the less contentious world of ice cream franchises — Ohio chain Handel's Homemade Ice Cream is opening its first Alamo City outpost on May 18 at 5311 N. Loop 1604 W. near The Rim. According to a press release, the grand opening will have face painting, a balloon artist, giveaways, and the chance to win free ice cream for a year. Among the opening flavors will be grape, Key Lime pie, and Graham Central Station — a graham cracker-filled ode to the now-shuttered multi-hyphenate nightclub.

A new kid on the block hopes to wow customers near the University of Texas at San Antonio. Wok N Fries serves 10 riffs on loaded fries, including chicken pesto fries with mozzarella, cheeseburger fries with cheddar and pickles, and Texas fries with mayo, bacon, and onion rings. Potato libertines can head to 7038 UTSA Boulevard on May 20 and 21 for the grand opening weekend featuring free fries for the first 20 guests on either day and a hefty discount for other customers.

According to a Facebook post, the Medical Center location of Taqueria Data Point finally roared back to action on May 12. The revered restaurant was forced to shutter in March 2020 after suffering damage from a nearby fire at Mustafa Grocery. The other two locations at De Zavala Road and Gramercy Place will continue killing the breakfast taco game.

Other news and notes

Culinaria has announced the dates for the summer edition of Restaurant Weeks. The biyearly program recruits eateries to offer a specially priced prix fixe menu as a fundraiser for the nonprofit. Though no participating restaurants have been announced yet, locals can mark their calendars for August 12-26.

Bar House/Instagram

6 things to know about San Antonio food right now: Schertz watering hole slides into second location

NEWS YOU CAN EAT

Editor’s note: We get it. It can be difficult to keep up with the fast pace of San Antonio’s restaurant and bar scene. We have you covered with our weekly roundup of essential food news.

Openings and closings

TDLR records also spilled the beans that Schertz watering hole Bar House is spiffing up a building at 820 N. Alamo for a new location. Construction is set to begin in July and wrap up in early 2024.

While Fiesta crowds were busy reveling in the streets, downtown eatery Bunz Handcrafted Burger was hard at work opening a second location. In an Instagram announcement in partnership with local influencer Chris Flores (aka Eat Migos), the shop revealed its April 24 debut at 6819 N. Loop 1604 W. The featured bite was, what else, a chicken on a stick burger.

Other news and notes

Sari-Sari Supper Club restaurateur Camille De Los Reyes is bringing back last year’s passport program celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and the city's AAPI culinary community. The booklets — available for download online or at any participating restaurant — give guests a 10-percent discount at some of San Antonio’s best eateries, including Sichuan House, Za’atar Lebanese Grill, Singhs, and Best Quality Daughter.

R+ R Collective Co. will also be making the month more delicious with a pop-up event dedicated to Asian American and Pacific Islander vendors. Held noon- 4 pm on May 6, Tastea Market will feature food stands from Happea Vegans, Pinay Bake Shop, Ooyoo Pan, and Mon Bon Delight, plus wares from Transcendental Creative and Archival Goods.

Wizarding fans can break out their wands for a pop dinner on May 8 at 1917 Restaurant and Bar. 1917 chef Hector Rojas and Hell’s Kitchen alum Mary Lou Davis will dazzle guests with blue scallop crudo, beef Wellington, and a treacle tart served with butterbeer. Guests can also order magical cocktails and cosplay for a chance to win door prizes. We would love to see an all-too-fitting mash-up of J.K. Rowling and Dolores Umbridge.

Pearl eatery Ladino is getting into the happy hour game. Along with its usual assortment of refreshers, the restaurant will introduce a frozen Raki lemonade, available only during the social hour. Deals include $5 off select wines and all cocktails, $2 off beer, and specials on small bites, including hummus, muhammara, saganaki, and chicken wing kebab. Hours are 5-6:30 pm on weekdays.

Cactus Land/ Facebook

San Antonio's 8 best beers untap the city's independent spirit

MEET THE TASTEMAKERS

San Antonio does not have as saturated of a brewery scene as some of Texas' largest cities, but it does have a more independent spirit. Our craft beer greats seldom stick to one style and could care less if fashionable fonts appear on their packaging. Though they rack up statewide and national awards, they never lose sight of the fact that they serve the local community.

The CultureMap Tastemakers Awards celebrates that maverick spirit in this year's batch of Brewery of the Year Nominees. Meet them all below, then join us on May 18 at the Briscoe Museum when we reveal the winner.

