Always remember and never forget

Yesterday, we left the hotel and went to the place next door- but here’s the thing- next door to our hotel is The Alamo.  The church building that most people think of when they remember the Alamo was actually being shown by appointment only.  One of the Covid protocols we’ve seen on this trip.  By the time we arrived, our fellow spring breakers had booked all of Sunday and all of Monday in the church- which, honestly, Cas and I have been in before.  We were welcome to purchase an audio tour, which was just one of those playback devices that you could listen to as you approached different spots on the Alamo grounds.  With that, though, we got a pass into the exhibit hall, which features lots of cool artifacts.  There were cannons, guns and personal artifacts from Alamo legends.  I was particularly taken with William B. Travis’ childhood poetry book.  Leave it to me to prefer a book of poems to a room full of battle artifacts, cannons and guns.  Hey- I am who I am.  

After that, we walked back to the hotel so we could check out the bullet holes in the bar.  As previously mentioned, the Menger bar was a place where Teddy Roosevelt recruited a good number of Rough Riders.  As you may imagine, getting the attention of a group of volunteer soldiers in a bar can be challenging.  That is the reason given for the two Roosevelt-made bullet holes in the wall to the left side of the bar.  Cas observed that they were off to the side- because it would be unsafe to fire into a crowd.  I guess they were respectful bullet holes in a bar?  But the night before, the place was too crowded, so we had to check it out on a Sunday afternoon when nobody was there.  Mission accomplished.  

Since that was a quick stop, we had plenty of time for a hop-on-hop-off tour bus.  We took if through the first half of the journey, excusing ourselves for lunch at Augie’s Barbecue.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  We ate so much that we had a nap when we got back to the hotel.  But seriously, no regrets.  Somebody there figured out how to take a hunk of brisket and add a chicken-fried coating to it before slapping it on a bun.  You’d probably need a nap, too.  We sat at a picnic table in a gravel outdoor space, listening to old country music and eating barbecue.  Hooray, Texas!

As we arrived back at our hotel (which we found out on our bus tour is the oldest hotel in Texas), the intended one hour nap kind of went past that- no matter, because when we woke back up, we were ready for a walk to the Tower of the Americas.  This is one of the space-needle looking things that lots of cities have.  Cas and I had been to the top together on our very first road trip, so, of course, we had to do it again.  Rather than buy a tourist ticket, we asked if we could just head to the bar for a cocktail.  This is the perfect plan, and a strong recommendation for anyone headed to San Antonio.  Save the ticket price, have a cocktail at the bar, but skip the restaurant, because you’re probably not dressed for it.  

Today, we’re getting an early start, because Cas wants to find a place with awesome Tex-Mex breakfast.  In the meantime, here’s a photo from our evening travels yesterday and a link to our photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qd4HG7MEc8auwHvF6