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Sunday 13th April, 1997

The Alamo's Chapel
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Busking by the Alamo
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Stats.:

Route:
Austin
3537
Corpus Christi

Road Kill:
UNKNOWN-5
Lambs---1
Guls---11

Today was perhaps the easiest so far. My motel was already on the South-bound I35. I was fairly happy to leave this place. The pastel shades of pink made me feel like I had spent the night in a sensory deprivation chamber.

For the first time since my trip started, I was joined on the road by large numbers of other vehicles. Even though this meant that there was much jostling for position, the traffic still flowed at a very reasonable pace.

The blanket of yellow and purple flowers were still with me, only now they were joined by patches of crimson and the grass was fresh spring-green.

The weather has changed from clear blue skies with temperatures in the nineties, to overcast and perhaps sixty degrees. This is a bit of a relief.

I got off the Interstate in San Antonio, at Commerce, and headed straight for the Alamo. If it was not for the fact that a Mexican band were playing in the center of Alamo Plaza, I would have gone straight by. I found parking and then walked back. For some reason, I had thought that more of the original mission still stood. Instead, only the Long Barracks and Chapel survive with a number of original walls. What was once the drill area, is now the plaza area with souvenir and apartment stores. The Chapel and Long Barracks are beautifully preserved and house exhibits describing the development of the Alamo from early 1700s Spanish mission, to destruction during battle. I, like many of the other visitors, walked around in semi-silence. My mind was full of the stories I had heard about the heroic figures that gave their lives here for Texas. I was also rewarded with a display of David Crockett's rifle. The legends surrounding the Alamo are as great as those of Greek and Roman times. But in this case we still have artifacts that can be proven to have belonged to the real people that became these myths.

It is a shame that the cloudy sky had resulted in such flat light. My memories will almost certainly be more vivid than my photographs.

San Antonio was also my lunch stop. I wandered into a small Tex-Mex joint in the Market Plaza and no sooner than I had sat down, than the stereotypical British Tourists walked in. It is fairly easy to spot this sort of Brits. abroad. This is largely due to the fact that they do not appear to use any sun block. Thus this group of four were all extremely red. I found it funny, but it must have hurt terribly. I can only put this British lack of respect for our skin, down to the complete lack of any sun back home. I clearly remember that as soon as there was any good weather, everyone would get as naked as they dared, and lay in it. And the validity of any holiday in continental Europe was measured by the vibrancy of your sub-burn when you returned. I, like many grew out of this after several painful adolescent experiences, where it was impossible to lay down and the touch of my cloths was a nightmare experience. Some seam to never learn. But, on their return home, these people would obviously be known by all to have had a very successful holiday in the US. The next thing that really made the cliche complete was that they complained that their bear was too cold! They were even laughing at how the condensation was forming on the outside of the bottles. "Can't be good for ya, this cold." I hope they have a vat of after-sun back at their hotel.

There was literally nothing of note on the I37 between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. As the I37 swings in on its final approach to the city, the traveler is treat to a beautiful vista of what look like refineries. But once past this you find yourself in an the sleepy seas side resort city. It reminds me a lot off Portsmouth, in England, probably because it does not have streets that follow a definite grid pattern, and the Aircraft Carrier Lexington is in permanent moorings and open to the public. Tomorrow I will explore this monstrous old piece of naval hardware. For now, I am heading out for a taste of some more Tex-Mex.


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