San Antonio

Value City Rating: $$$

Photos courtesy SACVB/SACVB

On the east side of Alamo Plaza is the most famous spot in Texas where 189 defenders fell on March 6, 1836, after repeated attacks by Mexican General Santa Anna’s army. Mission San Antonio de Valero (The Alamo) was established in 1718 as the city’s first mission. The chapel, one of the most photographed facades in the nation, and the Long Barracks are all that remain of the original fort. Long Barracks Museum and Library are near the chapel. The museum contains relics and mementos from the Republic of Texas and offers narration on the fall of the Alamo. The Alamo is located in the heart of the city, inside beautifully landscaped grounds.

Photos courtesy of SACVB/Al Rendon

Casa Navarro State Historic Site, in downtown San Antonio, is the restored home of Tejano patriot José Antonio Navarro. Navarro was an influential figure in Texas during the momentous fifty-five year period (1810-1865) when the state's destiny was forged. A leading advocate of Tejano rights, he is best known as "The Strongest Defender of the Rights of His People." Today, visitors tour Navarro's adobe home furnished with period antiques, read copies of his writing and discuss questions of history with informed park interpreters.

Welcome to the Guenther House, the elegant home of Pioneer Flour Mills' founding family. Located at the foot of the oldest historical district in Texas, this stately home has been completely restored and is now open for your visiting pleasure.

Carl Hilmar Guenther, the founder of Pioneer Flour Mills, built this elegant home in 1860. Pioneer has restored the home to welcome visitors as a museum, restaurant, and retail store.

The Guenther House is located on a bend of the San Antonio River, at the foot of King William, one of the oldest historical districts in Texas.
 

 Mission Concepcion

This church was named in honor of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Originally founded in 1716 in what is now Eastern Texas, the mission  was transferred to its present site in 1731. It was dedicated in 1755 and appears very much as it did over 200 years ago. The church is an excellent example of Spanish Colonial architecture, with colorful Moorish designs mixed with images showing heavy Native American influences. Mission Concepcion served for many years as the residence of the Father President, a missionary elected from among his Franciscan brothers. Friars held religious festivals here in an attempt to replace traditional Native American rituals by demonstrating Christian ideals through, among other things, morality plays and processionals such as Las Posadas. Frescos covered the front of the church and possibly most of the church interior. Today only three of the mission's rooms clearly show remnants of the colorful designs painted over 250 years ago.

Founded in 1690, near present-day Weches, Texas, this was the first mission in Texas. First named San Francisco de los Tejas, the mission was transferred to San Antonio in 1731 and given the name that it is known by today. The Spanish missions taught vocational skills to Native Americans in an attempt to help them become productive inhabitants. Among the vocations taught were blacksmithing, weaving, masonry, carpentry and farming. Irrigation already used by the Puebloan Native Americans was enhanced by construction of ditches, dams and a 15-mile network of aqueducts. The legacy of these Native American artisans is still evident throughout city of San Antonio today.

Founded in 1720, San Jose was the largest mission in the area. At its height of activity, its community consisted of about 300 Native Americans who subsisted on the harvest of its fields and livestock herds. It was known as the "Queen of Missions" with its imposing complex of stone walls, bastions, granary, and magnificent church completed in 1782. Restoration to its original state include  the carved doors at the church's entrance, the image of Saint Anne holding the infant Mary on the facade of the church, and the rose window of the sacristy. The cedar door panel of the sacristy is the original door and may be one of the very few items of wood that survived from the colonial period.

     Photo courtesy of SACVB/Al Rendon

This stone church was built in 1756 along with a friary and a granary. San Juan was a self-sustaining community with Indian artisans producing iron tools, cloth and prepared hides. The rich farmlands made cultivating many crops possible for the Indian farmers. The buildings of the mission standing today have no sculpturing, but the walls are thick and the rooms large. Most of the original square remains within the walls, offering an authentic picture of the mission plan. During the 1960s the chapel, priests' quarters, and other structures were rebuilt.

Photo courtesy of SACVB/Al Rendon

(Paseo del Rio)

The River Walk is an approximately 2½ mile cobblestone and flagstone path, bordered on both sides by the San Antonio River. It winds through the business district of the city and is filled with European-style sidewalk cafes, specialty boutiques, nightclubs and hotels. Cruise on the river and enjoy  a unique way to see the town and scenery of San Antonio. Green, lush foliage of towering cypresses, oaks and willows line the banks of the river, as well as gardens of flowers and ornamental plants. River taxis can deliver visitors to the Rivercenter, a dazzling shopping and entertainment complex for some more of San Antonio's fabulous shopping and dining

Enjoy seasonal floral displays, a native forest walk, exotic plants, glass pyramids and an authentic log cabin, all in this beautiful 33-acre garden. Gardens of different varieties include the Old Fashioned Perennial Garden, Rose Garden, Sacred Garden, Garden for the Blind, Kuamoto (Japanese Garden) and collections representing different areas in Texas. Also on site is the Lucile Halsell Conservatory featuring plants from around the world. Displays include the Exhibit Room, Desert Pavilion, Tropical Forest Room, Palm House, and Fern Grotto. Each of these displays is housed in individual glass buildings tucked into the earth and surround a sunken courtyard and tropical lagoon filled with aquatic plants. The garden and conservatory are a wonderful attraction often overlooked by visitors to San Antonio.

