THE ALAMO

Mission Concepcion

Mission San Jose

(MARCH 24, 2018) I arrived in San Antonio last night and today I started the day by heading south of downtown San Antonio to the Old Mission Trail and the The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park The park is a actually made up of four mission that stood along the Old Mission Road. All four Mission were built in the early to middle 1700's and were a place of refuge for the native people of South Texas.



In the early 1700's Apache raids from the north was a common occurrence. This coupled with disease that was brought to the area from travelers from Mexico these native people face an end to their way of life.  They turned to the Missions for survival.  By entering the missions they essentially gave up their way of life in exchange for safety and a new beginning.

Mission San Jose

When they entered mission they accepted a new religion, and over time we made Spanish citizens. Most lived in an around the mission and their daily lives were regulated by the priests who controlled their most aspects of their lives, from daily chores, to education and prayers.   Families lived in small rooms along the outer walls of the mission and daily chores such as cooking, blacksmith, gardening were conducted in the inner courtyard.  Outside of the mission walls live stock were raised along with larger crops.  The men of the mission would hunt daily while some served as guard and sentry's. Each mission was completely self-sub staining.

Mission Espada

Today the four mission, Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan and Espada remain the center of an active catholic culture.  All four missions are still home to active congregations.

My first stop was at Mission Concepcion, which was dedicated in 1755 and hasn't changed much in the past 300 years. It is thought to be the oldest standing unrestored stone church in the United States. As I toured the church I could still see some of the original frescos in several of the rooms.

My next stop just a couple of miles down the Old Mission Trail at Mission San Jose.  This is the
largest of the four missions and it is here that the National Park Service has it visitors center. Known as the Queen of the Missions, San Jose was almost fully restored to it's original design in the 1930's by the Works Projects Administration. Park rangers are more than happy to point out significant features of the ground such as the granary and the foundations of original that are no longer standing on the grounds.

I wanted to stop at Mission San Juan but due to construction, the road was closed and neither the GPS or myself could figure out how to get there. So I moved on to the final stop, Mission Espada.  Mission Espada was basically found near Weches, Texas in 1690 but in 1731 the mission was transferred to this location along the San Antonio River. The church that stands on the site today was completed in 1756.

I really enjoyed my visit to the San Antonio Mission. It was really educational and informative.  By the time I wrapped up my Mission visit it was a little after noon and I head by north and made a quick stop at the Alamodome, which is the site of next weekends Final Four.

I had though about getting to San Antonio next week and taking in some of the "free" Events relating to the event but starting tomorrow hotel rooms more than double so I am going to finish up In San Antonio today and Tomorrow and head west.

One of the Rangers at the Missions gave me some information about parking at the Alamo and I decided to make my way into downtown.  Thanks to the rangers suggestion I found parking in a parking garage just a block from the Alamo Plaza.

As I made my way toward the Alamo Plaza it was obvious that there was some kind of protest going on. Come to find out it an anti-gun protest. While it was billed as a Student Against Guns Rally, there were only a few "students" in the crowd. Most of  the people were adults that were using  the "students" to advance their cause.

The protest didn't seem to be getting much attention from the tourist and most of us seemed to tune them out and continue our visit to the shrine that is The Alamo.

San Fernando Cathedral

There was a line as expected to enter the Alamo but it moved very quickly and in no time I found myself inside where Crockett, Travis and Bowie and the rest of the defenders met their end. There is no photography permitted inside The Alamo and most of the visitors proceeded in quiet reverence.

After spending about an hour and a half at The Alamo, I walked about a half a mile to the San
Fernando Cathedral.This is the place where Jim Bowie married Ursala de Beramendi in 1831. Also in 1836 Santa Anna raised the blood red flag from one of the church towers signaling "no quarter" at the beginning of the siege at The Alamo. And inside the entrance is a small tomb that is though to contain the ashes from the men who died at The Alamo. Following the fall of The  Alamo Santa Anna had the bodies burned in a giant funeral fire. It was reported that those ashes were collected and buried here at the San Fernando Cathedral. In 1936 during renovations of the cathedral, a box of charred bones and ashes were found in a box buried beneath the sanctuary.  Those ashes now are entombed at the enter to the Cathedral.

This tomb is thought to contain the
 ashes of the Alamo Defenders

From The San Fernando Cathedral it was just a short walk to the famed San Antonio River Walk where I had a nice lunch at the Iron Cactus. The food was good and the service great. I chose to eat outside and it was fun watching people float by on the water taxi.

After lunch I spent a few more hours on the river walk and even stopped long enough to take a break and have a drink in one of the bars to watch some of the Loyola - Kansas State Game.  Most folks in the bar were pulling for Loyola and Sister Jean.  Yes Sister Jean is the real Cinderella and she is going to be dancing all the way to the Final Four here in San Antonio.

The Riverwalk

Before heading back to the Hotel, I decided to have dinner on the River Walk. I chose Casa Rio and had an outstanding Mexican Plate consisting of Cheese Enchilada, Tamale, Chili, refried beans and rice.  It was great.

By this time it was getting close to dark and I made my way back to the car. Almost 7 hours of parking in the garage cost me $11.00. But it was worth it as I was close to everything.

I made it back to my hotel by about 8:30 which is the the latest that I have been out on this trip. I really enjoyed my day in San Antonio and the Alamo and River Walk is a must for anyone.

Now that I am back at my Hotel I checked my Fitbit and see that I have taken 19,326 steps. Almost 10-miles. Time for a shower and watch the second half of the Michigan - Florida State Game.

Tomorrow I will hit the road hand travel to Del Rio and begin my trek through the Rio Grand Valley toward El Paso.

TODAY'S MILES:     52
TOTAL MILES:    3,057