Part One San Antonio. SW USA 2024: The Canadian Coddiwomplers*
*Coddiwomple: “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination."
San Antonio - Downtown
We left the Live Happy Winery and started on our longest drive so far on this trip. We generally keep to our 3/3/3 rule (drive ~300 km, arrive by 3 pm and stay for three days) but we must have lost our minds when planning this drive south. I think we just wanted to get there ASAP. At any rate, we spent almost 9 hours on the road, arriving exhausted at the Traveller’s World RV Park around 7 p.m.
Coming off the Interstate I was feeling a bit anxious as the neighbourhood we drove through was a bit – I’ll say sketchy. Older houses with bars on the windows (like in the Caribbean), peeling paint and collapsing verandahs. The park however is very nice and next door to a municipal golf course.
On Friday, we dealt with our chores, grocery shopping and laundry and weathered an extreme thunder and lightning storm that night. When we picked up the laundry we were quite surprised to see how it was bundled.
Saturday turned out to be an OK day, overcast but dry and we discovered that the River Walk Trail was right at the entrance to the campground. There is incredible cycling, walking, jogging along the San Antonio River and we were able to explore most of the River Walk Trail - 16 miles of concrete trail and we cycled most of it.
A Cycling/Walking Bridge across the San Antonio River
It was a great tour but too short. Our “captain” told us tons of stuff about San Antonio and what we were passing. There is a Hilton hotel that was built in less than 9 months for the 1968 World’s Fair called Hemisfair. The hotel was built at the last minute when they realized there wasn’t enough lodging for the number of people expected to attend the fair. Individual units were built offsite, furnished and decorated (including a Bible in the bedside table and hand soap in the bathroom) and then transported to the hotel site and put in place. The building looks just like a lot of stacked up boxes. The outside walls are not smooth but have an in/out texture.
We passed many interesting places, restaurants, shopping and art galleries, the River Walk downtown follows the river, naturally, but there are lots of levels and patios and bridges.
We went under the Selma bridge that was used in the filming of “Selma.” We also sailed past an outdoor theatre where the stage was on one side of the river and the audience seating on the other.
We heard about the historic Fairmont Hotel and later we walked passed it. The hotel was built in 1906 and moved about six blocks through downtown San Antonio in 1985. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The Fairmount represents one of the last remaining examples of small hotels known as “drummer hotels.” These were associated with traveling salesmen who would arrive via railroad and take a short stroll down the street to find affordable lodging.
The move took place over several days from a river site to its present location at the corners of South Alamo and Nueva Streets. It was moved because it was going to be demolished and was later designated the “largest building ever moved on wheels” by the Guinness Book of World Records. Apparently, people set up lawn chairs to watch its progress which took a week.
Fairmont Hotel
After our boat ride we had lunch at a place called Smoke – very tasty brisket tacos and lemonade.
On our ride home, we cycled by the Briscoe Western Art Museum and saw many western themed sculptures.
We also toured Mission Conception. This mission, established in 1731, is now the closest one to the city. On Sunday we toured the rest of the missions.
There are lots of interesting places along the River Walk and it is a beautiful ride.
So long for now.
Love from,
Jerry, Elizabeth, Misty, FJ (Flat Jesus), the Guys, Miss Adventure Too, and Clifford the Big Red Truck.
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