River Walk

We started our day at the Spanish Governor’s Palace in central San Antonio, originally built in 1722 and expanded later in the 1700’s. Actually, this was really a Captain’s residence and office for the local garrison of the Presidio.  There were lots of furniture and other pieces from the period. Then we walked up to market square filled with vendors of primarily Mexican goods. We were supposed to go across the street to the Museo Alameda, but we couldn’t find it, after wandering about 5 blocks. Mary looked it up on her phone and found that it had closed last September (and indeed was right across from where we were). We had a delicious lunch at Los Marguerites.

Governor's Palace

From there we walked the 3 blocks or so to the plaza with the county courthouse and the local cathedral. Here was the River Walk. The river walk was created in the 1920’s as part of a project to dam the river and prevent floods. Rather than filling in the land, they developed the walk along the river. Of course, lots of bars and restaurants line the sides, while tourist boats traverse the river. It was quite pleasant since shade is provided by both the buildings and the trees along the banks.

River Walk

We took the river walk to the Alamo. On first sight, the church really looks small. We listened to a detailed lecture on the story leading up to the battle of the Alamo as well as how “remember the Alamo” resulted in Texas independence a short time later.   Originally a Catholic mission built in 1724, it was taken over by the Spanish military in the early 1800s. In December, 1835, the Texans had defected the Mexican army, occupied the Alamo, and thought they had won independence. But in February, 1836 the army of General Sana Anna arrived with 1000’s of soldiers and fought the 200 or so soldiers in the Alamo for 13 days. The final assault was on March 6, 1836, all the defenders were killed. Later that year, Sam Houston did defeat Santa Ana by catching him by surprise. Of the original mission, only the chapel and the long barracks (which is now a museum) remain. Several volunteers were in period costume, shooting replicas of the black musket rifles used during the assault. We walked on to La Villita, the oldest neighborhood of the city, now primarily an art colony. By now we were pretty walked out, so we returned to the river walk and had a beer. It was fun watching the Saturday crowds and a few wedding parties.

The Alamo