San Antonio, Texas



Russ freezing in front of the Alamo.

4 February 2014

San Antonio, Texas

We completed our trek across the vast emptiness of western Texas, encountering more traffic as we approached San Antonio.  We have been spared bad weather other than the cold temperatures until we started into the hill country west of San Antonio.  We entered very thick fog and the temperature dropped from the 40s down to 30 degrees.  Of course, I was driving (I seem to have the knack of being the one driving when bad traffic or weather happens.) Needless to say, I slowed down from my usual 80 mph and we made it safely through.

We are staying at a Marriott Courtyard that is right on the Riverwalk and is within walking distance to the Alamo.  We got to San Antonio in early afternoon on the 4^th, and once we got our luggage into our room, took a walk on the Riverwalk to the Alamo. The afternoon was pretty pleasant, clear skies and temps in the 60s. Since we were close to the closing time for the Alamo, we decided to not take the tour until the next day.

The Riverwalk is pretty cool.  It has been around since the 1930s and has undergone lots of transformations. It is a beautiful stroll below street level along the San Antonio River with lots of sculptures, waterfalls, restaurants and shops. It has a tropical feel with its plants and décor.

The next day, the weather turned really cold and windy. With the wind chill factor, the temps were in the low 30s – very cold for this Southern Californian. We spent most of the day outside, touring the Alamo, walking the Riverwalk and generally walking around the downtown portion of San Antonio.  I was SO COLD when we got back to the room; it took about 2 hours for me to thaw out.

The Alamo isn’t as big as I thought it would be. Of course, my impressions were formed from TV shows and movies of my childhood. I thought the audio tour we took did a good job of historical interpretation without over-romanticizing the events. I found it a bit ironic, considering the current state of immigration, that the events leading up to the battle were spurred by the concern the Mexican government had with the overpopulation of American settlers in the Texan territory.

We had some nice dinners while in San Antonio including a Texan steak meal and a TexMex dinner. The steak dinner sure beat the one we had in Fort Stockton; that dinner will probably go down as the worst one on this trip.

 

Encountered very heavy fog in the hill country west of San Antonio.



The temperature dropped very quickly to 30 degrees. The bushes were covered in frost from the fog.

The Alamo in San Antonio.

 

The less photographed back of the Alamo. The roof was added when the U.S. military used the building; it was not there at the time of the battle.
 

A very cold Russ standing by the garden wall of the Alamo.
 

This oak is more than 100 years old. It was planted in the gardens when it was 40 years old.
 

 

 

 

This is the original well used since the 1700s.

 

Boat tours are offered along the Riverwalk. I decided it was too cold to take one this trip.

 

One of the shops along the walk had beautiful blown glass for sale. This was part of a light fixture that was about 8 feet tall.

 

One of the defenders of the Alamo. This was on the walk between the Riverwalk and the Alamo.

 

 

 

This is the Main Plaza with the San Fernando Cathedral in the background. This church was founded in 1731 and is the oldest continuously functioning church in Texas.

 

The Yellow Rose of Texas!

 

This little resident of the Riverwalk was sure cold.