4/18/2010 THE ALAMO & A WHOLE LOT MORE! #1

Blue skies. Birds singing. Puffy white clouds. Dry walkways. Dry. What a wonderful word! Dry, not wet, without rain. A sunny day! A beautiful sunny day.

By 10:30 we were on our way downtown, base MAP in hand. (big grin) We got off base without a hitch in about 7 minutes. Piece of cake. Maps are wonderful things!

A very short time later we were downtown and pulling into a 3/4 empty parking lot, one with BIG spaces. We got our ticket that will enable us to pay for the time we use or $10.00 all day, payable in fives, ones or a twenty with change back. (bigger grin)

We’re meeting Quail Run friends, John & Bonnie McMullen, that we met in 08’ when we workamped together in the Activities Department. We met up with them again after that season in May at the Grand Canyon. We’ve kept in touch but this will be the first time we’ve seen them since then and we’re both looking forward to spending the day with these two.

Since we are meeting them until one we had time to go see THE ALAMO! Since John and Bonnie are only about a half hour or so away they have seen this attraction already.

As we were walking to the Alamo, just a block away, we took note of the horse drawn carriages that dotted the roadways.

We know that’s a good way to hear all about the history of the town because we did that when we were in Charleston, SC and we learned so much. If we have time, we try to fit one of these rides in.

Though it was pleasant, there was a breeze but nothing you would call a wind or even a stiff breeze, however it did make the Texas flag stand right out. I guess we were buffered by the buildings too so we didn’t feel it so much.

The Alamo, originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero, is a former Roman Catholic mission. site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, and today, a museum.

The compound, which originally was a sanctuary, was built by the Spanish Empire in the 18th century for the education of local Native Americans after their conversion to Christianity. Ten years later, it became a fortress housing the Mexican Army group the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras, who likely gave the mission the name "Alamo".

After a skirmish with the Mexican Army a small number of Texian (no, Teaxian is not a misspelled word, we heard that for the time today too) soldiers occupied the compound. General Sam Houston didn’t believe there was enough manpower to hold the fort if threatened and ordered Colonel James Bowie to destroy it. Bowie had other ideas. He worked the Colonel James Neill to fortify the mission.

On February 23, a large force of Mexican soldiers were led into San Antonio de Bexar and promptly initiated a siege. The siege ended on March 6, when the Mexican army attacked the Alamo; by the end of the Battle of the Alamo all or almost all of the defenders were killed. When the Mexican army retreated from Texas at the end of the Texas Revolution they tore down many of the Alamo walls and burned some of the buildings.

For the next five years, the Alamo was periodically used to house soldiers, both Texian and Mexican, but was ultimately abandoned. In 1849, several years after Texas was annexed to the United States, the US Army began renting the facility for use as a quartermaster's depot. The US Army abandoned the mission in 1876 after nearby Fort Sam Houston was established. The Alamo chapel was sold to the state of Texas, which conducted occasional tours but made no effort to restore it. The remaining buildings were sold to a mercantile company which operated them as a wholesale grocery store.

So that is basically the short story of the history of the Alamo. I’m sure you can find tons of stuff online if you want more details.

I was so looking forward to seeing part of American history and now that I have I’m still having a hard time deciding if I was totally impressed or sorely disappointed. It was not what I expected at all. Its smack dab in the middle of San Antonio which I didn’t expect. I truly thought it would be a large complex outside of the city limits. Uh-uh. As my friend Jackie pointed out, the city was built around it. <grin again>

It’s really very little. It has a bit of grounds to it but overall,maybe the area of two city blocks.

Now the grounds do have some impressive trees!

This is growing rather strangely.

How’s this for a tree?

This Live Oak was approximately 40 years old when it was moved here from another part of town in 1912. The base of this century old tree measures 12 feet in circumference while its main branches are over 50 feet long.

Here one the main branches shades the walkway.

As I mentioned there were some grounds to the place. There was moat like structure through the grounds.

….and of course this water is home to these.

More pictures from the grounds.

Some of the docents were dressed in period costume …..

Of course Bob had to add to his collection of “Flat Pennies”.

Pictures of the buildings.

What looks like the original wood around the windows.

We went inside the main building and the first thing we see is sign that says NO CAMERAS. I was not a happy camper. I would have loved to have taken pictures of the architecture of the building. The rounded, arched doorways, the worn stone floors, it is a beautiful building, granted, there are missing chunks out of the walls but if take into consideration all that happened here, well it isn’t hard to forgive the imperfections.

OK, so we’ve seen THE ALAMO. I’m glad I saw it but would I tell someone else, “Oh my gosh, you just HAVE to go to see the Alamo!”? No, probably not, unless I knew of course they were history buffs. The River Walk is way too close to spend hours at the Alamo.

At noon we left and headed towards the river, a whole block away. We passed through this little city park where vendors were set up selling all kinds of jewelry, paintings, metal work and so much more.

More to come….