We arrived in San Antonio Tuesday afternoon. It got pretty hot on Tuesday but then God sent us some delightful, refreshing, cooling rain. What a blessing when it is 90 degrees. It was a much more pleasant ride with the overcast skies and a revitalizing mist. As we entered San Antonio we stopped to have dinner and find a place to stay. We booked a darn nice hotel suite. Because it started to rain, and it was only a mile away, we scurried from the restaurant to the hotel on the bike without our helmets. We stopped at a traffic light and a San Antonio Motorcycle Cop came up beside us. He smiled and said hello. He looked at us and laughed and pointed at his helmet. Ed looked at him and said, “oh shit, do we have to have a helmet on in Texas?” The motorcycle cop nodded his head - yes. We pulled off and put our helmets back on our heads. 99.9 times out of 100 we wear helmets. We were just trying to get to this hotel before the rain began. What are the odds that we would run in to a cop!
We went to the San Antonio River Walk last night. This is one of the coolest cities I have ever been to see. The city is clean and the people are extremely nice. I guess San Antonians really take pride in their city, which they should.
San Antonio River Walk is a network of walkways around the San Antonio River linking several major attractions one story beneath downtown San Antonio. Shops, restaurants, people barges, foliage and special inconspicuous lighting line the River Walk. This makes up the amazing tourist attraction. It must have been fun down here when the Spurs played the Cavs. I can’t even imagine the excitement
History: (Skip if not a history buff)
The River Walk was the idea of a 27 year old architect, Robert Hugman in the late 1920s. As an alternative to paving over the troublesome San Antonio River, Hugman drew out a plan which allowed for both flood prevention and commercial development. Hugman maintained his office along the shallow river, despite warnings that he would be "drowned like a rat.”
Crucial funding came in 1939 under the WPA and resulted in the initial construction of a network of some 17,000 linear feet of walkways, about 20 intricately designed foot- bridges, and extensive amount of plant life including the live oak trees whose branches are visible from the street level.
Many downtown buildings have street entrances and separate river entrances one level below. This separates the automotive world (for delivery and emergency vehicles) from the pedestrian traffic below.
They say through the years the Walkway has been improved and extended, without losing its original character. It is truly something you should visit some day. It is so hard to do it justice in writing. Seeing is believing.
We haven’t seen the Alamo yet but it is pouring down rain and lightening is plundering upon us. Weatherman, Ed, said it will pass within the hour. So we will let the weather calm down, take it easy and lay back for a while before we go exploring again. This is a great resting place so far.
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