SAN ANTONIO: THE ALAMO AND THE RIVERWALK

On Saturday, March 29th, we drove to San Antonio with our friends, the Petersons, to spend the day.  Easily the two most prominent tourist attractions in the city are the Alamo and the Riverwalk, both situated in the downtown area, and those were our first stopS.

Unfortunately, for a couple of reasons it was not easy to get photos of the Alamo.  First, it was the weekend and the crowds were huge, eliminating any hope of a clear shot of the structure's facade.  Second, photography is prohibited in the interior of the shrine.  As a result, I was relegated to taking exterior detail shots, including the following.

These are not actually of the Alamo but of a building on the grounds that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 1836 battle.  I was surprised at how much deterioration had occurred since 1936, but then I realized that that was nearly 80 years ago.

Finally, here is photo of some leaves in a pond on the grounds.

OK, pretty lame for a post on the Alamo, but the image's resolution was good, the water was green, and it was all that I had.

Then it was on to the Riverwalk.  My wife and I visited San Antonio 14 years ago, but the weather was incredibly bad (for San Antonio) and we came away with an unfavorable impression.  Not so this time.  The weather was beautiful and the Riverwalk really shone.  The only major drawback was the crowds.

I found the Riverwalk surprising for a couple of reasons.  First, the river is very narrow, perhaps 20-30 feet across in most places in the central area.  The following shots are illustrative, I think.  Note the tourist boats that were continually plying the waters.

Second, the river is below street level, so there are numerous elevation changes, but that just added to the complexity and the charm, I thought.

The area was filled with shops, bars, and eateries, including the following.

I think the worm refers to tequila, but what about the death symbols?

We solved our crowd problem by walking south from the central district.  Here are some semi-random shots of that area.

This last is one of my favorites.  It is of a tunnel lined with highly polished red tiles that create an unusual reflective pattern.  The photo was there for the taking.  I only give myself credit for seeing it.

John