AZ Day 14

Day 14 – Downtown San Antonio


Sandy and I ordered breakfast at the Chuck Wagon here at the KOA. It was a clear day today, but the temps were only in the 50’s and the wind was still brutal. As we brought our breakfast back to her van to eat, I noticed that she had one very dead flat tire. She had far better luck with Good Sam’s Road Service than I did. They showed up within half an hour to replace her tire. The tire was not repairable as the inside sidewall separated, so before leaving San Antonio, she wanted to get a new tire as a spare.

The campground is right on a bus route, so we were able to leave the vans at the campground and take the bus into the city to see The Alamo and the River Walk. I hate Texas; I have hated just about every part of Texas I have ever been in except maybe the Hill Country. San Antonio, as Sandy says, should have some redeeming qualities to it. It does – well, at least downtown San Antonio did. The River Walk was awesome. One other thing I must say about Texas before I forget: their highway bridges are spectacular, especially those at major intersections. They are all bright sand and rust colors with ornate, modern pillars. All through San Antonio and Katy, each pillar had a large bronze Texas star on it. In El Paso, there was one bridge that had pillars made to look like high-rise adobe houses with little windows in them. I so wish most of these sights were not on major highways because I would have loved to take pictures of them. I have to teach Hope or Olly how to use the camera.

We went to The Alamo first. I was disappointed in it at first. What was funny was, we sat through a movie of the history of the Alamo and the guide said, “When I first came here, I was very disappointed, but soon learned of its history and now I work here voluntarily one day a week.” I knew absolutely nothing about The Alamo except that it existed and had some kind of war history. For those of you who do not know, I will try to explain it here as best as possible.

The Alamo building is not a fort. It was originally a home to missionaries and their Native Indian converts built in 1724. . I think, in time, the building was later abandoned. When war broke out between Mexico and Texas, the Texans decided to use it as a fortress and headquarters. They knew that, in the case of battle, it would not sustain any heavy fire power.

War eventually did break out due to General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, a dictator currently ruling Mexico. William B. Travis was the commander of the Alamo at the time. He knew he needed more troops to fight off General Santa Anna’s forces, so he sent out pleas all over Texas for help. In all, only 32 men came to help, one group being Davy Crockett the famous frontiersman and congressman from Tennessee with 12 men and also Jim Bowie (the knife maker). There were only 200 men to defend the Alamo against General Santa Anna’s thousands. The siege lasted less than 10 days with all 200 men being annihilated by Santa Anna’s army.

The Alamo building was eventually purchased by the Daughters of The Republic of Texas. It receives no government funding; it is staffed and maintained strictly by volunteers and private donations.

My first flowers. Don't they make you feel warm and toasty?

The Alamo Cat

After we toured the Alamo, we decided to see the River Walk and have lunch. As I said, the River Walk was awesome. The walkway is on both sides of the San Antonio River with plants and pools and shops. Many of the restaurants have outside verandas where you can sit and eat right at the river’s edge. There was one Mexican restaurant we wanted to eat at, but it involved climbing a steep set of stairs, crossing the river, and then climbing back down. Sandy was not feeling quite up to par and said she couldn’t handle the staircases, so we ate at a small Mexican restaurant just past the staircase.

This is the Menger Hotel, built in 1859. It is between the River Walk and the Alamo

I had taco soup for the first time. It was quite good and not anything like I expected. Sandy had a typical Mexican meal which consisted of Spanish rice, refried beans, and an enchilada or something. She shared the rice and beans with me because she was served far too much. They were also excellent.

The back of the Menger Hotel abutted against one of the entrances of the River Walk. I was enthralled by the contrast of the old 19th century brick building against the 20th century modern glass building.

        The River Walk with shop fronts                                                    A guy feeding pigeons

             Another view of the River Walk                                             Weird tree stumps

As nice a day we had, the wind was brutally cold which chilled us both. By 3:00, we decided to head back to the campground. Sandy was chilled to the bone and just wanted to lie down and take a nap before dinner. By dinner time, she still wasn’t feeling quite up to par, so I just chilled for the rest of the night. I walked Hope, caught up on three days worth of my blog although never got to post it because my Wi-Fi connection was useless, then ended the evening by watching a movie. Our plans were to pull out in the morning and start heading out to our destination: Amado, AZ.