Because the weather was so nice that morning, we both forgot our jackets. By the time we got off the city bus in downtown San Antonio, we were very much wishing we had remembered them. The temperature had dropped and the wind had picked up.
When we got off the bus in downtown San Antonio, we walked about 4 or 5 blocks to The Alamo.
My recollection of history lessons regarding The Alamo is not that great other than remembering that Davy Crockett (a Tennessean) fought and died there along with all the rest of the Texan army stationed there. What you read below was taken from a brochure given to us at The Alamo (The Story of the Alamo, presented by The Daughters of the Republic of Texas).
Originally named Mision San Antonio De Valero, The Alamo was one of five missions within a 12 mile area built by Spanish Catholic missionaries in the early 1700's, all of which remained missions for nearly 70 years. In the late 1700's, Spain secularized the missions and distributed the lands to the remaining Indian residents who continued to farm the fields as their own and participated in the growing community of San Antonio.
In the early 1800's, the Alamo was home to both Revolutionaries (Mexico) and Royalists (Spain) during Mexico's ten year struggle for independence. The soldiers who first occupied the mission referred to it as the Alamo in honor of their hometown, Alamo de Parras, Coahuila, Mexico. The first recorded hospital in Texas was established in "The Long Barrack" (a portion of it is in the below picture).
The military (Spanish, Mexican Rebels, and then Mexican soldiers) continued to occupy the Alamo until the Texas Revolution. In December of 1835, Ben Milam led Texian and Tejano volunteers against Mexican troops quartered in the city and forced the Mexican army to surrender the Alamo.
But...General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and 1,500 Mexican soldiers came back on February 23, 1836, to take back the Alamo. With a small army of nearly 200 men from all parts of the US (including Davy Crockett) and even some volunteers from Europe, Colonel William Travis held out against Santa Anna's army for 13 days. Very early on the morning of March 6, Santa Anna and his 1,500 soldiers began encircling and then scaling the walls of the Alamo. Colonel Travis and his 200 men held them off as long as they could but by daybreak, they were defeated and all but two of 200 were killed.
About 45 days later, the Texian Army led by Sam Houston (a former governor of Tennessee) defeated Santa Anna and the Mexican army at the battle of San Jacinto with numerous Texian soldiers shouting "Remember the Alamo" and the Republic of Texas was born. Texas later became a part of the United States in 1845.
The first picture above is what was originally the church when it was a mission but later became the powder magazine, quarters and artillery position.
Below is an excerpt of a letter from Lt. Col. Travis to Major Gen. Houston on February 25, 1836.
Below is a sketch of how the Alamo was thought to have looked at the time of the battle...
...and how it looks today.
We walked through the "church" part of the Alamo where there were several items on exhibit like Davy Crockett's rifle. There were also state flags representing the men who had sacrificed their lives at the Alamo.
In the below picture, Chuck is standing right about where it was thought Davy Crockett died defending The Alamo.
The bullet holes are still visible on the walls of the building.
Outside of the Alamo is the Alamo Cenotaph that was built in 1937-39 as a memorial to the men who sacrificed their lives defending the Alamo.
After we left the Alamo,
we walked along the Riverwalk.
Because it was windy and getting cooler, we walked in and out of the nearby mall. But while we were out by the Riverwalk, we noticed this Riverboat going by with its passengers being treated to lunch...on the water...in the wind...that was getting colder. Brrrrr.
With so many restaurants to choose from, I couldn't make up my mind where I wanted to eat for lunch. We ended up eating at the Republic of Texas Restaurant (pictured below with the blue patio umbrellas on the left) and it was delicious. (We ate inside!)
After lunch, I wanted "that little sumpin' sweet" and we found an ice cream shop and had a scoop of Blue Bell ice cream. Yummy! but cold! :)
When we left the ice cream shop, we could see the La Antorcha de la Amistad (foreground) and the Tower of the Americas (background).
La Anatorcha de la Amistad was a gift from the Mexican government in 2002 and means "Torch of Friendship. The Tower of the Americas was build for the 1968 World's Fair, Hemisfair '68. At 750 feet tall, it was the tallest observation tower in the US from 1968 to 1996 when the Las Vegas Stratosphere Tower was built.
We were privileged to see and enjoy both old San Antonio in the Alamo and new San Antonio with the Riverwalk all in one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment