Day 14 – “And the Mission Bells Were Ringing…”

San Fernando Cathedral

Today we took a tour bus to see San Antonio.  The tour started with visits to two Spanish missions, Mission San José and Mission Concepción.  Both had fallen into disrepair after the Spanish pulled out in the late 1700s but both are now restored and run by the National Park Service.  Next we stopped at San Fernando Cathedral, which is in the center of San Antonio and then to a third mission, Mission San Antonio de Valero (better known as the Alamo).  It was from San Fernando Cathedral tower that Santa Anna raised the red flag signaling that “no quarter” would be given to the defenders of the Alamo.

Riverwalk

We made one more stop at a sunken Japanese garden before returning to the Riverwalk for our boat ride and dinner.  The Riverwalk area was started as a flood control project in the 20s but now has grown into a “must see” tourist attraction.  I don't think there is anything else quite like it in the U.S.  The Riverwalk has several miles of walking paths and a large number of restaurants and hotels lining both sides. San Antonio is currently expanding the area to reach down to Mission park, adding several additional miles of trails.

Riverwalk boat

One thing we have learned on this trip is that Texas history, like most history in general, is made up of a lot of legends and not so much fact.  We heard the history of the Alamo from two tour guides today and earlier from a book on tape and all three are slightly different in the details.  Apparently people back in those days liked to embellish the truth so much that no one knows the real story now.  The lives and deaths of Crockett, Bowie and Travis are pretty much a mixture of unknowns and conflicting myths and legends.  Still, all in all, it makes for a very compelling story.