Monday, February 19…continued – After our visit to the El Mercado in San Antonio, we then walked up to the 18th-century San Fernando Cathedral. It is the first church built in San Antonio, the oldest standing church in Texas, and one of the oldest cathedrals in the U.S. San Fernando Cathedral was founded by a group of 15 families who came from the Canary Islands at the invitation of King Phillip V of Spain and is the oldest, continuously functioning religious community in the State of Texas. This beautiful Catholic Cathedral has many gorgeous stain glass windows and beautiful religious statues. In a small room near the entrance is the tomb of the Alamo defenders. A small sarcophagus contains the bones of Davey Crockett, Jim Bowie, Sam Travis and others killed at the Alamo.
Stations of the Cross were gorgeous.
Marsha and her love for ceilings.
The Alamo was our next stop. If you've never been to San Antonio, you might be surprised to find the Alamo located right downtown. The town actually grew up around this famous mission. It is also surprising to find the Alamo is fairly small. As the website so accurately puts it….
Their call for aid and refusal to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds stirred America and the world. Their sacrifice helped give birth to Texas.
Look at the window and you can see how thick the walls are.
There are several small tents with people dressed in period attire explaining different aspects of life and events from the time period.
A dentist explains the tools of his trade, and the doctor’s. Look at that hacksaw. WOW.
This gentleman explained how they loaded their guns. What a task. 
The visit and self-guided tour is free to the public and is a well-done presentation. We watched a movie from “The History Channel” about the battle…excellent. There is a nice museum in the long barracks located within the walls of the fort.
A hospital room.
Baptismal font.
Outside the Long Barrack.
This live Oak is amazing. Do the math. It is 146 years old.
After spending the next hour looking for where we parked the truck, we loaded up and headed back to the RV park. There for a minute we thought we might have to spend the night in the Alamo. Parking certainly isn't a problem in the area with numerous lots, decks, and metered street parking. We added to our exercise for the day by walking quite a few blocks out of our way but luckily found our parking spot.
Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. Our truck and 5th wheel need a good bath after our stay in the dusty desert around Big Bend. We'll see if the predicted thunderstorms hit the area or if more outdoor touring takes place.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!
We've been to the Alamo so many times and I could go again. What a great place to visit. I wish I could send you some sunshine but we really need to keep it all in Arizona. I'll share with you next year. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you mark the coordinates of where you park it can help you get back. The trick is remembering to mark them BEFORE you leave your parking space. I have not mastered the remembering part yet. :(
ReplyDeleteTwo more places on our list to see. When we tried to go to the Alamo last time we were there, we were too early and didn’t have time to wait for opening time. We did see the Cathedral, but we were there at night for a light show that was supposed to be screened on the facade, except that the show never started. At least we had a good dinner with friends, so it wasn’t a total loss.
ReplyDeleteWe can lose our car in the Walmart parking lot....lol Did not go to the church when we were there but enjoyed the Alamo. Louise would love to visit the church.
ReplyDeleteWe too have toured the Alamo a few times over the year some very interesting history there. Glad you found your truck again.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such useful information. We did not know about the cathedral. I told you that our daughter-in-law is a Travis. That's her great, great, great uncle.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to see Jeff and Tina?
Such a beautiful Cathedral and how somber it must have been to stand before the stone work of where Crockett,Travis, Bowie and others bones were buried.
ReplyDeleteI never realized until you shared the pic of how thick the walls were. Thanks for sharing!!
The cathedral is beautiful! We really enjoyed our visited to the Alamo. John being a history nut was really in his element:) Glad you aren't still wandering The Alamo!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful photo tour of the Alamo and the cathedral. Lucky you to be there when there were docents in costume! They didn't have that when we were there in January. I love living history events. Glad you didn't have to spend the night at the Alamo, though! :-))
ReplyDeleteNot sure when you guys are leaving San Antonio, but the Texas Bluebonnet Allegro Club is having a rally starting Wed, 7Mar, at the campground where you are staying. I think your blog is on my reading list because you used to have a Tiffin!!
ReplyDeleteThey are a very nice group of people, but mention my name and watch what a "WARM" welcome you will get, especially from 'Don'!!!!
Safe travels,
We followed your same footsteps in San Antonio it seems. The Alamo was much smaller than I thought it would be. And those stations in the church are beautiful. LuAnn
ReplyDeleteI will never forget my surprise when I saw the Alamo for the first time and how small it was. My grandmother bought me one of those big, little books when I was about 9 or so. It was about Jim Bowie and The Alamo. I read that book over and over with this picture in my mind of the Alamo being a huge fortress. I was just in shock to see it in person. But it was still a treat to be there, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every time we've visited San Antonio and the Alamo.
ReplyDeleteSure hope we can make it back there. Didn't see the cathedral and that would be amazing. So much neat history.
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