San Antonio and the Alamo

Having been warned in books and from staff at park not to take the car in town, we caught the bus right outside the park gates.....very convenient.  Proved interesting, as two folks decided to chat with us.   A toothless guy from Biloxi with a huge smile, who was extremely friendly,  and after learning we were headed to Florida, told us he had visited the Panhandle, but I only understood about half of what he said!!  Then a woman .....come to think of it, she was lacking a few teeth too......, with a knitted cap who asked where we were from and if we had cats!  What??  Oh.....I then noticed that I was carrying my tote with the art cats on it......but she did pick up on a subtle clue!  We learned her life history before we arrived in town!

Being a Saturday, the traffic didn't seem that bad, but the crowds were far more than we anticipated.  Being off season, we usually encounter small groups, but it must have been weekend, and then a apparently some sort of leave for the Air Force Cadets, because they and their families were everywhere!  They looked so sharp in their uniforms and spit polished shoes, walking so proud with their families.  As the day wore on, we were also joined by tons of little hobgoblins and their families!
The were going to the market place to trick or treat!  Pretty cute, I got a lot of chuckles out of watching them!  Had to think about how different my childhood was, as a couple joined us on the bus on our return.  Except for the school bus....and even that was only in the small grades......I never rode a city bus or a subway or rapid transit of any sort.  I am still somewhat intimidated by them, and marvel at how easily people get on and off and think nothing of it.   But I digress!!!!

Yes, a bit crooked!  In order to get it with fewer people, I stood on a wall to get this shot!  If I straighten it, you lose a wall!  the straight shot is full of people!  

So, the Alamo.  Now, like the landscape, several folks had said....eh!  Well, we found it yes, small, but  the history very fascinating.  And the mission is only part of it.  There is a long house where the priests  were housed, that now contains an extensive museum, and a film explaining what was a somewhat confusing history.  So important to the development of Texas as a state, rather than part of Mexico.  And the hundreds who died, including Jim Bowie, of knife fame,  and Davie Crocket, frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee, names made recognizable by Disney and stories and songs from our childhood. I can sing the song today......and how many of us had a coonskin hat, like Clem did!  Plaques were inscribed with the names of those who had died, and I overheard a young woman exclaim, there it is!  These were their ancestors, who died for their liberty.  The complex included  the mission,  and the walls that no longer exist were the fortress, and across the street, under plexiglas, stands a bit of the remains of what was the Indian housing.  I discovered that quite by accident, and was glad to have seen it.  No photography inside the mission, and only a few relics, like Davie Crocket's gun, but the audio guide is well worth the few dollars, and it supports the preservation.

We did the River Walk, and found it extremely pleasant, and well done, with the walkway RIGHT alongside the river.  Like, don't drink too much and then walk it!!  Lined with restaurants and hotels, we had lunch and strolled, but would not want to encounter it in season!

We took  a tram to two of the other missions which were more ornate, and quite beautiful.  But I have to say, the rest of the ride was not much.  Even our narrator had little to say.  Worth a trip here to have seen the Alamo, but not much of a destination , at least for us.  The Menger Hotel, the oldest in the city, and where we caught the tram, was worth a peek into the lobby , but was not terribly remarkable, looking more like the early 1900's, than the 1800's when it was built.