Deep in the Heart of Texas

March 21-23, 2005

We headed next to Guadalupe Mountain National Park, hoping to see some beautiful mountain scenery. What a disappointment! Why it is a national park is a mystery to us. It has none of the beauty of Yosemite or the Tetons, nor the unusual geologic features of Yellowstone or Carlsbad. So we headed for San Antonio.

The entrance to the Alamo. "The Alamo", whose real name was Mission San Antonio de Valero, was started as a Spanish mission and later became a fort for the Mexican army. The Texans ran them out in 1835, but Santa Anna came to retake it in 1836. One hundred eighty six defenders held off about 4,000 Mexican soldiers for 13 days, until they overran the Alamo and killed all the Texan defenders. "Remember the Alamo" became the rallying cry for the Texans as they defeated Santa Anna and won their independence.
 

A short distance from the Alamo is the Riverwalk, which is a pedestrian zone along the San Antonio River in downtown San Antonio. Restaurants and hotels along the river make it a real attraction for tourists.

A boat cruise is a very pleasant way to see the Riverwalk. Here we are passing by a Mexican music group playing along the river.

This dinner boat is passing by a Texan dance group at an outdoor theatre. The stage in on one side of the river and the audience sits on the other side.

We also had dinner along the river, but a restaurant on land. The food was good and the ambience was hard to beat.
 

There are four different missions in San Antonio that are maintained as part of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. This is Mission San Jose.

Another view of Mission San Jose.

This mission had a grist mill that provided flour for the other missions in San Antonio. It is powered by a horizontal water wheel one floor below the millstone.

Before grist mills, the Indians used a metate to grind corn into flour by hand. Nancy is complaining that this is a lot of work, and she would rather buy the flour in the store.