San Antonio

San Antonio was not originally a destination on this particular road trip. However, it had the only open seat for the GRE in the entire state of Texas. But I'm really glad I ended up there. Based on the glut of pictures alone.





The visibility on the first half of the drive from Dallas was not great.




But things got better after I left Waco. [Tasteless cult joke REDACTED]




This is the inscription on the small urn inside of the San Fernando Cathedral. The most unsung hero of the Texas Revolution, Juan Seguín, came back after the fall of the Alamo, scooped up the enormous pile of ashes, and had them interred here. He and Bowie were good friends. When Travis ordered Seguín to leave the Alamo as a courier, Seguín rode out on Bowie's horse.




This is the Governor's Palace! Where the Mexican Governor for the state of Coahuila y Tejas lived. Exception to the rule: Juan Martín de Veramendi. De Veramendi fell out of favor because he was too friendly with the anglos. Case in point: he sponsored Jim Bowie's conversion to Catholicism, a road stop on Bowie's path to Mexican citizenship. De Veramendi later became Bowie's father in law when his daughter Ursula married the land speculator from Kentucky. They lived together in the de Veramendi palace on Soledad street....which was TORN DOWN in 1910 to widen the road. [DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED] Later, when a cholera epidemic threatened, Bowie sent Ursula and their two young children to the de Veramendi home in Monclova. The cholera missed San Antonio and struck the mountains of Coahuila. Juan Martín, his wife Josefa, Maria Ursula, and at least one of the Bowie children all died in the span of a week.





And these are the gardens out back.




I love the gardens.




And you can rent them for special occasions!




A hospital mural as seen from Milam Park.




Epic t-shirt.




This was lunch: ceviche with talapia and julienned jalapeños. And popped corn. I thought the corn thing was weird, but it added a nice crunchiness. Anyway, it was deliciousness. Revived, I went on to glory.




This is the memorial built where the Alamo plaza used to be...it's the kind of big dramatic memorial that the place deserves.




This is the full footprint of the Alamo as it was in 1836. The building that remains is that small cross-shaped in the upper right hand corner.




And here she is!




RESPECT.


For the record, I did get some studying done. Well...enough.