Downtown San Antonio

Me and Mike in front of The Alamo.

The last time Mike and I were in San Antonio (a quick work trip in 2014), we saw The Alamo, but it was too crowded to go inside and visit. Actually, it was too hot to stand in the long line required to get inside. So we skipped it. This time, we were determined to go inside, and we did. They don’t allow photos, so we have no proof of that visit. But I did get some pics outside of The Alamo and around downtown.

The building itself seems small, situated in the middle of the city as it is.

The Alamo

 

Davy Crockett statue at The Alamo.

 

Pretty doorway.
Mike walking into the gift shop.

 

“What kind of fish are these?” Mike asked. “Don’t be coy!”

 

Marker at the River Walk.

The River Walk is a series of pathways along the San Antonio river in the heart of downtown. It’s lined with shops, hotels, and restaurants. It was not created to be a tourist trap. The system of winding pathways and bridges flanking the river were actually created to harness the San Antonio river running through downtown, and to help manage the heavy seasonal rains. It’s actually a lovely place to visit, especially when it’s not at all crowded.

Mosaic spotted along the River Walk.

 

As seen along the River Walk.

 

Another view along the River Walk.

 

It’s cooler walking in the shade along the river.

We were walking along the River Walk on our way to see the San Fernando Cathedral, which was founded in 1731 and is the oldest standing church building in Texas.

San Fernando Cathedral

 

Altar at the San Fernando Cathedral.

 

Inside the cathedral.

 

Pretty statues.

 

Closer look at the gilded altar.

 

Interestingness

 

Pipe organ.

 

Interesting statue.

 

Interesting statue. (I like painted statues. I grew up going to a Baptist church and we didn’t have decorations like this!)

 

Back at street level, this horse and his carriage appeared to be waiting for the evening rush.

 

The Marriott River Center hotel (building with antenna on top) is one for which Mike designed the plumbing system back in the 1980s. It’s the tallest building in San Antonio (other than the Tower of the Americas) and is the tallest hotel in Texas outside of Dallas.

 

Random souvenir color.

 

World’s Largest Cowboy Boots!

 

World’s Largest Cowboy Boots, again, with a pick-up truck for scale.

And that was our day in downtown San Antonio. We drove a little bit north of the city center to go to Two Brothers Barbecue before we stopped to see the cowboy boots. We’ve been eating barbecue frequently. Texas is well-known for having good barbecue, and it is everywhere, much to our delight.

We left our campsite south of downtown San Antonio on Friday, January 21. From there, we went to an Army Corps of Engineers campground at Canyon Lake, northeast of San Antonio. We only stayed there for a few days. We moved to Fredericksburg, Texas, northwest of San Antonio, on January 25 to visit with some friends. We will be there for a week.

After that, it’s off to Big Bend National Park. We are both really excited about that destination. It’s been on our list of national parks to visit for a very long time.

San Antonio: Mission San José

As explained in two previous posts, while we were in San Antonio, we visited the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The sprawling park includes four missions. Mission San José was the third, and largest, site we visited.

 

The image above is a sprawling mesquite tree. The image below is a close-up of the leaves on that mesquite tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The image above shows the convent on the right and the church on the left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the largest of the missions we visited.

Next up, Mission Concepcíon.

San Antonio: Mission San Juan

As explained in a previous post, while we were in San Antonio, we visited the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The sprawling park includes four missions, one of which is Mission San Juan.

 

 

 

 

 

I have no idea what kind of trees these are, but I find the bark very interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike and Belle were waiting patiently for me to get back with the cooler bag that held our lunch.

Next up… Mission San José.

San Antonio: Mission Espada

One of the things Mike wanted to do while we were camping in San Antonio was visit the missions. San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Texas.

The park actually has four distinct visitor areas — one for each mission — each about 2.5 miles apart. We started at Mission Espada, the one furthest away from downtown and worked our way north, finishing our tour at Mission Concepción, which is only about three miles south of downtown San Antonio. The other two are Mission San José and Mission San Juan.

The missions, which were all built in the 1700s as part of Spain’s attempt to expand its hold from Mexico into Texas, are mostly ruins and are in varying stages of preservation.

Missions overview.

 

The Alamo is owned by the State of Texas, so it’s not included in the National Historical Park.

Following are some of the images I captured as we explored the mission site.

Espada is the southernmost of the four missions.

 

Look at the wide variety of stones that were used.

 

It was a beautiful day for doing touristy things.

 

I’m a big fan of brick and stone walls.

 

Not sure what this is supposed to be, but it looked interesting.

 

Close-up of the bells from the side of the church.

 

Side of the church.

 

Front of the church.

 

Front of the church from a different angle.

 

Cool chair.

 

Mesquite Tree

 

Some sort of shrine.

The San Antonio Riverwalk Bike Trail (link to map), not to be confused with the Riverwalk area along the river and adjoining canal in downtown, is a walking/biking path that travels along the river south of the city to the various missions. The trail also passed close to our campground.

You can rent e-bikes for reasonable rates and ride all the way into downtown.

Mike rode his bike to Mission Espada the first full day we were in San Antonio. He wanted me to see this cool art installation that’s along the bike path, not far from Mission Espada.

e-bikes waiting to be rented.

The art installation, Árbol de la Vida: Memorias y Voces de la Tierra (click if you want to learn more), is a tree-like structure made of steel that is adorned with 700 clay sculptures. The individual pieces are physical reflections of stories crafted by the people of San Antonio, and are meant to reflect the ranching heritage themes and stories related to rich cultural traditions.

I didn’t get a shot of the full structure, which was pretty wide.

 

The variety of works was very interesting to see.

 

It was fun looking at the individual sculptures.

 

I spy a VW bus!

 

Some of the sculptures were more-colorful than others.

 

Love is one of the sculpture’s themes.

 

I really enjoyed the variety of the sculptures.

 

This was one of my favorites.

Next up… Mission San Juan.

Champagne’s Swamp Tour

We were delighted to finally take advantage of the Harvest Host program. We signed up in March 2021. In hindsight, that was way too premature. We really needed some time to get used to life in this large coach before we were comfortable staying in places that were not typical campgrounds.

Our campsite, bathed in evening light.

 

Sunset over the swamp.

 

After the sunset.

 

Belle wasn’t impressed with the greeter.

 

Morning view of campsite.

 

Looking up at Live Oak tree over our campsite.

 

Tour office.

 

Tip container for the tour boat drivers.

All of the images that follow were captured during the tour. It was unseasonably cool that day, so we didn’t see any alligators. But it was still a beautiful place to see.

 

 

 

 

 

That pile of leaves in the middle of the frame is an alligator nest.

 

 

 

I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing Cypress trees draped in Spanish Moss. It was a very nice stop on our way to Texas.