Black Laboratory Brewing
How's this for popular science? Owners Tim Castaneda and Jeff Weihe have paid their dues in the lab, a background that informs their experimental small-batch brews. The joys of the core lineup of pilsners, lagers, and IPAs are hardly theoretical, but the limited edition beers equally pass the acid test. Chief among them is the Fiesta season's Puto San Antonio, a piccadilly raspa in a pint blending chamoy, pickle juice, and cherry Koolaid into a crisp blonde ale base.

Busted Sandal

Celebrating a decade in business, Busted Sandal now clomps around a San Antonio taproom and a Helotes beer garden. But it is still at its best brewing poundable brews that hold up to the city's 500 days of summer. With unexpected ingredients, the limited edition La Chancla series particularly delights. The Watermelon 210 Ale practically demands a dip in the pool.

Cactus Land Brewing Co.
Like many folks who have entered the industry, Cactus Land owners Dustin and Erica Teague started as home brewers. That DIY spirit still resonates in almost everything they make. In addition to brewing accessible bocks and ales, the company offers a salty coriander-scented pilsner and even a rice lager. Teetotalers can also rejoice at their equally complex root beer.

Freetail Brewing
This long-running establishment is one of San Antonio's most awarded breweries, regularly snagging medals at the Texas Craft Brewers Cup. But the beers aren't just appealing to craft nerds. Freetail has made a mission to embody the city's soul, from its German heritage to its Tejano culture. The mix results in some of the area's easiest sippers, from the puckery gose ¡Puro! Pickles to the seasonal Citrus Trip, a blood orange wit.

Künstler Brewing
The owners of this Southtown hot spot, Vera and Brent Deckard, are exceedingly well-traveled, a fact that informs their magpie approach to beer. The descriptions read like a travelogue — taking drinkers from San Diego beaches to Ecuadorean farms to hikes near Aschau, Germany. The flavors are equally international. Head brewer Vera works in dozens of styles, using her sharp palate to deliver inventive creations like a matcha milkshake IPA and a briny oyster stout.

Mad Pecker
The craft beer world can often be too earnest, so Mad Pecker's whimsical "about us" section is a whiff of fresh air. The tale weaves in sudsy hermits, cruel industrial beer kings, and magical hops forests, making owners Jason and Erika Gonzales' quest for flavor seem positively heroic. Indeed, their Wemby Watch — a Trans-Atlantic IPA brewed with United Kingdom malts — is the stuff of legends.

Second Pitch
Some good things came from the pandemic — like this still-growing operation from husband-and-wife Jim and Samantha Hansen. Obviously taking in those lost years' lessons, the couple brings community to everything they do. From women-only and all-inclusive classes to partnering with local chefs, Second Pitch puts people first. But oh, how their perfectly executed classics encourage that camaraderie.

Weathered Souls Brewing Co.
The guiding principle behind this North Central brewery is "if the beer is good enough, folks will find out." By that measure, each pint is as effective as a pop-up ad. The team doesn't spend much time transcribing each beer's esoteric notes, instead allowing guests a personal experience. And they brew whatever is good — from smacking sours to the city's best stouts.

Cactus Land Brewey

Brewery of the year: Cactus Land

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CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Whataburger weighs in as healthiest cheeseburger in the nation

THEMS EATIN' WORDS

With its love of greasy enchiladas, gluttonous fried steaks, and fat-speckled brisket, San Antonio isn’t exactly known as a healthy eating mecca. But it turns out that one locally beloved dish isn’t as unhealthy as one might think.

Inspired by February’s American Heart Month (albeit belatedly), Gambling.com decided to dig deep into which fast-food burger was best for the ticker and the body overall. What that has to do with online slots is anyone’s guess, but perhaps open-heart surgeries are not conducive to risk-taking.

Surprise, surprise, surprise! Local favorite/ food cult Whataburger took the top slot, earning honors with its standby cheeseburger. Assumably, the gambling site considered the mustard-slathered original, eschewing calorie bombs like bacon slices and creamy pepper sauce. Where’s the fun of Whataburger if you can’t get it just like you like it?

To arrive at the rankings, Gambling.com analyzed each burger for sugar, fat, salt, and calorie content per ounce. Each metric was given a one to ten score that factored into the final report card shared with content-hungry food journalists everywhere.

Coming in a close second was In-N-Out’s cheeseburger, a comforting fact for Texans who enjoy complaining about Californians. Rounding out the top five were Checker’s Checkerburger with Cheese, Culver’s ButterBurger Cheese, and Del Taco’s del Cheese Burger.

For those trying to make better eating choices, that list should give some pause. Yes, Whataburger beats out other fast-food faves, but it was competing against a chain that literally toasts all their buns in churned cream. Health is a relative concept.

Elsewhere on the list was another Texas darling, the No. 6 ranked Dairy Queen. Apparently, all that “hungr” is being busted by a hefty dose of sodium. Yes, we will take fries with that.

