Zero miles on the car today as it stayed parked since we got here last night. But I did get in 13,750 steps and 6.5 miles according to my FitBit.
This morning we went back on the River Walk on the way to the Alamo. The River Walk is (was) a natural rectangular bend in the San Antonio river where Spanish missionaries from Mexico (New Spain) founded a mission and fort in 1738.
This section of the river became popular in the early 1900s with restaurants and accommodations but was almost completely destroyed by a flood in 1921 that killed over 50 people. An enterprising architect came up with a plan to prevent flooding but it took about 10 years for it to be funded and put into place. The fix mainly entailed "short-circuiting" the loop with a deep canal and installing gates to control the water height. The actual River Walk was created in the 1930s as a WPA project and substantially improved after WW II and again in 1968 for the big Expo in San Antonio.
San Antonio has quite a history from being a Native American region, New Spain, Mexico, the Texas Republic, the US Confederacy and the United States of America. This is the 300 year anniversary.
In March 1836, Santa Anna's Mexican army with 6000 soldiers attacked the Alamo which was being held by 200 revolutionaries opposed to the Mexican centralist constitution. All of the fighters were killed or subsequently murdered and their bodies burned. Women, children and slaves were allowed to go free. At the same time, a group of men from the Texas region met and declared a "Declaration of Independence" of the Texas Republic. "Remember the Alamo" became the rallying cry of soldiers and militia who eventually defeated Santa Anna, creating the Texas Republic.
For lunch we went to the restaurant at the top of the 750' tall Tower of the Americas which was built for the 1968 Expo. We had a very nice although pricey lunch in the revolving restaurant which gave a spectacular 360 degree view of the area while we ate.
After lunch we went to the other side of the river and visited the home of Jose Antonio Navarro, a Texas state heritage site. He was one of only two Tejanos (Spanish descent person locally born) to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence. It had very good exhibits about life in the mid-1800s and his contribution to Texas politics.
We also visited the nearby home of O. Henry who had lived in San Antonio and published a satirical paper "The Rolling Stone". He later spent 3 years in prison for embezzlement and ironically, the inmates of the jail across the street are able to get credit for working as docents in his house! While in prison, O. Henry memorized the dictionary and did considerable writing.
At the market square we couldn't resist getting a "Mango pop", a very large peeled and sliced mango on a stick. It was absolutely delicious.
We were surprised during our visit to San Diego and to here at how exceptionally popular these battery-powered scooters are. Even businessmen are riding them around town. They are parked all over and get unlocked with an app from your phone.
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| River Walk area - our hotel is yellow blob near bottom |
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| Mango pop |
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| Live oak at the Alamo |
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| River Walk - some Bald Cypress are 250 years old |
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| Battery-powered scooter |
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| Tower of the Americas from our room balcony |
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| View from tower - our hotel is tiny building in the middle |
Kathy is a daughter of the Republic of Texas. We don’t know of any direct ancestor who was cut down by Santa Ana. Sam Houston accepted Santa Ana’s sword after the battle of San Jacinto. It is now in possession of Holland Lodge #1 at Houston.
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