Remember the Alamo!

Situated about 50 miles south of Austin and 50 miles north of San Antonio is the Canyon Lake RV Resort in the Texas Hill Country, a very pretty area that we had heard about for years. The resort is located on the edge of Canyon Lake with lots of trees for shade, and with the hills in the distance, you almost forget you’re in Texas. The first thing we noticed when we arrived Mon. was all the deer that meander throughout the park. They hang out close to the RVs and campers, munching on grass, berries, and whatever people might throw to them. They don’t seem to get too close to people, but one day Russ got as close as he could and threw a couple pieces of apple in their direction. Every night, and sometimes when they get scared, they head to the wooded property next door, which according to one of the resort members belongs to a hunter. He evidently runs it as a deer lease, and she said the people in the park feed them and then he turns around and shoots them during deer season. Russ and I understand that people like to hunt, but we have never understood the concept of hunting leases where the animals gain your trust and are treated like pets just to be shot when the time comes. Hunting leases are not confined to deer but also elk, quail, turkey, etc. But anyway, as depressing a thought as that is, we enjoyed watching the grace and beauty of a dozen or so deer this week, and the dogs just wanted to play with those “big dogs”.











Being this close to San Antonio, on Wed. we decided to visit the Alamo (http://www.thealamo.org/). Most people probably don’t realize that it is situated in the heart of downtown San Antonio surrounded by skyscrapers, shops, offices, and directly across the street from the famous River Walk. And yet it was a relatively peaceful and serene place. Out front is a 60 foot tall monument dedicated to the heroes and defenders of the Alamo including William Travis, Davy Crockett, and Jim Bowie. The walls of the church and the Long Barrack are nearly 250 years old, but during the time of the battle, the church did not have a roof or the very recognizable “hump” to the church façade. Over the years repair work has been performed, and they are currently in the process of “cleaning” the interior walls, a very delicate and arduous process. Photographs are not allowed inside the church so I have no interior shots to share. When we arrived we rented the audio tour to get a better understanding of the facility and the battle that lasted 13 days. As we walked the grounds, the battle came to life through the narrative. Those famous words “Remember the Alamo!” were a rallying cry at the Battle of San Jacinto several weeks later and throughout Texas as a way to avenge and remember those who fought so heroically against overwhelming odds for freedom. Texas' independence laid the ground work for Texas' admission to the Union.










Many of you may not realize that the Alamo is actually part of a chain of 5 missions that were established along the San Antonio River in the 18th century. It was originally named Mission San Antonio de Valero and was the first mission on the river. The Spanish missions helped form the foundation for the city of San Antonio, and all are currently operated by the National Park Service with the exception of the Alamo (it’s under the care and maintenance of the State of Texas). Since I’m always eager to get our National Park Passport book stamped at locations whenever possible, we ventured south to what we thought was the main visitors’ center, Mission San Juan Capistrano. It’s located in a very serene and rural setting that was once a thriving community. As we learned from the park ranger, the main location and visitor center was a few miles north of where we were, and we had actually found the most difficult of the missions to find. Unfortunately for us the church was not open to the public and their NP stamp had recently been lost, but she gave us directions to what would be our next stop, Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo, assuring us that they would have the NP Mission stamp.

Mission San Jose is located amidst the hubbub of a neighborhood (with a Pizza Hut almost right next door). Originally founded in 1720 as the second church with construction beginning in 1768, it became known as the "Queen of the Missions" because of its large size and importance as a social center. After getting the Passport book stamped, we walked the grounds, passing several stone ovens outside the Indian Quarters within the walls of the compound on our way towards the church. With its two domes, the church is quite an impressive site. Constructed of limestone, the church has two domes, and is still in use today under the direction of the Catholic Church. The exterior has been restored to its original Baroque architecture including the ornate sacristy window known as the Rose Window, or Rosa’s Window, designed by Pedro Huizar supposedly for his lost love. The interior of the church is very simply adorned with a lovely outer room complete with votive candles for lighting. Russ and I both paused a moment to take in its simple beauty and to each light a candle in prayer. Adjacent to the church is what remains of the Convento, which provided a residence for missionaries and visitors. Though I would have liked seeing the other two missions, we needed to start heading back.

On the way we stopped at the Camping World in New Braunfels just to look around, and while there asked for recommendations on a nearby place to eat. As we had learned earlier in the week, New Braunfels is a little bit of Germany smack dab in the middle of the Hill Country, and since we like German food, were directed to try Friesenhaus (http://www.friesenhausnb.com/ ), an authentic German restaurant. The owners came from Germany about three years ago and fell in love with the area so opened this restaurant. The food was excellent which we washed down with some German beer, and then got a couple pieces of scrumptious desserts to go. Shame we won’t be here next month for the Wurstfest!


I'm sure many of you who know the San Antonio area may wonder if we checked out the River Walk while in town. We did walk across the street and down to the lower level. What we saw was very pretty, then Russ said it looked like a place to spend money, I took a couple pictures, and we left. :-) The rest of the week was pretty laid back as Russ came down with a nasty cold. We leave Mon. for Lake Whitney, TX, and awaiting the next Tigers game we'll be attending in Waco against Baylor on Sat.