San Antonio. 13th October 2025.
Rather than drive into the city with all the hassle of traffic and parking we decided to catch an Uber. Within five minutes of calling the ride we were in the car and heading to the Center. Our driver was a 23 year old student who was driving to help pay for his Cyber Security degree. He was very interested in our plans for the road trip and we had a good conversation throughout the short drive. He dropped us off right outside the main gates of our first port of call, The Alamo. The timing was excellent as the mission was just about to open, so after getting our tickets and having the obligatory photo with the Davy Crockett statue we entered the church.
Originally built as a Roman Catholic mission, the Alamo was fortified and became a military base under the Mexican army.
It gained its infamy from the 13 day siege that took place in 1836 during the Texas revolution. Around 250 Texians held off over 1500 Mexican troops but were eventually defeated with all the revolutionaries killed. In subsequent battles the cry of “Remember the Alamo” served as an encouragement to the Texans which lead to their ultimate victory and the creation of the Texas Republic. Davy Crockett was one of the famous fallen together with Jim Bowie ( of knife fame) and a full list of all those who died together with their place of origin is shown on the mission walls. It’s interesting to see that were a number of British amongst them.
I remember seeing movies about the battle when I was younger and especially remember the Davy Crockett TV series. It would seem that I was not the only one as Phil Collins ( he of Genesis fame) was also a fan and became an avid collector of Alamo memorabilia. He donated his collection to the museum on site and there is apparently so much of it they are having to build an extension to house it all.
This historic site is very important to the history of the State and this is obvious to see by the volume of visitors it attracts. A great morning’s visit.
Next stop for us was the San Antonio Riverwalk, a city park that has been built alongside the river that contains a variety of shops and restaurants and art installations. Originally built as a flood defence system after a disastrous flood in 1921, the paved area is easily walkable but the best way is on one of the many pleasure boats. We chose a narrated cruise with a very funny and knowledgeable pilot who related anecdotes and stories as we passed by the various buildings……..
……… and art installations.
Lunch was now due and we picked a restaurant on the riverside and had a brisket sandwich (me) and a large plate of deep fried shrimp (Sylvia). I’m not sure what they feed the shrimp on but they were enormous but very tasty (Sylvia needed help finishing them).
All together a very interesting day in San Antonio.