Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Tejas = Friend


Today started out with a tour of the Missions in and around San Antonio. We started at the Alamo where we walked around the small mission building. It was sadly unimpressive because the only thing that remains is the Mission, no walls, no war areas, no real history. But luckily our tour took us to 2 other missions. Second stop was at Mission San Jose,

where they have restored the majority of the mission and the grounds around the mission. Then we stopped at Mission Concepcion

which used to be the oldest unrestored mission in the US. There is a lovely window on the church called the Rosa Window. The outline of the window is used all over Texas and is a very familiar look. After that we were dropped off at El Mercado, a indoor market with a lot of Mexican shops. And a fantastic Panaderia where Callie and I bought cheap tasty treats. Then it was back to our hotel.
We found out a couple of interesting facts on the tour: 1. There are 5 missions in Texas and 4 of them are stilled being used as a church the only one not is The Alamo, who's actual name is Mission San Antonio de Vallejo. 2. The San Antonio river is really more of a creek here in San Antonio, other than what they have dammed up for the Riverwalk. 3. The name Texas came from an Native American word meaning Friend. The Spanish monks spelled it Tejas and named this area that name because of the Indians. When the Mexicans took over this area they changed Tejas to Texas but the x is silent in Spanish. Finally when the English speaking community moved in and saw the spelling they called it Texas as the way we know it.
We got to eat at our first Texas BBQ in Texas for lunch at The County Line on the Riverwalk. And it did not disappoint. Both Callie and I had Brisket and I got the fried okra (my first on any kind of okra). Callie said it reminded her of her grandma's food. Delicious! After our tour we hung out in our hotel room for a while, which was nice. Then we headed to dinner at a great Texas Steak house.
Last plan of the day was a trip on a boat down the river so that we could see the town at night.

Just shortly after our boat left the heavens opened up, and the rain fell on us. There was only a couple of umbrellas in the boat so Callie and I decided to ride out in the rain. It was a great adventure. We were soaked from head to toe.

Tomorrow we only have plans to visit Lulu's for their Texas sized Cinnamon Rolls. But we are still exploring what we will be filling our day with.

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