San Antonio - Part 2

The Alamo is tucked in among the trees in the middle right

My new hobby, in the last few years, is walking around looking at interesting architecture (and my idea of "interesting" has expanded considerably). I did a lot of walking in downtown San Antonio (and some driving further out). The Tourist Information Center, across the street from the Alamo, has a pamphlet outlining an excellent architectural walking tour. I spent five hours on that one and had a great time! I also discovered that the people of San Antonio (at least the ones working in tourist areas) are very friendly. I'm not saying that people in Chicago are unfriendly, but when I walked into buildings there and asked if I could take photos, they usually just simply said "yes" (except for that mean lady in the Wrigly building who wouldn't even let me take pictures of the elevators). In San Antonio, when I asked if I could take pictures, not only did I get a "yes" but they would engage me in conversation about where I am from and often gave me information about the building.

The Menger Hotel, oldest continuously operating hotel west of the
Mississippi. Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders here.

I was taking some pictures of the exterior of the Gibbs Building (b. 1909), now the Hotel Indigo, when a worker stepped out and asked me if I had any questions about it. I did have a burning question, not about this building in particular, but about the glass blocks embedded in the sidewalks. You often see these in large cities, but I hadn't previously paid much attention to them. I suspected they were there to let light into the basement, but the glass here was a dark purple which seemed to defeat that purpose. John, who told me he is the "Hotel Ambassador" (and he also cleans it), confirmed that the glass is for lighting the basement, and he took me on a tour of the hotel which included the gym in the basement. The glass does not look dark at all with the light coming through it. He also noted that they leak.

 

The Gibbs Building is at the corner of Alamo and Houston Streets and occupies ground that was originally part of the Alamo compound. Cannons from the compound were found during construction of the basement.

John, the Indigo Ambassador

When this former office building was remodeled into a hotel, they saved the elevator fronts and built new elevators further back. There is a hallway behind these elevator doors with the actual elevators on the other side.

Individual safes, behind one large safe door,
previously used by businesses in the building

Original 1909 water fountain, marble walls, and mosaic tile floor

Original water pump in the basement

Crockett Block, 1882 - Italianate style commercial buildings across the street from the Alamo.
The taller building at the far right is the Hotel Indigo (Gibbs Building).

There is no problem walking right into the lobby of the 1937 Post Office and Federal Courts Building and taking pictures of the vibrant fresco murals depicting San Antonio's importance in Texas history. (Unlike Huntsville's own federal court building where they won't even let me bring my camera inside to take photos of their single WPA mural.)

Renaissance Revival style Post Office and Federal Courts Building, 1937 

Part of the fresco murals in the the lobby of the federal building 

Gothic Revival St. Joseph Catholic Church, 1871

86-ft tall marquee of the Alameda Theater

When the Alameda Theater opened in 1949 it was the largest 
Spanish-language movie and vaudeville palace in the country.

The Aztec Theatre, 1926

Medical Arts Building, 1926 (now the Emily Morgan Hotel)

The Medical Arts Building - Gothic Revival with terracotta details and ringed by gargoyles representing illnesses at the top of the building.

St. Mary's Catholic Church, modified Romanesque style, 1923
Modeled after the Sacred Heart Church in Lowell Massachusetts 

Mosaic mural, in the Paseo del Alamo (1981), depicting San Antonio landmarks

The 23-story Art Deco Nix Professional Building was the largest and tallest hospital in the U.S. when it opened in 1930. It is still a hospital (the decoration on the elevator doors includes a patient being attended in a hospital bed). After asking the security guard if it was OK to take pictures, I moved over to another area. When the lady who was checking in patients saw me taking pictures she asked me if I wanted more info about the building and gave me a copy of a newspaper article. San Antonio is just so super tourist-friendly!

     

Italianate style building, 1890's

The charred "remains" of Crockett, Travis, Bowie, and other Alamo defenders are in a marble coffin in the San Fernando Cathedral (but there is some dispute about that).

San Fernando Cathedral, built 1738-50

There is a lot of cool sculpture around downtown.

 

The Spanish Governor's Palace, completed in 1749

Romanesque Revival style Bexar County Courthouse, 1892. 
Made of Texas granite and red sandstone.

Fabulous interior of the Old Alamo National Bank headquarters, 1929
Now the Drury Plaza Hotel. The stained glass shows the Alamo.

The Gothic Revival style Tower Life Building was built in 1929. It has a gorgeous lobby. After finding out I'm from Alabama, the friendly security guard started talking football. At least I had some idea what he was talking about (the recent college football championship) because my kids told me about it.

Side view of City Hall , Renaissance Revival, 1892 - towers and dome removed in 1927 to add a 4th floor. (Reminded me of the Iolani Palace in Honolulu.)

All sorts of interesting sights downtown

Atlee B. Ayers was a major regional architect. He designed this building, now called the Atlee B. Ayers Building, and he also had offices here. Check out the book-matched marble on the walls (the butterfly-like mirror image matching of the natural patterns).

Another beautiful building we drove by

The Old San Antonio City Cemeteries (just over a mile from downtown) were established over a 51 year period beginning in 1853. There are a total of 31 cemeteries all side by side. Some were established by the city and some by churches, synagogues, fraternal organizations, and local families. One is a National Cemetery and another was established by the United Confederate Veterans. There were not a lot of large monuments, but one of the Jewish cemeteries has a beautiful Egyptian Revival mausoleum.

More cool sights around San Antonio:

Pig Shack

Streamline Moderne style apartment building

This drive-in has been restored as a community gathering place
with a lawn for movie nights and picnics

The new main library

San Antonio - Part 1

Technically, San Antonio (the 7th largest city in the U.S.) is within a day’s drive of Huntsville, but I don’t recommend it unless you really enjoy long drives. It took me 16 hours (with quick pit stops). I was exhausted by the time I got into my hotel bed, but maybe that was because I had a headache the last 7½ hrs of the drive. I had originally planned to stop overnight along the way, but I got ambitious half way through and told the kids we were weren’t stopping (they always prefer a long drive rather than a stop on the way).

