January 2017 - San Antonio TX
We had two nights in San Antonio. Well. the late afternoon of the day we arrived and then a full day.
I am going to use photos from both days.
On our full day of walking we covered a lot of distance so make sure you have your walking shoes on!
Click here for more photos including our lunch, apologies for any duplicate photos.
We have been to San Antonio twice before and John had also been here on business.
River Walk is always the first draw and it was within easy walking distance and we went there on our first day,
we were tired of sitting in the car for 7 hours.
This was an wasy walk, not too far and we stopped for a drink before heading back to the hotel.
We went up to the street looking for the Martini Bar and found this.
I have googled these mosaics which mention the missions that are close by. Other than that I couldn't find anything.
We came across the San Fernando Cathedral which was very close to our hotel.
Click here to see this gorgeous church.
The next day we do some earnest walking. We didn't even start out early as it was really cloudy to start with.
We used the hop on bus map as our guide to what we wanted to see.
We headed out at 11:30 with the as our first destination as the Governor's Palace.
On the way I took another photo of the courthouse.
Memorial honoring all Purple Heart Medal recipients from all wars located near Bexar County Courthouse.
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
We easily get side-tracked.
O. Henry, Considered one of America's greatest short-story writers, lived in this house in 1885. As editor of his newspaper "The Rolling Stone" he used San Antonio as the setting of some of his most intriguing short stories such as "A Fog in Santone" and "The Higher Abdication". In 1896 O. Henry moved to Austin, was indicted for embezzlement and spent three years in prison where he used his time productively honoring his craft and memorizing every word in the dictionary.
Hoping to use O. Henry as a role model, Bexar County Chief Probation Officer Caesar Garcia assigns his probationers as Docents in the O. Henry Museum to fulfill their Community Service. A college scholarship will be awarded to the probationer who best demonstrates a change of attitude and goals in life. The mural on the large wall behind the O. Henry House Museum was painted by a young probationer, John Murphy, whose artistic talents were recognized by Chief Garcia.
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The Spanish built the Presidio San Antonio de BĂ©xar to protect the area’s missions, including the San Antonio de Valero Mission (The Alamo) and the missions in the present day San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, as well as the growing Spanish colony.
I will cover the palace in a more detailed post.
On our way to the Alamo we stop into the sculpture garden at the Museum of Western Art. Definitely a place I would come back to.
There is no entrance fee to the Garden.
Click here to see the mosaic mural in the garden.
“Strength of the Maker” by Denny Haskew
Then we spotted
a church around the corner that
we I had to visit.
We're above ground but the Riverwalk is just below us with many entrances from the street.
La Antorcha de la Amistad (Spanish for "The Torch of Friendship") is a monumental abstract sculpture. The artist of the sculpture is world-renowned Mexican sculptor, SebastiĂĄn, and was commissioned by the AsociaciĂłn de Empresarios Mexicanos (AEM, which loosely translates as Mexican Entrepreneur Association). The sculpture was presented as a gift from the Mexican government to the City of San Antonio in 2002.
Before we go into the Alamo we have another spot in our plans.
The San Antonio Scottish Rite Library and Museum, Inc., is a 501(c)3 Texas Non-Profit Corporation. Founded in 1992, the corporation owns and is responsible for the preservation and maintenance of the Scottish Rite Cathedral in downtown San Antonio, Texas.
The Scottish Rite Cathedral is a historic building completed in 1924 which was originally built to suit the purposes of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Today, in addition to its continued use as a home to several organizations affiliated with Freemasonry, the building houses a library and museum which are open to the public and banquet and meeting facilities may be rented for public activities.
It is supposed to be open to the public for tours until 2:30 PM but when we tried to enter at 1:30 we were told that the tour guide had gone home so it wasn't open. Not impressed.
Finally, the Alamo. No photos allowed inside the church.
The Alamo Mission in San Antonio, commonly called The Alamo and originally known as MisiĂłn San Antonio de Valero, is part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site.. Founded in the 18th century as a Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound, it was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. The Alamo is now a museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District.
The Alamo Cenotaph, also known as the Spirit of Sacrifice commemorates the Battle of the Alamo, which was fought at the adjacent Alamo Mission. The monument was erected in celebration of the centenary of the battle, and bears the names of those known to have fought there on the Texas side.
Getting my Davy Crockett on in the gift shop.
Across the street from the Alamo is some tackiness.
According to the Menger Hotel website
"you are transported back to a time when Theodore Roosevelt was gathering his Rough Riders in our very own Menger Bar and San Antonio’s petticoated elite kicked up their heels at the city’s most elaborate galas and cotillion parties in our very own ballrooms. Our hotel is renowned for its refined architecture, including its meticulously restored wing adorned with 19th-century panache; and the oval lobby with its Renaissance Corinthian columns rising from the burnished floor."
We are now hungry! The plan was for a late lunch. We head down Rita's on the RiverWalk for gluten free Tex-Mex beef fajitas and sangria.
The reason we had so many steps was our less than logical itinerary. Now we I decide we should walk to Market Square where we had lunched years earlier. It happens to be back where the Governor's palace is.
This is where we ate years ago, in looking through my blog I see I never posted the murals from the restaurant, I'll have to do that one day.
We decide we should maybe head back to the hotel. But we I really wanted to go to the King William district which I convince John is right off the RiverWalk around Villetta. So we walk past our hotel
Get a great view of the Tower of Americas.
La Villita, south of the River Walk, was originally settled nearly 300 years ago as one of the city's first neighborhoods. In 1939, La Villita Historic Arts Village was established and the neighborhood was adapted into a center for teaching regional arts and crafts and to serve as an artists market. Today, nearly 30 shops and galleries offer distinct handcrafted items by artists from San Antonio and surrounding areas.
I managed 2 churches on this segment of our itinerary!
We decide we are done for the day and the King William district will have to wait for another trip.
