Remember the Alamo…

… but don’t plan on spending a lot of time there!

So as you may remember, I trekked down to Texas (San Antonio to be specific) this past week to go to a conference. As it happened, I arrived as a little early for the conference and found myself with a couple extra hours. I was told by everyone that I just “had to go see the Alamo!”. According to the tourist information available at press time:

“The Alamo is not only one of Texas? most important historical landmarks, it is also one of the state?s most popular tourist attractions, with over 2.5 million visitors annually.”

Look at the picture below for about one minute… done? You have now seen the Alamo! That picture is about all there is to see. Sure, you can go inside and see a reproduction of a painting of Davey Crockett and a vest that he once wore. Oh! Don’t forget there are 2 muskets that he may or may not have used. I toured the Alamo at an extremely leisurely pace and it took me about five minutes. I guess you just have to see it if you’re there…

The other thing aside from the Alamo that San Antonio has to offer is the Riverwalk. I didn’t quite understand the concept of what people were trying to tell me when they told me to “take the riverwalk”. I was assuming that it was like the freedom trail in Boston and that the path just followed the river. As I was crossing a bridge over the river and I stopped to take a picture, I noticed some people walking into view. That intern led me to notice the stairs where they had come from. It turns out that the Riverwalk is like a little city below downtown. All the restaurants and shops have a below ground entrance accessible by the river walk. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So rather than ramble trying to explain it, here’s a picture…