Sticking with our San Antonio visit, the Alamo is an eerie must
By Brian Miller
There is so much to do in San Antonio that a weekend will not just do but sometimes that is all we have to spend in a city. If you have a weekend to spend in the great Texas city of San Antonio then you have to make time for the Alamo.
Earlier we discussed the River Walk in San Antonio but we can’t have a trip to the city without visiting the most well-known mission in all of America, if not the world. The Alamo.
You think you know all about the Alamo but you don’t. I love history and growing up in Texas for a few years, we learned a lot about the Alamo but when I actually arrived at the mission for the first time, I realized that what I thought I knew, I didn’t.
There is something surreal about visiting here. It sits in heart of downtown, a short walk from the River Walk and other San Antonio downtown areas. It’s out of place in some ways but at the same time, the fact that it is a historic relic in the middle of a metropolis is incredible.
The Alamo is a national treasure and yes, the names of those who died there were real people, but seeing it first hand is where history meets the present. You can tour the rooms that housed the soldiers and their families. Enter through the mission doors and learn why this was so important for the Texans who defended it against Santa Anna’s army.
Visit their website for a great side-by-side digital 360-degree view of what the Alamo looked like at the time of the battle right next to how it looked now.
The Battle of the Alamo began on February 23rd and ended on March 6th, 1836. The siege was set up when Texan militia decided to hold the mission against the forces led by General el Presidente Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. 100 Texan soldiers were stationed at the Alamo ahead of the attack.
Santa Anna ordered his army to kill everyone who was at the mission and that would lead to an uprising across the state of Texas looking for revenge. They would find it later when General Sam Houston would defeat Santa Anna’s army at the Battle of San Jacinto.
At the Alamo historic mission site, there are remains from the battle on display and a layout of what the garrison faced as the Mexican Army began setting up around the mission.
For all the travel I did in Texas, the Alamo was special. It remains a part of our nation’s history and is something we shouldn’t miss if we are taking a trip to San Antonio.