During our recent visit to my sister and her family in Austin, we made a little detour...to San Antonio in order to experience this important city, especially the Alamo and the Riverwalk. Melissa and I went with Anita and my nephew Greg on this little adventure and spent the Sunday afternoon and evening walking and dining in the downtown area...
First on the plan, after checking into our overnight hotel a few blocks east of downtown San Antonio, we all walked down Commerce Avenue and then veered northward to the Alamo site. The weather was a bit hot and stuffy, and whenever we had the chance to duck into an air-conditioned building I was grateful for the relief. The Alamo itself was a little bigger than I had imagined...later I found out that the decorative, curved top front part was a later addition, built around 1870. The Battle of the Alamo took place in March 1836 when dictatorial Mexican president Santa Anna, wanting to fully consolidate and centralize his power, undertook a military expedition to outlying Texas, then still a part of Mexico but increasingly populated by English-speaking settlers from the east. Resistance to his forces culminated in a siege of the old mission and resulted in a "no quarter" massacre of the fighting men there by Santa Anna's forces. A few days later, Sam Houston's forces defeated and captured Santa Anna at San Jacinto River, forcing him to officially concede defeat as Texas declared its independence. At a gift shop within the Alamo complex (a nice, air-conditioned gift shop) an author by the name of John R. Knaggs was holding a book-signing for his historical novel of the Alamo and San Jacinto River battles, titled The Bugles Are Silent. Anita bought a copy...maybe I'll read it someday. Next to the Alamo building that most of us recognize is a long building appropriately called the Long Barrack, containing a great museum about the Alamo, a short explanatory movie, and also more air-conditioning. These two buildings are the only ones left intact to this day from the Alamo battle. By the way, cutting through the Alamo grounds is a narrow creek/pond stocked full of koi fish...many visitors seemed entranced by them...
As the afternoon progressed, we left the Alamo and headed south back to Commerce Avenue and an entranceway down the steps to the San Antonio River, on both sides of which are restaurants, shops...and even an outdoor theater. We made our way to the Casa Rio Mexican restaurant and sat out by the riverside to eat our dinner. The river was marked by a nearly constant stream of tour boats...some of which were set up for dining...and a multitude of ducks, each seeming to stake out its territory near a strategic table in anticipation of crumbs. The food was good and so was the service...I recommend this restaurant. For some reason, during much of our meal we heard someone continuously playing a bagpipe from across the river...I wonder what that was all about. Afterwards, the four of us walked on down the Riverwalk, sightseeing and snapping pictures along the way. One interesting place we discovered spanned both sides of the river: the outdoor Arneson River Theater, with the grass seating curving around on one side and the stage on the other. A full-blown production at night must be a memorable event to experience...
As darkness fell, I began to sense that, more than anything, I could use a good cup of coffee, so our party walked around looking for such a place. Unfortunately, we weren't successful at finding a local coffee shop and ended up settling for the McDonalds on Commerce...I got the largest ice coffee and quickly gulped it all down...ah-h-h, that's better now. After that we walked down the nighttime version of the Riverwalk in the opposite direction, finally finding a gift shop to browse through. My sister sneakily bought a large Yellow Submarine Beatles coffee mug after I had let it be known that I liked it...thanks Anita, it's my favorite! I thought the San Antonio Riverwalk was fun, and had we been planning to stay longer in town we could have probably explored it further. Their boat tours look interesting...maybe if we make it back we'll try going on one of them...
Our visit to San Antonio was constrained a bit by time, but I think we got the essentials down. Most of all I enjoyed the company of my wife, sister, and nephew...and it's hard to beat that!
And now here's a description of the above five pictures:
#1: The Arneson River Theater, seen from the top of the audience seating area...with a tour boat on the river.
#2: Melissa and I standing before the Alamo.
#3: Anita and I (and a photo bomber) at Casa Rio restaurant on the riverside.
#4: Same place: Melissa and Greg.
#5: That quirky, cool Beatles Yellow Submarine mug.
No comments:
Post a Comment