791. River Walk

Where: San Antonio, Texas

When: December 28, 2018 - January 1, 2019

With: Dave, Patricia, & Lazar

For some reason, San Antonio had fallen into the group of cities I could not seem to convince anyone was worth a trip, and I could not understand why. It's in Texas, which can feel like traveling to a different country in a way. It's warm (usually). It has the Alamo. And it has the River Walk, which sounds so fun! And yet, in planning trips the last couple years with friends, it always falls to the bottom of the list pretty quickly with very little consideration. Why am I the only one excited about this?

Finally, since Patricia and Lazar are only a drive away, we were able to convince them to meet us there for a little New Year's celebrating. We flew down after all the festivities of Christmas for four days in the warm Texas sun...

...except it was insanely cold while we were there (well, cold for Texas). And a bit cloudy and rainy. Oh well, we were just happy to be somewhere new with friends and not spending New Year's Eve at home with the dog (who we love to pieces, but we aren't quite ready to resign ourselves to New Year's on the couch just yet). 

We got in late on Friday night and crashed at our AirBnB in a residential neighborhood about ten minutes outside of the city. The next day, we headed in, ready for some sights. And what better to kick it off with than to "Remember the Alamo!"

A lot of people told us to be prepared at how small and unimpressive the Alamo was. Well frankly, after all the warnings I'd received, I had reduced the Alamo to nothing more than a brick wall in my head by the time I'd gotten there. So seeing the front of the old church already was more than anything I had expected. 

To be honest, while I do very much enjoy history, I had no idea why we are supposed to "Remember the Alamo". Something about Davy Crockett and Mexico? No idea. So we decided it was worth getting an audio guide to lead us through the complex, which is completely free to wander through, as Texas believes this important memorial should be open for all to see and pay tribute. 

While we waited in line for the headsets, two men in period dress announced a musket firing demonstration that would be taking place later. All helping me paint a picture.

While the big attraction on site is the church, we weren't quite ready to wait in the very long line to get in. So we walked right in to see the rest of the complex. Before the famous Battle of the Alamo that gave this site its fame, the Alamo was a Catholic mission built in 1718 by Spanish missionaries looking to spread their religion to the natives of what is now Texas and Mexico. Its location was chosen due to its proximity to the San Antonio river (see, even they were excited by the River Walk!)

This structure along the left side of the courtyard is the original mission. Over the years, it has served many purposes, from housing monks to goods, serving as a prison and a hospital, to now a historical film on the history of the site. And thank goodness for this film, because the audio guide was the worst! And I don't normally say that, but it didn't have a simple overview of what happened - it assumed we already knew and then gave facts that had zero context. 

In the center of the courtyard is an old pecan tree, planted in 1850. Its huge branches weighed down to the ground in gnarled tendrils and it was probably my favorite part of this courtyard. 

Throughout the courtyard are lots of small memorials to the various functions served by this complex. Some of the buildings are original, some were built to house the gift shop and just made to look very old. 

So after our spin through the complex, we decided to bite the bullet and wait in line for the church. Patricia and Lazar decided to tap out for warmer surroundings and a cocktail, but Dave and I are never ones to miss out on a tourist site. In actuality, the line moved really quickly, and I had a blast taking photos while I waited, testing out my new camera's settings. 

These are some original cannons from the Battle of the Alamo on display while we waited. 

And back to the Battle of the Alamo, here's a recap of what I learned in the film we watched. By the mid-1700s, it was decided a chapel would be built for the mission. However, hard times fell on the mission, and the church was never fully completed. Eventually, the entire mission was abandoned. The Spanish army soon took over the complex and used it to house soldiers. And then all hell broke loose, with Mexico declaring independence from Spain, and then modern-day Texas declaring independence from Mexico. As a result, this complex changed hands several times. 

The most infamous battle came in 1836, when a Texian army of just about 100 men were garrisoned at the Alamo several months after Mexican troops had been driven out of Mexican Texas. When the Mexican Army, led by General Santa Anna, turned their sights back on the Alamo, they launched a 13-day siege to reclaim it. After several days of fighting, Santa Anna took a calculated break in firing, knowing that the Texian troops would be exhausted from days of endless bombardment. In the middle of the night, while he knew the Texians would be fast asleep, he sent 2,000 Mexican soldiers over the walls to attack. The 100 men could not fend off the sneak attack, and as the Army advanced, they retreated into the walls of this chapel for their last stand. Most of the men battled to the death, resorting to knives and fists at the end. But eventually, all the men were killed by the overwhelming force of the Mexican army.

Despite the loss, the battle inspired Texians to join the army and fight for Texan independence. In subsequent battles, "Remember the Alamo" was a common battle cry to rally troops. And the swells of people ambling to get into the chapel shows that it is certainly not forgotten, even to this day. 

