Above Photo: The Alamo

I spent the month of January 2020 in San Antonio, and I’m so glad I did. It quickly became one of my favorite Texas towns. I’ll be back. The weather averaged in the high 60s in the daytime to the 40s at night, though on some nights it stayed humid and never got cooler. It rained a bit, and we had a couple of what I call BATS (Big Ass Texas Storms), but by and large it was a pleasant place to be in January, when most of the rest of the country is pretty miserable.

History is long and colorful in San Antonio. After indigenous peoples came the Spanish, the Catholic priests, and 15 families from the Canary Islands at the invitation of King Philip V of Spain, as represented in this statuary at the Bexar (inexplicably pronounced “Bear”) County Courthouse (constructed between 1891 and 1894 in Texas granite).

(The Founders Monument – Armando Hinojosa)

Spanish history is all around San Antonio; The Alamo is one of five missions, and the Spanish Governor’s Palace (1749) is open for tours. The history and architecture reminded me a lot of Santa Barbara, but San Antonio is more egalitarian; you don’t have to be rich to have a good time in San Antonio. This city of a million people in the greater metropolitan area still feels small somehow, and a couple of times I took the bus into town from the RV park with an all-day pass that set me back $2.75.

The Alamo

A city tour guide told me, “I have relatives who fought at the Alamo.“

Wait for it …

“My aunt and uncle argued in the gift store there last week.“

I resisted the urge to channel my inner Pee Wee and ask for directions to the basement when I visited The Alamo twice – first at night (downtown parking is free on Tuesday nights!) and then in the daytime. However, that night I approached a Texas Ranger standing guard, gesturing to this area and asking,

“Is this THE moonlit path by the Alamo?” He looked at me quizzically, but his older partner replied, “Bob Wills. Nice.”

A common observation from tourists seeing the Alamo for the first time is how small it is. In hundreds of years the town and businesses have encroached, which reduced the site to a little over four acres. To give you an idea of its original size, the Crockett Hotel is a bit of a distance away from the church, but that is where David Crockett and his men stood watch during the 13-day siege.

Apparently all that commercialism is about to change. According to a tour guide, the city has given the businesses across the street one year to vacate, and the plan is to return the area to its original configuration at the time of the battle. As the guide said, “On what other battlefield in the United States is there a Ripley’s Believe It or Not?“

Other folks I spoke to said this plan was not 100 percent official, so we shall see. Of course not all the businesses can be razed; some of them have become historic in their own right. Next door at the Menger Hotel (1859), Teddy Roosevelt recruited Rough Riders to fight in the Spanish-American War.

Before my daytime visit to the Alamo, I watched the movie with Billy Bob Thornton as Crockett and Dennis Quaid as Houston, as well as a documentary about the historical inaccuracies surrounding the now almost mythical story of the Alamo. I wondered how those boys and the other 186 souls who perished would feel about the blatant commercialization of the place where they laid down their lives for Texas independence on March 6, 1836.

Oh, well. Remember the Alamo with your souvenir mug!

San Fernando Cathedral

San Fernando Cathedral sits in Main Plaza, in the heart of historic San Antonio, one of only four colonial Plazas left in the United States, and the only one with a cathedral. The first Canary Islands settlers established homes near Main Plaza in the 18th century. San Fernando Parish was established in the 1730s. The Cathedral was built between 1738 and 1755 and is oldest operating sanctuary in North America.

It was at San Fernando Cathedral that General Santa Anna raised the “no quarter” flag (no prisoners) before the battle of the Alamo.

At the church entrance there is a sarcophagus which allegedly contains the remains of the Texas Trinity: Bowie,

Crockett,

and Travis,

but here’s the problem with that:

When the battle was over, bodies were burned in pyres around the Alamo, so it’s highly unlikely that whatever human remains are in that marble coffin belong to the three most famous defenders.

