DAY THREE (Saturday, 15 March 2003): SAN ANTONIO
We had a pretty decent start to the
day, and had a leisurely breakfast while we waited for traffic to thin out a
bit. It didn’t bother us too much if we were going to hit some of the
morning rush, as we were heading south to San
Antonio . A benefit of taking Interstate 35 down
is it would provide a view of the Austin
skyline from a different angle (as well as bringing us directly to our
destination). Earl pointed out the LBJ Library, and commented that if
there was an opportunity, he’d like to see that.
Bruce was a great driver.
When I commented to get in that line or to make a turn here, there were
no questions of whether or not I was sure. That’s nice to have in
situation of large city driving, where exits can come up fast, and the space
needed to get in position for said exit might be narrow. The flipside of
that, which was my job as navigator, was also to give as much lead time as
possible, so there wouldn’t be a lot of last-minute turning.
Once on the appropriate exit off of
Interstate 35, and we were deposited in San
Antonio right near the Rivercenter Mall. I knew
this was our best place to park, as it was close to both the Riverwalk and the Alamo . The Alamo
was the main objective of everyone’s visit. Mum had commented how can you
visit Texas and not go to the Alamo ? With the car parked, I took the family back
out to the street to go the rest of the way, as it would be more visually
stimulating than short-cutting through the mall. I’d save that for the
trip back when they’d been walking for a bit.
At the intersection of Commerce Street and
Alamo Plaza San Antonio
last time (which was interestingly enough about this time last year).
This is the Torch of Friendship Statue.
Erected in June 2002, it’s a symbol of goodwill between the city and Mexico .
The rest of the family took note of the parading kilted bagpipers going
down the main avenue. I couldn’t plan a better greeting for a bunch of
Scottish descendants.
As we approached the Alamo, I
informed the family how when I was here the first time I was surprised to find
that San Antonio had sprung up right around the city (and how I expected it to
be more on the outer edges, or in a large park area). I also mentioned
the fact that due to the shrine-like nature of the Alamo ,
no building’s shadow is supposed to fall on it, and pointed out how the city’s
taller buildings were a few blocks back. That had to take some planning
to be able to deduce where the Sun’s position would be at every point in the
year in order to ensure that. Of course, guard was standing there (and
signs posted around) to let visitors know there’s no talking and no picture
taking inside, and to remove your damn hats.
I did have to note as we were
walking around the complex, this time the historical recreationists were made
up of both defenders and Mexican forces. There were individuals dressed
as Santa Anna, Davy Crockett, and other historical personages giving their
“sides” of what happened here. This was a much better presentation than
what I saw last time here.
We spent some time wandering around
the grounds, and looking at everything which was here. There are some
annex buildings within the compound walls that I didn’t get to see the last
time. One of the interesting things was a diorama showing the siege, as
we got to see how haphazardly the wall barricades were constructed and how
overwhelming the attacking force was when compared to the defenders. That
showed what an amazement it was that the people in the Alamo
were able to hold out as long as they did.
Here are two little tidbits which
the Alamo defenders benefited from. One,
the Mexican regulars may’ve been “professional soldiers,” but the bulk of their
forces were conscripts with very little training. And two, as the Mexican
President Santa Anna loved all things French, he made sure his army was dressed
in the same regalia as Napoleon’s regulars. The many-layered wool
uniforms were not the best thing to wear in a hotter climate, and that hindered
the effectiveness of the Mexican forces.
We then walked back to the
Rivercenter Mall, and descended down to the Riverwalk to find a place to get
some lunch. Where the San
Antonio River Venice ,
draws as many locals as it does tourists. Even though the day was a
little overcast, we still found some tables with umbrellas to provide some
shade. Because the tables are right up to the river’s edge, and there’s
nothing by a small chain fence separating you, be sure you where you’re moving
your chair before you do so. There’s not much to keep you from dropping
into the drink.
With lunch under our belts, we
purchased tickets for the Riverwalk boat tour. The pilots put as many
people as they can on the boats, and we let a few others go ahead of us so we
could keep our group together. The tour starts near the Rivercenter Mall,
and meanders down away from the Riverwalk area to a less-developed section of
the river. This has hotels and some
condos which overlook the area, as well as a stage. I liked how the
seating for the stage was across the river.
The San Antonio River
Mary saw a Hard Rock Café while we
were on the boat, and she wanted to walk down to see it. I’m reasonably
sure that it wasn’t the venue itself that caught her eye, but what was attached
to the exterior of the building. Mary loves old cars, and being able to
see one glued to the wall of the establishment was probably enjoyment enough.
One thing I wanted to check out
while we were here was this tower which I’d seen when I was down here last
year. I like to get to a high elevation and take panoramic shots of an
area. The street map showed that the Tower of the Americas was
only a few blocks over then a couple blocks down. Considering the amount
of walking I do normally, I don’t consider that very far. It was a little
further than what Dad wanted to walk, so Mum would stay with him at a shaded
seating area near Rivercenter Mall.
With everyone else in tow, we went
down the avenue towards the tower, and passed the Casa Mexicana Gallery.
The giant stone head out front was kind of a giveaway to what might be in
the building, but it was more of an art gallery than an actual museum. I expected something more interesting with
historical information.
The Tower of the Americas is surrounded by a nice plaza, known as
HemisFair Park
It was only a few bucks each for us
to go to the top of the 750 foot Tower. While it was completed back in
1968 as part of the World’s Fair, the interior was current being worked on as
part of some renovation project. We were able to wander around the lower
tier, which was open to the outside, and allowed us to get a good view of the
city. It wasn’t completely open, as grates were in place to keep stupid
people from trying to fly, but I thought you knew what I meant. I took my
standard shots from each of the compass points.
One of the things my family has a
habit of doing is taking candid’s of each other doing weird things (like taking
pictures of people taking pictures). As we got all lined up so Sue could
take our picture, I cradled by camera in my hand, and hoped I had aimed it in
the correct direction. I had my flash turned off, and figured there was
enough light for my 400 speed film to capture the image. As you can see,
that worked out pretty well.
After spending some time in the
Tower, we came back down to the plaza below.
While we were wandering around checking out the artwork placed around
the area, we stumbled upon a wedding party who were having their pictures
taken. We remained unobtrusive as possible, but had to admit these were
some perfect backdrops for shots. I liked the waterfall which cascaded
down some bricks arranged in a step pattern. That was a nice artsy image
to start with, but to use that as a focal point for a portrait, that’s awesome.
We regrouped back at Rivercenter
Mall, as it was nearing the time to leave San
Antonio . We knew we were going to run into some
of the afternoon traffic as we neared Austin, but to leave any later meant we’d
hit more of it here. Better to take the lesser of the evils. We
timed out trip back pretty good, but the traffic was starting to build on
Interstate 35 (as it does every day between 4 and 7 pm). The construction which was currently going on
wasn’t helping matters any.
A quick check of the MapCo book
gave me an idea. We turned off to go west on Slaughter Lane , which would bring us to
Mopac south of Unisys. The traffic on
that side was only going to be slightly better.
There was an Applebee’s near there which provided the perfect to have an
early dinner, and wait out the congestion. That was a better use of our
time. Once things had lightened up, we cruised back to the hotel, where
we could take advantage of the pool for the remainder of the evening.
For current information on the places visited or mentioned:
Rivercenter Mall: http://www.shoprivercenter.com/
Torch of Friendship Statue: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2F09
Riverwalk: http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/
Hard Rock Café (San Antonio ):
http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/cafe.aspx?LocationID=106&MIBEnumID=3
Tower of the Americas : http://www.toweroftheamericas.com/
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