And the Mission Trail continues!

First, Mission Concepcion.

Second, Mission San Jose.

Let’s get ready for the last three.

Down the road from Mission San Jose you can find Mission San Juan and Mission Espada. They are very close to each other (as well as close to a small municipal airport).

As you can see above, we hit Mission San Juan at a bad time. They were reconstructing the mission. Some quick history: This mission was built here in 1731, right along the San Antonio River. The river bank provided a rich farmland, orchards and herding ground for livestock. The herds were said to hold at least 3,500 sheep and just as many cattle. Now that’s a lot of livestock!

Mission Espada is right around the corner. The oldest mission, founded in 1690 but built here in 1731 along the San Antonio River (just like Mission San Juan). Even today, this mission is pretty remote. (Below) This is where the old church stood. You can tell where the alter use to be.

Beautiful! Inside and out! I love the bells.

Some say the broken arch above the door was a builders mistake. I didn’t even notice it until I read about it. It looks beautiful, even if it was a mistake.

Last stop and it was in the dead center of town. That’s right. San Antonio was built to surround the Alamo. It’s amazing how many people there were visiting the Alamo compared to the other missions (which I found to be so much more beautiful and interesting). I’ve learned since I’ve moved to Texas, if you are going to live here you MUST visit the Alamo. (This is another Texas pride example.) It’s a huge part of their history so… I visited the Alamo.

As mentioned, the Alamo is in the dead center of town, near the Riverwalk. It is currently surrounded by huge buildings and shopping centers. Fun fact – all of the buildings which were built surrounding the Alamo had a building restriction – they could not cast a shadow over the Alamo. Quite interesting, eh? It is also the place where Ozzy Osbourne peed in public and has since been banned from Texas. (No joke.)

The Alamo was built in 1718 and was the first mission along the San Antonio River. It’s original name is Mission San Antonio de Valero. Let’s try a quick recap. The Alamo is most famous for the “Battle of the Alamo” which took place over a 13 day period between the Mexicans (around 4,000 soldiers) and Texans (between 100-200 men). The most famous defenders for Texas were Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. There is a lot of debate regarding the stories surrounding the Battle of the Alamo however a few things are certain. The Santa Anna army ended up seizing the Alamo and many, many lives were lost. For this reason, this area is known as the Shrine of Texas Liberty in honor of those who fought for Texas freedom.

 The Alamo is a popular place. Be prepared that there may be a line to walk in. Don’t worry, it goes pretty quick. Next up, be prepared that you cannot take any pictures inside and you cannot touch the walls. The inside of the Alamo is pretty much one big room with a couple small rooms on the side. There are some artifacts inside, a huge model showing how the Alamo looked back in the day and a memorial for all of the men who fought for Texas. Believe it or not, there was even one from Vermont! How about that?! There were also some volunteers on the property telling stories and showing some items which would have been used during this time period. The below pictures show some buildings on the property and this enormous tree that I love!