Surprised by The Alamo!

We were so excited to get to San Antonio!  It is such a historic city, we couldn't wait to do some sightseeing.

  First stop, of course, the Alamo.

The building always pictured as "the Alamo" is the mission originally called Mission San Antonio de Valero.  Construction began in 1724. After seeing thousands of pictures, I expected it to be huge, not the small, sacred space it is.  The mission is now a shrine to the Alamo Defenders and contains artifacts and stories of the time.  There is a room with the original plaster ceiling where you can still see the shadow of the fresco designs.  The guide also pointed out "graffiti"- the soldiers defending the Alamo in the 1800's had carved their names in the walls. Because it is a sacred space, you can't take photos or use cell phones in the space. 

There are several other buildings on the plaza, including the beautiful gift shop

 

 The old well in the photo below is in front of another of the original buildings -the Long Barrack.  It was under one of the hugest Live Oak trees I've ever seen.

The grounds are beautiful!

                                     The koi are in part of the original acqueduct system.

                                        I got a kick out of the birds enjoying this fountain!

It was interesting to learn a little about Texas history.  I didn't realize how the Alamo we've seen in the movies was so important in U.S. history.

 

We decided to take another trip downtown to explore the famous San Antonio Riverwalk.  On the way, we saw this beautiful church.

                      St. Joseph's Church built by the German Catholic community in 1868.

The San Antonio River Walk is a pretty extensive trail along the San Antonio River.  We wanted to see the downtown section of the trail with its cafes, bars, restaurants, shops, etc.

This lock controls the water levels.  Behind it is a marina for the many tourist boats and river taxis on the river.

                                          There are gorgeous views everywhere you look. 

This is part of a stage with seating across the river.

One of the tourist barges.

They were decorating for Christmas.  There is a big river parade & official lighting of the lights on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Beautiful flowering tree!

There is a beautiful park, HemisFair Park, on the southeast end of the downtown loop of the River Walk.

It includes the Tower of the Americas.  There is an observation deck at the top.

Really a beautiful park!

One more bad selfie, but the waterfall was so pretty!

 

We have more to explore here in San Antonio and will be celebrating our Thanksgiving here.  We give thanks for this amazing opportunity we are having, and thanks to our families for their patience.  It is hard to be away during the holidays - we miss y'all! (a little Texan for you)

Have a very blessed Thanksgiving.