A few nights a week, and only through 2024, San Fernando Cathedral becomes a canvas; “San Antonio The Saga” is an art installation by Xavier de Richmont – a 7,000 square-foot projection with custom choreographed music, telling the rich history of San Antonio. It was so moving I watched it twice, tearful both times. Boy, am I sure getting sentimental in my old age.

The River Walk

I heard of the San Antonio River Walk long ago, but I had no idea just how grand it was until my visit. On my first day in town I took a double decker bus tour, which I do routinely to get my bearings in a new place. I was largely unimpressed with downtown San Antonio, but that’s because I wasn’t on the right level; down at the river, things are lovely.

The holiday lights were still aglow in early January, which I viewed from a Go Rio River Boat, the only watercraft (other than city maintenance barges) allowed on the U-shaped section of the River Walk. Downtown, the banks teem with restaurants and bars;

one night Rick and Rosie and Ken drove down from Austin for dinner at Boudro’s.

They were a sight for sore eyes, as I was feeling a bit lonesome all by myself after a month of frenetic social activity in Houston.

On another afternoon, during San Antonio Restaurant Week, I sat at Paesano’s riverside for lunch and kept a close eye on a bird coveting my bread basket.

The River is often the epicenter of significant holidays and cultural events. To celebrate Lunar New Year, lantern barges sailed up and down the waterway each evening for two weeks.

The San Antonio River was little more than a ditch at the turn of the last century, but that ditch could become quite deadly when it flooded. Many lives were lost in the devastating flood of 1921. Plans were made at that time to transform it, which were implemented after the Great Depression.

The city continues to innovate and invigorate the River Walk, like the Museum Reach and the Mission Reach.

The Mission Reach

The Mission Reach, completed in 2013, sought to restore the ecosystems along the river’s path to the missions of San Antonio, which had declined due to years of flood control measures. Kayaks are allowed on this portion.

In 1718 the first mission was established by Franciscans and Spanish representatives. Within 13 years, a total of five missions were located along the San Antonio River, built to convert the native population to Christianity and to make them Spanish citizens.

Art is installed all along the bike and pedestrian path.

(Arbol de la Vida – Margarita Cabrera)

Mission Concepcion:

Mission San Jose:

Mission San Juan Capistrano:

Mission Espada:

The Museum Reach

The Museum Reach (completed in 2009) goes past SAMA – the San Antonio Museum of Art (which I’ll come back to),

and it was extended to reach The Pearl, a shining district that epitomizes all that is good in urban revitalization and repurposing.

The Pearl

Formerly the Pearl Brewery, The Pearl is now a mixed use site with a hotel, apartments, restaurants and shops, and event spaces and green spaces. A farmers’ market is held there each weekend, when there are also free walking tours.

A cornerstone and highlight of The Pearl is the Hotel Emma, where brewery machinery was left in situ, producing an industrial/steam punk vibe.

Good restaurants and great libations abound inside.

San Antonio really “gets it” when it comes to turning eyesores into opportunities. Hot Wells Park took an old abandoned bathhouse from the turn of the century and made it into a gathering place.

Silent movies will be projected onto the edifice soon.

San Antonio Museums

Not only does San Antonio get it, but it has been getting it for a lot longer than many other cities. In 1981 the old Lone Star Brewery (1884) was transformed into the San Antonio Museum of Art.

Away from the River Walk but so worth the trip is the McNay Art Museum (1954),

housing modern and contemporary Art in a 1920s Spanish Revival mansion with an excellent expansion by French architect Jean-Paul Viguier.

It was the first modern art museum in Texas.

The San Antonio Cocktail Conference

I had no idea I would be in town for the San Antonio Cocktail Conference, held each January, but you can bet next time I’ll attend on purpose. I went to opening night at the historic Majestic Theater, with an elaborate Spanish and Moorish style interior designed as a baroque courtyard.

The $125 price tag initially struck me as steep, but it included seemingly endless full-sized cocktails from industry vendors, with food pairings from local restaurants.

There was never a line, and no one ran out of anything. Tito‘s vodka, a Texas brand, took over the theater lounge, and Tito‘s alone had three different cocktails to sample, plus free vinyl (they sponsor Record Store Day).

