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January 2000

Texas - San Antonio

David Aaronson
2005-09-24 22:17:46

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We arrived in San Antonio early in the morning two days before New Year's Eve. Our first stop on the way towards downtown was at the McNay Art Museum on the north side of town. The art in the McNay museum came largely from private collections, and is housed in an elaborate mansion. It's of a very manageable size to see in a couple hours and has a good variety of everything from medieval stained-glass to modern art.

After that we headed downtown. Our original plan was to visit Hemisfair Park and then eat at the restaurant atop the tower there. Hemisfair park was built for the World's Fair of 1968.

The centerpiece is the Tower of the Americas (1) which pretty much dominates the skyline from anywhere in the San Antonio vicinity. Unfortunately, there was an hour and a half wait for the restaurant so we just went up to the observation deck instead.

This is a view of downtown from the top of the tower (2). The barely distinguishable contours on the horizon would be the so-called Texas Hill Country. More on our lack of Texas Hill Country photos later. The Alamo, the Riverwalk and other popular downtown attractions are nearly invisible from this height due to the surrounding buildings.

The Riverwalk (which we know an awful lot about due to the history-filled boat tour) was quite the successful urban renewal project. A horseshoe shaped section of the river in downtown was dam-controlled and in recent years the walks on either side of it have become lined with restaurants and shops. (Which did not have an hour and a half wait by the way). River level is a fair bit below the street level (the bridge in the photo). At night it is quite festive, with lights strung from the trees and along the banks.

Remember this? It's the Alamo of course, the most photographed thing for hundreds of miles around (3). Not to mention a shrine and pilgrimmage site for millions ...