I spent some time at some of the free Final Four Events scattered around town and I enjoyed the River Walk before heading out of town a few days before the big event.
Of course, I made it to the Alamo. It was crowded and like most places now days there is always people protesting something. But I fought the crowds, tuned out the protesters and took the tour.
Now fast forward to October 2018 when I embarked on another adventure, this time I left the driving to Amtrak. I traveled from Roanoke to Washington, and then overnight in a roomette on the Capitol Limited from Washington to Chicago. In the Windy City, I boarded the Texas Eagle for my three-day, two-night adventure would take me all the way to Phoenix Arizona.
I absolutely loved traveling long distance by train, but that’s another story. But one thing that I really enjoyed was the community seating in the dining car. Me being a single traveler I was always seated with three other folks and almost always enjoy my companions. In fact, I made several new friends that I still stay in touch with today.
Anyway, we were scheduled to arrive in San Antonio about 9 p.m. on the second night. Here the Texas Eagle and the Sunset Limited (from New Orleans) are joined to form one train that goes all the way to Los Angeles. It takes a while for the two trains to be linked up and we were not scheduled to depart San Antonio until about 2 a.m.
The one thing that you must understand about Amtrak it that it is at the mercy of the different railroad lines and freight trains get priority. Because of this Amtrak is almost always late arriving at the stations. But on this evening, we arrived in San Antonio over an hour early so we had a little over 6-hours to kill.
As I said, I had made friends with some of my dining companions, so our little group decided to go exploring. The Amtrak Station is in easy walking distance of downtown San Antonio and the River Walk. So off we went. We took one of the water taxi’s around the River Walk and spent some time enjoying the San Antonio Night Life at a few of the many bars that line the River Walk.
A couple of my traveling companions were from Canada and mentioned how disappointed they were to be in San Antonio and not see the Alamo. I told them it was only a short walk from the Alamo, so off we went. Arriving at the Alamo this time was so different from what I had experience back in March. Gone were the Crowds of tourist and protesters. The square was deserted and almost totally quiet. We stood in silence, Remembering The Alamo. Off to the side stood a lone Texas Ranger, guarding the honor of this sacred site.
After spending some time silently walking around the square none of us spoke as we returned to the River Walk and enjoyed a little more Texas hospitality. Then it was time to head back to the station. On the short walk back to the train my Canadian Friends said something that I believe we all were thinking. They said there were really surprised at how emotional and moving our night-time visit to the Alamo had been.A little while later as I lay in bed waiting to depart, I could not help but think just how different my two visits to the Alamo had been. In March, the Alamo was a tourist attraction, clogged with people and protester. But on this October Night we had the opportunity to stand quietly, to reflect and remember just what happened here way back in 1836.
If you ever get to San Antonio I do encourage to visit during the day, fight the crowds, brave the protesters, and take the tour. But then return at night, it’s then that you will truly understand and appreciate why the Alamo is so special. and why it is the Sacred Shrine of Texas.
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