Tom Goes to the Alamo

On Tom's "things I really want to do" list, going to the Alamo was one of the most important. Today we went. They have a really great plan going here. You can get a round trip ticket here at the campground for $4.00 that will take you to downtown San Antonio and back. You can also take any of the trolleys that travel around the city stopping at all of the touristy places. We left this morning about 10:30, and got home around 6:30.
We were really disappointed in the River Walk. We were expecting something different. The water was mostly drained, and it looked all muddy and filthy. We thought we would find some shops and different little places to go into and browse. All that was there were restaurants. What a let-down. We had already eaten. We walked for awhile, and then decided to do something else. I mentioned that I thought this market thing looked interesting, so we rode down to the market. Ta Da!! We found what we wanted. There was a magician. The kids were really enjoying him. The we saw a couple of mariachi bands strolling through a place to eat. Then there was a terrific pan flute player. He was accompanied by a guitar player. They were really a treat. The shops there had some cute little thing we found for Connor. Of course the post cards came home with us, too. Mom and Dad like to see them. So does Tom's mom.
The Alamo was better than we thought it would be. Tom has been a Davy Crockett fan since he was about 4 years old. He even had a coon skin cap and buck skins. Today he saw one of Davy's guns. Some of Jim Bowie's famous knives were also on display. It was neat to be in the same room where the women and children were found after the fighting was over. They even have the ring Travis gave the girl as a remembrance of the ordeal. Some folks say there is nothing great about going there. They say there is nothing but the front wall left. Not true. Some of the barracks rooms and hallways are there and some of the outside wall. Much more than we anticipated.
As I said, we ate. We ate a Pat O'Brien's. It was very similar to the one in New Orleans. Tom had gumbo and Jambalaya. I had a craw fish cake sandwich. All was very good. Just before we caught the bus to come back, we stopped and got some Blue Bell ice cream. Tom had banana split, I had some more of that great Moolenium Crunch. The perfect end of a great day.
I would be very remiss if I didn't mention that we had lunch yesterday with Ed and Hazel. Our new friends who were also volunteers at CARE. They had gone 2 1/2 weeks before we did. We were so happy to see them. They had been in Mission, TX to visit with Ed's parents. On the way back to Lampasses, where they are staying near their kids for the holidays, they were coming through San Antonio, so we made plans to go to lunch. Sometimes it happens that you meet people you feel like you've know all your life. That's how we feel about Ed and Hazel. We'll see them again in Arizona. They have a spot in Apache Junction. We might meet up in Quartzite, too.
Tonight we are feeling like we walked all day. Maybe cause we did!!! We are really pooped. It's so good to be tourists.
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