We landed about 10pm last night in a fog as thick as London. On the ride to the hotel the pilots mentioned that we were at bare minimums for landing which meant we nearly couldn't land. This morning was a bit better as the heaviest fog had burned off and the rain had stopped. It is still gray but warming up nicely. Sure beats the weather we've been having in the Northeast and Midwest.
I set my alarm for 8am so that I could get an early start. The Alamo opened at 9am and I wanted to be there near the opening time to avoid crowds (this would prove unnecessary). My cohorts decided against joining me so I ventured out alone. I arrived at The Alamo just about a half hour after opening. The crowds were very light as I found to be the case all through the city.
Here is the main entrance to the facilty. It is surprisingly small and feels overwhelmed by its surroundings.
This is one of the internal walls at The Alamo. Notice the flocks of people out and about in the city on this Monday Morning.Fortunately, The Alamo is located directly across the street from Ripley's Believe It or Not, Ripleys Haunted Adventure and Guiness World Record Museum along with the Plaza Wax Museum. That way, you can be easily distracted from actual important historical events and head directly to these garish tributes to commercialism. This gives The Alamo the same feel as the corner of the Haight and Ashbury in San Fran as that interesting spot in history is overrun with Gap and Ben & Jerry's.
Here is the Riverwalk Center. A shopping mall at the end of the Riverwalk. It is gorgeous but again, it seems to be absent of human life.
Interesting statue in San Antonio. It has a name that has escaped me now. It symbolizes friendship, somehow. At this point in the walk I was pretty sure that the Rapture had occurred and I'd been left behind (not that THAT would surprise me). Notice that this is yet another picture in downtown San Antonio on a mid morning Monday and NO ONE is around.
Convinced that I had missed the Rapture, I raced to the nearest church, San Fernando Cathedral. The church was celebrating its 275th anniversary as throngs of people flooded through its gates....oh, well....I guess not really.
Here are a couple pictures of the GWBush Texas Economic Miracle. Notice the bustling streets, overflowing store fronts and ...oh wait...nah. Not happening here.
Here ya go! Texas sized Tourist Tacky Trinket Trap! And again..notice the people! This is El Mercado, one of the "must sees" of San Antonio. Evidently everyone had already seen it before I got there. MORE THAN 30 STORES STUFFED WITH CRAP! I got my "San Antonio" bumper sticker here to add to my collection of bumper stickers.
Here is a nice park near El Mercado. The statue is of Benjamin Rush Milam. The famous Col. is buried here. As you can observe, everyone had evidently seen this "must see" as well.
All in all, San Antonio is a fair place. Granted, the weather was less than ideal and it was in the middle of February so it isn't exactly hot tourist time but I would expect the locals to be out and about a little bit as my walk took me through the business heart of the city. Still, I had no problems navigating around as I seemingly had the place to myself. I'm not in any rush to get back to explore the city on my own time but I'd probably be interested in getting out and about if I was back here on business.
Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for the next edition!
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