San Antonio, Texas

Friday, April 21

We were sad as we said goodbye to Bill and Linda, who are such fun and fabulous hosts, as they headed back to Dallas and we headed for San Antonio with Burgess and Pat.

San Antonio is famous as the site of the Alamo, but before we visited it we took a boat ride on the river that runs through San Antonio. The river area has beautiful trees growing beside it and lovely gardens, as well as many bridges, and the whole area is now known as Riverwalk. We enjoyed hearing about the history of this town and the buildings that line the banks of the river as our guide pointed out the many points of interest.

It was a sunny day, and refreshments were required before we hit the Alamo. Prickly Pear Margaritas and guacamole made at our table by the river hit the spot, then we walked back to the Alamo. Our tour guide explained the layout of the Alamo as it was in 1836 and where the Mexicans attacked after a 2 week siege. Unfortunately the defenders were outnumber massively and they were overrun and all 200 of them were killed, including Davey Crockett and Jim Bowie. This is an important event in the history of Texas, and the USA have used the battle cry of "remember the Alamo" ever since. The whole complex and the museums inside the compound are really well done, so we really enjoyed seeing it.

We then had a 2 hour drive back to Austin where we kicked back and had a quiet night after another wonderful day.