Fort Sam Houston is an active military base as well as a National Historic Landmark. It serves as headquarters for the Fifth Army and is home to the Army Medical Command and the Brooke Army Medical Center. Its history includes the service of Generals John J. "Black Jack" Pershing and Dwight Eisenhower and visits by Geronimo and Teddy Roosevelt. It also lays claim to being the birthplace of military aviation. Visitors may browse through the Fort Sam Houston Museum, which focuses on the history of the fort with displays of uniforms, firearms, artillery, photos and other items. The U.S. Army Medical Department Museum features army medical equipment as well as memorabilia form American prisoners of war. The original fort at Sam Houston, the Quadrangle, is also open for visitors.

 Medic attending a patient in the U.S. Army Hospital at Honolulu, Hawaii, c. 1900.

The AMEDD Museum is located on Fort Sam Houston, about three miles from downtown San Antonio.  Though intended primarily for members of the Army Medical Department, the AMEDD Museum is open to the public and suitable for general audiences.  Two spacious galleries in the Museum depict the history of the Army Medical Department with displays of medical equipment, uniforms, insignia and works of art.  There is a significant collection of artifacts relating to Medical personnel who were prisoners of war in the Pacific Theater.  Outside, a fully equipped hospital train ambulance car is displayed.  Ambulances and other large items of medical equipment are displayed in the nearby pergola.  A gift shop is located inside the main entrance.

Memorial Wall at Nimitz State Historic Site

Japanese Peace Garden

The only institution in the continental United States dedicated exclusively to telling the story of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and World War II in the Pacific Theater. Located on a nine-acre site, the complex includes The National Museum of the Pacific War-George Bush Gallery, the Nimitz Hotel museum, the Japanese Garden of Peace, the Pacific Combat Zone, the Plaza of the Presidents, the Surface Warfare Plaza, the Memorial Wall, the Veterans Walk of Honor and the Center for Pacific War Studies.

In addition to nearly 45,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space, the museum boasts an impressive display of Allied and Japanese aircraft, tanks, guns and other large artifacts made famous during the Pacific War campaigns.
 

Welcome to Fredericksburg, located in the very heart of the beautiful Texas Hill Country! We’ve been blending German heritage and Texan hospitality for over 150 years, creating the kind of place that you will want to discover again and again.  Stop by our Visitor Information Center.   Our friendly and knowledgeable staff will make sure that you have all the info you need to make the most of your visit! For a quick overview of the fun awaiting you, watch the 9-minute DVD presentation on Fredericksburg shown throughout the day in our Visitor Information Center theater.  The city is filled with historic shops and fine traditional German food, restaurants and bakeries.  Shop for unique items along Main Street.  Use this link to read about the history of this unique town:

http://www.fbgtx.org/other/history.htm

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park tells the story of our 36th President in a unique and encompassing way. The story begins with Lyndon Johnson's ancestors, tracing the influences his family and his beloved Texas Hill Country had on the boy and the man. In Johnson City, the visitor can see how LBJ influenced his home town by bringing the resources of the U.S. Government to bear on improving the lives of his friends and neighbors. The park also affords a special opportunity to visit a working cattle ranch, preserved in the late 1960s time period. On the LBJ Ranch it is possible to experience the serenity and beauty from which the former president drew his strength and comfort. It is here that his final resting place is located. This entire "circle of life" gives the visitor a unique perspective into one of America's most noteworthy citizens by providing the most complete picture of an American president.         We will travel through the Texas Hill country to Johnson City, TX.  This is the town LBJ grew up in and where his boyhood home and museum is located.  We can tour the "Texas White House" LBJ's ranch.  See first hand his school house, ranch house, present cattle operations and the Johnson Cemetery.
 

The 7A Ranch is an authentic Texas cattle ranch.  We watch the sunsets, not the traffic jams.  Wood smoke may get in your eyes and the coffee is hot.  We have a herd, not just one steer.  The 7A is the only working cattle ranch in the San Antonio area which hosts Chuckwagon parties.  We have been in operation for over 100 years and still raise beef the old fashioned way on the Texas range without feedlots or chemicals.  The Chuckwagon Supper includes old-fashioned pit BBQ beef brisket, ranch beans, potato salad, dinners rolls, ice tea and soft drinks.  The evening also includes a hayride, cowboy show, western dance band and good hometown humor and hospitality.  

This San Antonio footwear store is such an institution that the website for the VIA bus line lists it among the city's attractions. Men and women have been coming here to buy comfortable, sturdy, and well-made shoes and sandals since 1976. The factory store, on the south side of town, is the one to visit; you can even take one of three daily tours Monday through Thursday.

Photo courtesy of SACVB/Al Rendon

From early morning until late at night, Market Square is alive with activity. Visitors browse through the 32 shops at "El Mercado," an area patterned after an authentic Mexican market. In addition, there are 80 specialty shops in Farmers Market Plaza. Market Square is also the scene of many Hispanic festivals where food and beverage booths spring up alongside the Guadalajara lamps and the strains of mariachi music blend with the excitement of Mexican dances.

Photo courtesy of SACVB/Al Rendon