San Antonio, Texas

Nathan and I were in need of a little getaway and decided to go to San Antonio.  Why San Antonio?  Well, neither of us had been there, we needed to go somewhere relatively close since we only had 5 days, the weather is great there, and we have heard great things about it.  I must say it is a pretty cool city.  The first place we went to downtown was the Alamo.  I remember vaguely learning about it in school, but it was really neat to see the museum and artifacts, and learn history all over again.

The grounds around the Alamo itself were really nice.  The landscaping was kept really natural and really beautiful.

 

 

This is one of the many stairways that leads from the street level down to the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is a really neat area that just has an awesome feel to it. Along the river is a narrow walkway you can stroll along and visit shops or eat at one of the many restaurants along the way. You will find friendly people, beautiful architecture, and even live Mariachi music.

 

This amazing mosaic mural is made up completely of natural stones that the artist collected over several years.  It was made as part of the World Fair that was held in San Antonio.

This is a catholic church called San Fernando.  It has a tomb with remains of the great heroes of the Alamo including Davy Crockett.

 

Along Mission Street there are several missions that are open to the public to tour.  This one is called the Mission Conception.

Mission San Jose.

I had to photograph this tree outside of the mission, it was so unique.  It appeared to be having a little nap on the ground with not much of a trunk sticking out of the ground.

One of the days we drove up to Austin, Texas and had a tour of the capital.  The building was truly amazing.  I have never seen that much granite and limestone in a building.  One amazing fact about this building is that no state or federal money was used to build it.  It was funded by selling property in Texas.  Nice!  We also toured the Lindon B. Johnson library which had a replica of how the Oval Office looked when he was president.  And....of course we had some BBQ!  Can't come to Austin without getting some good eats.

This star inside the dome of the Capital Building is actually eight feet wide.  Puts things in perspective doesn't it?

Senate Room where they do legislation.

 

About 30 minutes outside of San Antonio is a really cool place called Natural Bridge Caverns.  It is miles of underground caves made of limestone.  When water goes through the rock a process occurs which creates stalagmites and stalactites and creates the most amazing natural sculptures.  It was one of the coolest things if have seen.  Loved it!  It was so interesting reading the history of how the mine was discovered and how these crazy men would climb through something called the "keyhole" which they squeezed through to discover this amazing natural wonder.  So glad they made it accessible to the public.  Otherwise, I would have never seen it.  There is no way I would squeeze through a rock keyhole to see anything!

At Brackenridge Park there is a really awesome Japanese Tea Garden (even though the sign says Chinese, that is not what they really call it.)  The grounds were really nicely kept and the water was filled with colorful Koi fish.

We had the most amazing time.  We were able to catch a couple movies, eat lots of yummy food and just enjoy each others company.  We missed our kids a lot, but it was so nice to spend some quality time with just the two of us.  Thanks to my Mom for coming up and spending some time with the girls (I am pretty sure they wore her out!) Thanks to Megan, Cherie and Keith for helping out too.