Disney's Little Mermaid remake goes swimmingly despite new so-so songs

Movie review

The biggest problem with the majority of the live-action updates to classic Disney animated films is that they haven’t been updates at all, choosing to merely regurgitate the moments audiences know and love from the original in a slightly repackaged form. That’s great for nostalgia, but if that’s all viewers wanted, they’d just go back and watch the original.

The Little Mermaid falls into much the same trap, although the filmmakers get at least a little credit for trying to offer something new. The story, of course, remains the same, as Ariel (Halle Bailey) has a fascination with everything above the surface of the ocean. Her rebellious nature, at odds with strict King Triton (Javier Bardem), leads her to spy on a ship with Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) and his crew, putting her in position to save Eric when the ship crashes into rocks.

Now totally enamored of Eric, Ariel is convinced by the sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to give up her voice for a chance to live on land and make Eric fall in love with her. Trouble is, despite the help of Sebastian the crab (Daveed Diggs), Flounder the fish (Jacob Tremblay), and Scuttle the seabird (Awkwafina), Ursula has no plans to let Ariel succeed fair and square.

Directed by Rob Marshall and written by David Magee, the film clocks in at nearly one hour longer than the original, going from 83 minutes to 135. They accomplish this feat with the addition of several songs, including ones “sung” by Ariel while she is without voice, a relatively clever way to get into her thoughts during that long stretch. There are also additional scenes that give Prince Eric more of a backstory, making him more than just a pretty face on which to hang all of Ariel’s hopes and dreams.

The new songs are hit-and-miss; Ariel’s “For the First Time” is a fanciful number that fits in nicely, but “Wild Uncharted Waters,” a solo song for Prince Eric, feels unnecessary, and the less said about “The Scuttlebutt,” a rap performed by Scuttle and written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the better. What most people want to see are how the original songs are done, and they come off well for the most part. The actors’ voices are uniformly good and the staging is engaging.

Other changes seem half-hearted, at best. A vague environmental theme broached at the beginning is quickly dropped. The cast is very multicultural, but haphazardly so. The film is obviously set on and around a Caribbean island, making it natural for The Queen (Noma Dumezweni), Eric’s adopted mother, and other islanders to be Black. But giving Ariel “sisters from the seven seas,” allowing for mermaids of several different races and ethnicities, feels odd and forced, and a little creepy given that King Triton is supposed to be the father of all of them.

The fact that Bailey herself is Black, while great for representation, is neither here nor there in the context of the film. Bailey has a voice that is equal to everything she is asked to sing, and her silent acting is excellent in the middle portion of the film. McCarthy makes for a great Ursula, bringing both humor and pathos to the role. Hauer-King, who bears a similarity to Ryan Gosling, plays Eric in a more well-rounded manner.

The live-action version of The Little Mermaid, like almost all of the Disney remakes, never truly establishes itself as its own unique thing. Still, it’s a thoroughly pleasant watch with some nice performances, which clears the bar for success for this era of Disney history.

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The Little Mermaid opens in theaters on May 26.

Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid

Photo courtesy of Disney

Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid.

These 6 San Antonio museums are offering free admission for military families all summer long

spread the museum love

Half a dozen San Antonio museums are honoring active-duty military personnel and their families with free admission through the Blue Star Museums initiative, May 20 through September 4, 2023.

Established by the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and the U.S. Department of Defense, the Blue Star Museums program annually provides military families free access to 2,000 museums nationwide throughout the summer. The program begins yearly on Armed Forces Day in May and ends on Labor Day.

Free admission is extended to personnel currently serving in the U.S Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard (including those in the Reserve), and all National Guardsman. Members of the U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps and NOAA Commissioned Corps are also included in the program.

Those who qualify can use their military ID to bring up to five family members - including relatives of those currently deployed. More information about qualifications can be found here.

There is no limit on the number of participating museums that qualifying families may visit. Admission for non-active military veterans, however, is not included.

According to the National Endowment for the Arts website, the initiative was created to help "improve the quality of life for active duty military families" with a specific focus on children. The site states two million have had a parent deployed since 2001.

"Blue Star Museums was created to show support for military families who have faced multiple deployments and the challenges of reintegration," the website says. "This program offers these families a chance to visit museums this summer when many will have limited resources and limited time to be together."

Here's a look at all the museums in San Antonio that are participating in the Blue Star Museums initiative this year.

For those looking to take a drive around Central Texas, the Sophienburg Museum & Archives in New Braunfels and Bandera's Frontier Times Museum are also participants in the Blue Star Museums initiative.

More information about Blue Star Museums and a full list of participants can be found on arts.gov.