Austin, TX (day 2) to San Antonio, TX (day 1)

Friday – March 3  Left Austin after breakfast. Here we are on a bright clear Austin morning.  I am remembering it was on this day 100 years ago, that my Grandpa Kelly was born.

 We drove to San Antonio and got settled into our RV park south of the downtown area.

We drove the three miles to downtown and found parking in a parking garage. The Ford barely inched through the entry. I found this interesting because Texas is such truck country.  So we walked downtown for several hours.  First stop – “The Alamo”.  The Alamo grounds consist of the Alamo mission which was a mission church built by the Spanish.  Today it also includes the some of the remaining barracks and fortress that were present during the Battle of Alamo on March 6, 1836.

A monument to the men who died at The Alamo is outside the grounds.   As a kid, I watched Fess Parker as Davey Crockett. I was an adult, the first time I heard with dismay that David Crockett was killed at the Battle of the Alamo. Nearly 200 men (including James Bowie and William Travis) were killed by the Mexican troops, who considered Texas to be their territory.

We found the Riverwalk and walked from Navarro Street to The Riverwalk Mall.  I didn’t realize how much of the river had been developed as a kind of greenbelt/restaurant row. The Riverwalk is about 5 miles of trail, but downtown it is one level below street level and it shaded by trees with bars, restaurants and shops on both sides. The Rio San Antonio riverboat tours run on the river for the tourists.  We decided to see if we wanted to ride the river later in the weekend.  It definitely was not an E ticket ride, but there would be some history lesson thrown in for good measure.

We walked to the end of the Riverwalk to the Tower of the Americas.  Again, we decided not to take the ride to the top. Cause we would wait until Saturday afternoon for a better view.  It was a little cloudy.  Kelly had recommended the Tower as a great way to see the layout of the city.

The Tower of the Americas is a 750- foot observation tower/restaurant located at HemisFair Park in Downtown San Antonio. The tower was built as the theme structure of the 1968 World's Fair. You can see the elevator just over the treetops.