A Visit to the Alamo

The grandkids were in San Antonio with their Dad this weekend. Morgan is writing a report on William Barrett Travis complete with bibliography (3rd grade) and her teacher suggested that since her Dad lives in San Antonio, she should ask if he would take her to the Alamo. Of course, he was happy to do that and I got invited along with the four of them.

On our way to the Alamo, we walked past Travis Park named after, you guessed it, William Travis. The 2.6 acre park in the heart of downtown San Antonio was part of the original Alamo Mission. It was deeded to the city in 1870 by Samuel Augustus Maverick. There is currently a collection of art from San Antonio's Sister City, Monterrey Mexico, on display in the park.

From a distance, the statues look like rabbits.

Some of the statues were very colorful.

We arrived at the Alamo a few minutes later. People think of this structure as the Alamo but it was actually an unfinished church at the time of the famous battle.

The famous battle was fought in 1836. The tour of the church and grounds at the Alamo is free and, although there was a long line, it moved along quickly. They only allow so many in the church at one time and you cannot take pictures inside.

A group decked out in appropriate clothing was scattered throughout the grounds which made the tour even more interesting since we have all been there a number of times.

The uniforms below were like those worn by Santa Anna's troops.

This "gambler" was showing visitors how to play.

This would have been a prominent local citizen.

They even had a demonstration of firing the weapons of the time. The gentleman in the flat crowned hat was dressed like William Travis.

This is another building on the grounds that I hadn't noticed over in the corner before. I didn't get a picture of the barracks that were built as part of the wall around the area. They are now set up as a museum.

We were surprised at how much Morgan already knew about William Barrett Travis from a library book but she took lots of notes on facts for her report.