My mom used to say that. Though I can't remember ever driving through Texas with her.
Texas is BIG. San Antonio is in the bottom center. It's really a great place to visit, if you happen to be anywhere near there, which you never will be, because nothing is anywhere near there! Except maybe Houston.
Hey! San Antonio has a space needle too!
This is so cool - I LOVE Dr. Seuss!
Right smack in the center of downtown San Antonio lies the Alamo. The Alamo. Home of Davie Crockett, Jim Bowie and Texas liberty! Yeah, we visited it.
The Battle of the Alamo
From: http://www.thealamo.org/battle/battle.php and wikipedia.
Originally named Misión San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo served as home to missionaries and their Indian converts for nearly seventy years. Construction began on the present site in 1724. In 1793, Spanish officials secularized San Antonio's five missions and distributed their lands to the remaining Indian residents. These men and women continued to farm the fields, once the mission's but now their own, and participated in the growing community of San Antonio.
The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas, USA).
Several months previously, Texians had driven all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas. Approximately 100 Texians were then garrisoned at the Alamo. The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie (famous for the Bowie knife), and William B. Travis (who was only 26 years old.) On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to re-take Texas. For the next 10 days the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis sent multiple couriers to plead for more men and supplies, but fewer than 100 reinforcements arrived.
On the eighth day of the siege, a band of 32 volunteers from Gonzales appeared, bringing the number of defenders to nearly two hundred. Legend holds that with the possibility of additional help fading, Colonel Travis drew a line on the ground and asked any man willing to stay and fight to step over — all except one did. As the defenders saw it, the Alamo was the key to the defense of Texas, and they were ready to give their lives rather than surrender their position to General Santa Anna. Among the Alamo's garrison were Jim Bowie, renowned knife fighter, and David Crockett, famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee.
The final assault came before daybreak on the morning of March 6, 1836, as columns of Mexican soldiers emerged from the predawn darkness and headed for the Alamo's walls. Cannon and small arms fire from inside the Alamo beat back several attacks. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls and rushed into the compound, most of the Texian soldiers withdrew into interior buildings. Once inside, the Mexicans turned a captured cannon on the Long Barrack and church, blasting open the barricaded doors. The desperate struggle continued until the defenders were overwhelmed, and the handful of survivors were executed. By sunrise, the battle had ended and Santa Anna entered the Alamo compound to survey the scene of his victory.
Most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 Texians dead, while most historians of the Alamo agree that 400–600 Mexicans were killed or wounded. Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat.
While the facts surrounding the siege of the Alamo continue to be debated, there is no doubt about what the battle has come to symbolize. People worldwide continue to remember the Alamo as a heroic struggle against impossible odds — a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For this reason, the Alamo remains hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty.
Vacation fudge.
We have a family tradition: we always buy fudge when on vacation. As such, we've become fudge connoisseurs, and yet we've never seen some of the flavors offered in the Alamo gift shop: key lime, rasberry cheesecake, "birthday bash" with sprinkles!
After the Alamo, we walked around downtown. Here is the Ripley's Believe-it-or-Not show.
Y'all know who this is, right?!
San Antonio has some of the most beautiful city planning I've ever seen. The San Antonio River runs right through the heart of downtown. In September 1921, a disastrous flood along the river took fifty lives. Plans were then developed for flood control, and the city has now turned it into a major attraction. One level down from the automobile street, the River Walk winds and loops under bridges framed by two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shops.
We had chile rellenos for lunch - again, they're good - but the salsa was warm. Is that a Texas thing, or unique to that restaurant? It's kind of like salsa marinara - not so good.
On to Houston for the night. A couple of funny things along the way:
We passed "Hollering Woman Creek" - I'd love to hear that story!
I got bitten on the foot by a swarm of tiny ants. No harm done, but weird.
Houston has a National Museum of Funeral History. Hmm. Fun vacation spot.
No comments:
Post a Comment