The next morning I was rested and ready to explore. I had never been to this city before. I immediately feel in love with San Antonio, from their freeways (with cool double-decker sections) to the easy-to-get-around downtown, to all the cool sights! And the gorgeous January weather was perfect for lots of outdoor exploration. My kids spent most of their time visiting with their friend (this was the first time they actually met in person) and I got to do my own thing sightseeing – no one else’s tired feet, boredom, or hunger to deal with! I did take the kids to a couple of art museums, the River Walk and, of course, the Alamo.

We all loved the River Walk! This "American Venice" is one-story below street level and is a great place to walk in the day and at night. Some of the bald cypress trees lining the walk are several hundred years old. Others were planted by the WPA, which also built about 3 miles of walkways and 20 bridges. Since then many more miles have been added so that it stretches to the missions, museums, and historic neighborhoods.

Casa Rio - the River Walk's oldest restaurant, opened in 1946

The Arnseon River Theater
The amphitheater seating is on one side of the river and the stage is on the other.

I thought a restaurant was piping out jungle sounds but
it turned out to be birds like this one in the trees.

The boat tour turns around at this dead end by the mall

   

Under a bridge

Apparently, January is the perfect time to tour Mission San Antonio de Valero, aka the Alamo, because it wasn't crowded at all. There are only two of the original buildings left here - the chapel and the long barrack (the quarters and offices of the Spanish missionaries). I appreciated the fact that the audio tour and the signs make it clear what was there and what wasn't there at the time of the Battle of the Alamo and also who built what parts and when. For example, although construction began in 1758, the chapel did not have a roof until the U.S. Army installed a wooden one in the 1850's. The current barrel-vaulted cement roof was built in 1921. (The Spanish had planned for the church to have three-stories and to be topped with a dome, but it was never completed.)

 

A view you don't usually see in pictures - the back of the church at the Alamo

A "new" building at the Alamo, 1936

The Alamo Cenotaph in the Plaza

The San Antonio Museum of Art in the historic former Lone Star Brewery complex is on the River Walk. It has a great collection spanning all of history, and a very cool building. 

The Briscoe Western Art Museum is also on the River Walk and it occupies San Antonio's first Public Library building, built in 1930 (and a newly constructed pavilion). Their artifacts include a sword that belonged to General Santa Ana and a saddle that belonged to Pancho Villa. Both of these museums are free on Tuesday afternoons/evenings, which is when we went.

On my own, I got to walk all over downtown (including a self-guided architecture tour), see all the missions on the Mission Trail, go on a Rio San Antonio narrated cruise, check out the view from the Tower of the Americas, drive around hunting out interesting architecture and odd attractions (such as the pig shack), visit the Cemeteries of Old San Antonio, tour a couple of houses in the King William historic district, and check out several historic churches. Four full days in the city was not nearly enough time. I need to go back because I still have a lot more on my list to see.

One of my favorite things was being able to see five Spanish missions all within a 10-mile line. (In California they are so much farther apart.) The San Antonio Missions National Historic Park includes four missions. The Alamo is under different ownership and is not part of the National Historic Park. There is no charge to tour any of the five missions (although you can pay for an audio tour at the Alamo). The Alamo is definitely not the most impressive of the missions. Mission San Jose is much larger and was almost completely restored by the WPA in the 1930's. It has a gorgeous facade and the 2-story arched ruins of the original convento. All of these missions' churches originally had their stonework covered in plaster and frescoes. Mission Concepcion still has visible frescoes in the interior. All four missions in the park are active Catholic parishes with regular services.

Mission Concepcion, built 1755

Mission San Jose, "Queen of the Missions", built 1720-82

Mission San Jose's baroque style "Rose Window", 1775

   

Mission San Juan Capistrano, founded in 1731
The church was completed in 1756.

Mission Espada, established in this location in 1731
The church was completed in 1756.

I am very interested in World's Fairs, so I was excited to find out that HemisFair Park in San Antonio was the site of a 1968 World's Fair, and many of the original buildings are still standing. These include the Texas Pavilion, the U.S. Pavilion, the Mexican Pavilion, and Tower of the Americas. This is the only tower/observation deck I have visited where the fee allows you to go up as often as you like during the day of purchase. I went back again in the evening to see the sunset from the tower.

A map from HemisFair '68

The 750-ft Tower of the Americas

Fountains in the modern HemisFair Park

Up in the tower at sunset

The Palacio del Rio hotel (foreground) was built in 202 working days
for the fair. It was a record for modular construction at the time.

Each of the 496 prefabricated rooms was put in place by crane in 46 days.

The State of Texas Pavilion, now the Institute of Texan Cultures

The United States of America Pavilion, now a federal courthouse 

United States of America Confluence Exhibit Hall,
now a judicial training center

The Mexico Pavilion, now the Mexican Cultural Institute

The King William historic neighborhood was established by prominent German families in the mid-19th century. I toured the Steves Homestead Museum and Villa Finale. The latter is full of the last owner's collections of various antiques and artifacts. The neighborhood had gone downhill, and many of the grand houses had been subdivided into apartments, when Walter Mathis bought this house in 1967. He restored it and was responsible for restoring 14 more homes and rejuvenating the neighborhood. He gave his house and collections to the National Trust for Historic Preservation before his death in 2005. A pamphlet provides a self-guided walking tour of the neighborhood - one of my favorite things to do - beautiful homes and interesting architecture.

Villa Finale

Steves Homestead

 

 

Continued in Part 2.