San Antonio

We went to San Antonio the other day to see the Alamo. I’ve always heard that its smaller than one would think. I don’t know if it is or isn’t, but it certainly could get lost in downtown if the city didn’t work hard for that not to happen. They have building codes ensuring there isn’t anything too tall next to it. According to a tour guide we overheard, they also don’t allow buildings to be built that will cast a shadow on the Alamo.

I don’t know what I was expecting to see, but we both enjoyed our visit. There’s a small patch of well-tended grass in front that really makes the mission building pop. To one side is a portion of the original(ish) defensive walls. There are recreations of wood structures on the other side. We didn’t go inside or take the tour. For me, the most interesting part of the Alamo was a series of bronze models of the mission and surrounding structures at different points in time, beginning with it being moved to its current site in the early 18th century.

While we were there, an a small unit of soldiers were there for a promotion ceremony. They were probably a reserve or national guard unit. The Alamo tourists appeared to enjoy the show.

After the Alamo, we went to San Antonio’s Riverwalk. It’s a small canal diverting part of the San Antonio River through downtown. The riverwalk is lined with shops, restaurants, and bars. It makes for a nice walk and a nice place to sit down for a beverage. People can take a tour boat down the canal. Several of these tour boats went down the canal while we sat at a small table and had a drink. It was fun and interesting to hear each boat pilot give their tourist talk. Each one had a different spiel. Barnie also enjoyed laying by the table and getting pets from many people that walked by and said some variation of “Oh what a nice dog, may I pet him?”