12 SEP 2010

This morning we woke with a start to realize that it was 9:15 already. What is concerning is that we could sleep so late and breakfast was to be ending at 9. But I called the front desk and we were assured they would wait us.

We got over the excitement and such a great start and walked back along the Riverwalk back to downtown. This is about a 45 minute walk but it is such a beautiful place to walk. We were heading to the Visitor’s Center to see about getting a City Tour bus. Here are some plants I took pictures of in San Antonio.

Ok, first stop is the Alamo. We actually start at this point so we visited the historic site while waiting for the bus to leave. This is a mission site that became a pivotal location for the war between the Mexican Centralization forces headed by the self proclaimed dictator of Mexico - Santa Anna and the Texas Republican forces. The loss of the battle by the Texans was truly a lost battle, but not the loss of the war when Sam Houston lead a smaller force against Santa Anna’s army and defeated him with the battle cry “Remember the Alamo”. This historic sight is well laid out with a history lesson surrounding Texas fight development, political control and evolution from a colony, to a Republic country, and finally as a state in the US.

From there we went by the Hemisfair Park, site for the 1968 World’s Fair and home to the 622 foot Tower of the Americas. This tower includes a viewing station near the top and a revolving restaurant. We moved on pass the Institute of Texan Culture which was the Texan’s pavilion during the World Fair.

At the next stop we decided to hop off the tour bus to explore the Mission San Jose, the “Queen of the Missions” established in 1720. This was the largest mission of the 5 built along the San Antonio river with a thriving community developed around agriculture and ranching. After early setbacks, 300 inhabitants were sustained by the vast fields and herds of livestock. The church's carvings are among its most notable features and the famous "Rose Window" is considered one of the finest pieces of Spanish Colonial ornamentation in the country. Other features are the convento area and the stairway to the belfry and choir loft - each of the 25 risers was hand-hewn from a single live-oak log and constructed without nails or pegs. Also featured is a granary with flying buttresses, a gristmill, restored defensive walls and quarters.

At the visitor’s center in the mission we learned about the issues of the first nations people who lived in this area and were the primary labour force used to build the mission. The built the mission willingly and not by force because of the need for protection from northern natives raids and the need to deal with serious illnesses that were killing off their population. The protection walls of the mission surrounding the cathedral are in fact living quarters for the natives living inside the walls.

There is so much more that we learned but the history was very informative. The Alamo discussed the history of political development of Texas and the mission focused on the human geography development and the influence of the many people involved in the development of this state – French, English, Spanish, Mexicans, northern Indian tribes (Apache) and American settlers.

After we left this we headed on the tour bus to see Mission Concepeion which was established in 1716. We did not stop to tour it, but did get a photograph.

The next stop was Market Square. Nothing historical about this 2 block sized Mexican style market with over 50 specialty shops. There is a festival scheduled for tomorrow so there were lots of stages being set up and high excitement. We wandered around the shops which reminded us both of the Straw Market in Nasau that we enjoyed several years ago. Great prices, unique gifts and lots of variety of sites.

From Market Square we toured passed the San Fernando Cathedral. San Fernando Cathedral was founded in 1731 and is the oldest, continuously functioning religious community in the State of Texas. The Cathedral building has the added distinction of being the oldest standing church building in Texas, and for all of its more than 275 years, has been serving the people of the Archdiocese and San Antonio.

We left the tour at La Villita which is San Antonio’s oldest surviving neighbourhood dating from the 1750’s. It was originally a settlement of primitive huts for the Spanish soldiers stationed at the Mission San Antonio Valero (the Alamo). After a flood in 1819, brick, stone and adobe houses replaced the earlier structures. In 1836, La Villita was the site of General Santa Ana's cannon line in the Battle of the Alamo and a map from early that year showed the village to be of considerable size. Now it is a community of artists and craftsmen, shops and restaurants.

We returned to the Riverwalk to complete our day of touring San Antonio. We have actually walked all the Riverwalk areas in the downtown core and followed it back to our hotel on the outskirts of downtown.  We never did take a ride on the river taxi.