San Antonio Grand March

Large crowds gathering outside the Alamo for no apparent reason.

The vibrant River Walk and the Christmas Grand March

Enjoying supper on the River Walk

On our last night in San Antonio the whole of the city seemed to converge on the River Walk for what seemed to be a Grand March. Even little tiny children paraded along at 10:30pm to see and be seen. It was quite a spectacle with the cascade of coloured lights falling in streams off the tall cypress lining the water. We wondered how many fall in the river. The river cruise boats speed along in quick succession. I felt for a few ducks that had to scurry out of their way.
Many of the buildings that line the walk are made of limestone. Even the rural houses and town buildings are made of the soft stone. It has a

More of the Grand March outside our restaurant

nice effect. The soft colour blends in with the earth and vegetation, seeming to be a part of it.
As we drove north to Blanco a few days ago into the hill country I was stunned to see a plethora of Fireworks buildings - shacks set up along the highway simply for the sale of firecrackers. Sometimes there were 4 in a 100 metre span. What on earth are they doing with all of those firecrackers? That and tiny horses. Field after field of tiny horses eating hay. Despite driving one of the most scenic drives in Texas - The Devils Back. I really can't say that the hill country is that remarkable. Just undulating waves of leafy trees in a sparse grass. The relief isn't that great so that from the car it is mostly trees.
Today we went to the zoo. Quite a pretty zoo. The Mocking birds that greet you at the entrance seemed to have memorized all of the exotic bird sounds from within so you immediately are transported to somewhere tropical.

A cute little Hippo Bum

The hippos were darling and didn't seem too bored. The very graceful Okapi even tried to sniff me with his vomer. The poor African dog seems to need some anxiety meds - endless pacing. Even the elephants were rocking back and forth. The whole thing gives you quite a despairing feeling. Animals in captivity definitely suffer but then the grim reminder that very few of them will exist in the wild. All in all Zoos are hard to visit for all of the terrible feelings they evoke.

Waiting in the Airport to be whisked back to the winter wonderland and a white Christmas.
Despite the wild shopping that I

Some weird bird who was obsessed with pecking my shoes

A curious Okapi

 witnessed and the plethora of decorations - the Christmas feeling doesn't seem that strong here to me and it is probably the lack of the white stuff. Even though I sometimes catch a sniff of pine - the trees are not that common here and without their leaves the cypress don't smell.

A very restless wild African dog.

San Antonio TX

The Emily Morgan Hotel in the background at Sunset

San Antonio is hot. Quite hot. Almost too hot to walk around. This is a nice change from record snow falls in Nelson.
I always wondered why the Gaines family were so insistent that I would love San Antonio. Now I know. It is a unique North American city in that the hub of downtown is so social. The core of this social atmosphere is the river walk. It is very unusual in that it is a recessed walkway around man made canals that is full of people walking and eating at outdoor cafes. Apparently most of these people are tourists: according to the guide books the downtown is devoid of the locals trying to make a living. It doesn't seem to matter who they are - they all are having a good time and you feel like you are a part of something that is happening.
Historically the San Antonio river did wind through the downtown but a tremendous flood in the 20's that killed over 50 people saw the downtown bend almost paved over. Two young women apparently had the foresight to see that would be devastating and managed to convince the decision makers to turn it into a canal system. This stroke of brilliance was executed by the WPA in 1938. The action not only saved all of these 500 year old cypress trees lining the banks but created an unsurpassed social core that makes the city.

Really a person could camp downtown and endlessly walk the river walk and feel like they were really living.

Happily ensconced in our room

The infamous Alamo at night

All the horse drawn carriages beside our hotel

Where have all the telephones gone?

Joop descending to the River walk.
Our hotel  the Emily Morgan is a refurbished medical arts building from the 20's that sits right beside the Alamo. God knows why but apparently even non Texans feel a real kinship to the Alamo. Every sign in town points to it and this has helped us navigate and never get lost. The clip clop of all of the horses carting people around in carriages gives it a nice nostalgic feel. The hotel has been nice but we hit it during a transition to Double Tree Hilton which meant that the only priority in the world was making sure every awning had Double tree painted on it and who cared about the internet not working for several days. I'm sure the manager after multiple interactions with Joop has reconsidered this oversight for the next Hilton takeover. And if he hasn't lets hope Joop and I aren't tenants.

San Antonio's large Hispanic population means that the flavour of  is mostly Mexican. I have yet to see an employee of our hotel that is not of Hispanic descent. Because Jalapenos don't agree with Joop's digestion we have had to consult guide books for restaurant recommendations. Weirdly every restaurant we have picked has disappeared.
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River Walk

River walk

Charming boat captain

Sad home in the King William area

Less sad home

Joop pointing out all of the Bald Cypress roots - wildly searching for water

Texas Christmas wreath at the Botanical Gardens

The happy couple in Wimberly TX

As wonderful as walking the city is we felt forced to use our rental car and justify the $30/day valet parking fee. It is hard to navigate San Antonio with any map. Every purchased map has not had enough detail. As chief map reader I have an unerring ability to land us in "Military Installations". After  stopping our car at a check point, the guard felt sorry for us. Seeing my frazzled look and maps scattered all over my lap as I claimed: "We're just trying to find the botanical gardens!" Despite:"You are in the middle of a Military Installation Ma'am." and demanding our driver's licenses, he let us sneak through.

One of the more posh historic areas of town had a combination of derelict abandoned homes with beautifully maintained mansions. I think this juxtaposition seems to permeate all of San Antonio. Even the bustling downtown River Walk exists interspersed with gigantic vacant old department store buildings. That same disparity even permeates the vegetation.
                   
The trees of this region are very interesting. The most fascinating are the bald cypress that also line the river walk. They are swamp trees that lose their leaves every fall and have these weird knobbly roots that madly search in the adjacent body of water for something. The combination of these deciduous trees that lose their leaves with the scrabbly oaks that don't, gives a desolate feel in December as though most the trees are dead.
The region has been in a drought for a few years. Neighbouring towns have very paltry rivers. I quizzed a young girl working at a cafe in Wimberely what was the draw for so many young people to the town as all the stores were staffed with young people. She didn't know. The only draw she could think of was river tubing in the summer. Judging by the trickle of water in the river I don't think that is a very viable recreation option. She agreed that the last few years have been rough but she stated with quite a degree of authority that it would rain in the next couple of years and the river would return. Needless to say given the precipitation reality the trees are all interspersed with cacti.