Ella took a day off school to run around with the old folks today. We (Damian, Tandy, Ella, Pam, me and Mike) drove past schools, and through school (CAMPUS) parking lots. Lexi's Claudia Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson High School is enormous. Over 3,000 students and spread all over hill sides. Band and Football. And more Band. And more football. Ella will be going to Braeden's Junior High next year. And even Ella's elementary school is very large and new looking, perched on a hillside. There are a lot of hills in this area, too. It's not flat. This area is called "The canyons", and even though they are not big hills, it does impede how far you can see. That and the trees, clouds and rain and mist this week.
We drove to the downtown area to see where Damian has worked in years past. The downtown San Antonio and nearby areas is a medical area. Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian hospitals, plus the VA and University of Texas medical schools and hospitals. And more. We meandered through the area, driving through the different parking lots and such.
One of the common tourist areas is a set of boots by the mall.
Tandy taking our photo by the boots
Cute 10 year old Ella (almost 11), along for the ride.
Mike and Damian.
After the mall, and we didn't do any shoppin or anything, just drove by to take the photos, we drove to another area of town to find a very poplular barbeque spot that is near the zoo. Texas barbeque is essentially smoking the meat, I believe. It was very good. It was a LOT of food! The place was Auggie's, I believe. And it has a huge pink pig, they have a traveling bus and end up at tailgate parties, etc. They are quite popular.
You should have seen the size of the plate of meat that Ella got! Of course, she didn't end up eating it. She ate the bread and we brought the meat home. She is an incredibly picky eater, but she's the only one. The rest of us ate like, um, little piggies? I had a pulled pork sandwich.
Then we headed over to The Alamo. We walked through the compound, I bought a magnet in the gift shop. It's a really nice memorial. There was an "Autry" on the list of "heroes" that were named on the plaques inside the sanctuary. They have lots of other museum exhibits about the settlement of this area of Texas. I kind of snooze through history lessons, it's still not straight in my brain (Spanish, Mexican, Texan, Indian, German...even French), but I enjoyed seeing the artifacts and the renditions of life during those periods. It was a rough life, I think. All pioneering things are. Here are some photos of our meanderings though the Alamo compound.
I loved these huge Live Oak Trees that were throughout the compound. Their branches were so low they touched the ground in areas. They had lights strung all around them, but were not lit (and it was daytime, anyway...but I'm guessing it is really pretty in the dark!)
And, yes. It was cold. I think in the high 40's, breezy, damp and sprinkl-y on occasion. Overcast. Cold. We wore our jackets and Ella wore a blanket, too.
This pretty courtyard area had another of the live oak trees, plus a pretty fountain.
Mike noticed there was a lizard on the fountain's center piece. The lizard's tail is in the water. brrrr. Tandy pointed out that they are cold-blooded creatures and it was odd that it would WANT to be in the water!
After we were done "Remembering the Alamo," we did the River Walk boat tour. It's a 35 minute narrated boat ride and Mike and I really enjoyed it. It is a lovely area and the tour was informative about how they manage flooding, some of the history of the area, etc. I didn't realize the river itself started just a short distance from the city at a spring. I figured it flowed to the ocean from there, as most rivers do, but I figured it started farther away and San Antonio was somewhere in the middle. Not so. Anyway, it was very enjoyable and I saw interesting architecture and learned some new things. Pictures below.
Waiting in the line to get aboard.
a successfull (?) selfie?
Many of the trees are very old cypress trees. Hundreds of years old.
Some parts of the river are shallow, and originally in the settlement, cattle was a big deal. This is the "crossing" area where it was shallow and they herded their cattle across at this poing. There are museums along the river, but mostly it seems to be restaurants.
Ella and Damian.
Mike and (Ella? A pink and green blob?)
What our boat looked like. They are new ELECTRIC boats.
Another, closer, view of the river crossing with cattle. It's a lovely bronze sculpture.
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