I’ve had such fun listening to the albums back at the rig.

Speaking of conferences, on the day I cruised up and down the San Antonio River on the Go Rio River Taxi, I kept running into the same group of guys in town for a dry cleaning conference. We all went out for a drink at the Esquire Tavern, which opened the day after Prohibition ended and serves up some of the most innovative libations in the city. It also boasts the longest wooden bar in Texas, measuring at over 100 feet long.

Thanks, fellas!

Tex-Mex Cuisine

I had the best Tex-Mex food I’ve ever had in San Antonio. Not only was there traditional Mexican fare at Mi Tierra (more on that in a minute)

and bags and bags of tamales to go from Delicious Tamales, but I also got to experience puffy tacos for the first time.

I opted to go first where it all began, in 1956 at Ray’s Drive In.

All three tacos were delicious, but the carne guisada was a religious experience!

We have the Lopez brothers to thank for this tasty phenomenon. Arturo took over for Ray, and Arturo’s little brother Henry branched out on his own.

A week later I stopped in at Henry’s, where the vibe was more corporate and sterile, and the puffy tacos had NO flavor. What a disappointment! Trust me, if you want a puffy taco, go to Ray’s.

Alas, I didn’t make it to Rosario’s. Next time.

Other Areas of San Antonio

King William

German immigrants named their 19th century neighborhood after Kaiser Wilhelm, and some of the most lovely houses in San Antonio are situated along King William Street in the neighborhood of the same name. (The founder of H-E-B Grocery Stores, a beloved Texas institution, lives there.)

I took a tour with Amigo Free Walking Tours, then feasted on brunch at the Guenther House at the Pioneer Flour Mill, where Carl Guenther founded his mill and built his home on the San Antonio River in 1859.

Hemisfair

Built for the 1968 World’s Fair, the Hemisphair area includes The Tower of the Americas, a 750-foot tower with a 360 degree view of San Antonio.

I picked a sunny afternoon to have lunch at Chart House.

Market Square

Market Square, open since 1938, is one of the largest Mexican markets outside of Mexico. No trip to Market Square is complete without a stop at Mi Tierra, a family owned tradition since 1941.

Each room is gayly festooned with paper and foil decorations from Mexico,

and ofrendas to the dearly departed are located throughout the building.

La Villita

Accessible from the River Walk, historic La Villita was established in the late 1700s as a small residential village. The mostly 19th century buildings now serve as artisan shops and galleries.

You might recognize the Arneson River Theater, with a stage on one side of the river and outdoor seating on the other;

the pageant in Sandra Bullock’s “Miss Congeniality” was filmed there.

Historic Hotels

Along with the Menger, there are two other noteworthy hotels downtown. The St. Anthony Hotel (1909) across from Travis Park recently updated its Dorothy Draper interiors to fabulous Hollywood Regency effect.

The Gunter downtown (also 1909) isn’t really much to look at,

but Robert Johnson recorded many of his famous blues songs in Room 414 there in 1936.

(John Mellencamp, Joe Henry, and Billy Bragg have since recorded there as well).

Let’s Rodeo San Antonio

The San Antonio Rodeo kicked off a couple of days after I left the city, but I got to see the Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive. Longhorns were driven right down Houston Avenue!

Only in Texas.

The Gruene Historic District

As my time in San Antonio came to a close, I drove 35 minutes northeast to New Braunfels and Gruene Hall, the oldest continuously operating dance hall in Texas.

You may have seen it in the movie “Michael,“ when John Travolta dances to the jukebox there.

What a thrill to see Texan and steel guitarist Junior Brown at Gruene Hall!

Junior had some minor hits in the 90s with songs like “Highway Patrol,“ “Broke Down South of Dallas,“ and “You’re Wanted by the Police and My Wife Thinks You’re Dead.“ He put on quite a show!

Muchas Gracias, San Antonio! Tienes mi corazon.