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- The Alamo's
Chapel
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- Busking by
the Alamo
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Stats.:
Route:
- Austin
 3537
- Corpus Christi
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- Road Kill:
- UNKNOWN-5
- Lambs---1
- Guls---11
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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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