One interesting aspect of the chapel is that the facade is not historically accurate. As the building was never completed, and actually underwent some fairly rough times, the peak at the top was not originally there. It was added in the late 1800s to help the chapel look more complete. 

Up close, the original stonework. 

Just before entering.

Inside the chapel is pretty empty. State and country flags line the walls with a count under each one to show how many men died here during the battle from each territory. The names of the valiant men are also listed in the back of the chapel. It clearly has a roof now, too. But with that, I'd say we did the Alamo, and now, we will remember!

We met back up with Patricia and Lazar for a stroll on the River Walk, San Antonio's other crowned jewel. 

So right off the bat, the Paseo del Rio is a really cool thing to see. It sits one level down from the streets of San Antonio and lines the San Antonio River. The only way down is by stairs, with the cities roads criss-crossing over top of it on bridges. 

Immediately, I felt like I was in Disney World. And not because of the shoulder to shoulder Saturday crowds lining the walks on either side of the river. It just had that very pristine, almost magical perfection in its design that made it appealing to be there. I instantly loved it. 

The winding walkways were beautifully paved with stones, and tons of greenery and foliage perfectly framed the scene. Large trees bent over top of us as we strolled along, some standing so high that their tops can be seen on street level. Bulb lights gave the feeling of a backyard garden, and Christmas lights hung from the trees over the river. It was all so beautiful.

The River Walk was initially conceived in the 1920s as a way to prevent deadly flooding that had plagued downtown San Antonio. It took a few years to get off the ground, but when it finally landed, this beauty was the result. Shops, restaurants and bars line the walkway, with outdoor tables and colorful umbrellas. While this is indeed tourist central, with the Rainforest Cafe having primetime real estate, there was still something very peaceful about strolling along. 

These colorful barge-like boats take guests on tours up and down the river, giving the history of the area as they drift by. The line was a bit insane for us that day, so we decided to do it another day. 

Instead, we popped into a bar for a drink to cheers that I had officially seen the River Walk. Though, I hadn't quite smashed it yet. 

After drinks, night time views of the river. 

On New Year's Eve, we returned to the River in search of our plans for the day. We hadn't actually booked anything to do for the night, so we planted ourselves a little north of the downtown, and started wandering down the river to see where the day took us. 

We kept heading north towards the Pearl district, where there was a brewery and food hall we were all interested in trying. However, the unexpected benefit of this stroll was to see another side of the River Walk. Up here, the crowded, shop-lined paths are no more, and it feels more like a beautiful park. Locals were jogging with their pets, the weather was perfect, and it couldn't have been a better way to kick off the last day of 2018.

Enjoying the views. 

Along the river were many art installments that added to the whimsy of our walk. At one point, a bridge was lined with speakers that played a combination of all the wildlife noises recorded along this river. Under another bridge was a series of fish swimming (or flying?) through the air. There were also Christmas lights on display and colored flood lights in the actual river. It must be a beautiful walk at night. 

Another art installation, the Grotto. 

We eventually reached the northern end of the River Walk and went to explore the Pearl neighborhood around it. We grabbed drinks at the Hotel Emma, lunch at the Bottling Dept Food Hall, and coffee at a local shop. It was a really fun area. 

Being at the end of the river meant that this was the last/first stop for the water taxis. This made for a perfect excuse to hop aboard one of these river barges for a sail down the river. There was no tour involved, but it was still a beautiful way to get around. 

After going through one of the rivers locks, we jumped off our shuttle boat a little further south than where we had started, but still not quite in the downtown, to check out a cocktail bar Dave had found called The Brooklynite. We instantly fell in love with it and asked if we could reserve a table for the evening, which they happily obliged. So we rang in the New Year in as perfect of a way as we could have hoped. 

The first blunder of 2019 came fairly quickly after this as my camera took a bad spill out of the Uber and cracked. Thankfully, it was only my lens protecter that broke (doing its job to protect the lens) but it was dented so bad, I couldn't get it off. Therefore, for our last morning in San Antonio, I had to resort to using my iPhone for photos. At least on a sunny morning it still takes great photos, even if I don't have full liberty of zooming. 

For our first morning of 2019 and final day in San Antonio, we headed again to the downtown. The morning after New Year's is a very peaceful time to visit as the crowds, not surprisingly, were having a bit of a lie-in. 

We had a lovely time criss-crossing bridges and strolling along while boats gently passed us by. The weather was perfect and it was a happy start to 2019. 

We came upon this really pretty amphitheater. It was cool because the river divided the stage from the stone seats carved into the river bank. 

I almost didn't recognize when we'd returned to where we'd started out a few days earlier, without the crowds and bustle. It was such a pretty morning. 

The River Walk, and San Antonio for that matter, did not disappoint. We had such an amazing few days there, and I'm so glad we finally made it!