Postcard showing San Fernando Cathedral, City Hall, San Antonio, Texas

This undated but vintage shows San Fernando Cathedral, one of the main attractions in San Antonio, and a place very closely associated with the Alamo.

Buckhorn Saloon and Museum- San Antonio Texas

The Buckhorn Saloon and Museum is the OTHER legendary must see site in San Antonio.  This AMAZING collection of taxidermy and other items has been around for well over 100 years (at various locations) but it has been at its current spot since 1956.

There is a saloon/café with animal trophies everywhere.  There are also several floors with the same.  Yes, they also have an impressive Texas Ranger section, and they have some freak show/amusement type displays, but I dragged my jaw along the floor as I explored each room of animals and other attractions.


YOU KNOW my photos do not show how incredible the Buckhorn is.  We have all looked at pictures of polar bears, sharks, and other large animals.  It is an entirely different experience standing right next to one and seeing how impressive their size is compared to you.

There is something very non-PC about it too.  I can't see someone now accumulating a collection like this and opening up a similar museum.  Someone would be offended.  People would protest.

But the Buckhorn is old, and authentic.  There are extinct animals here.  The place is a real throwback.  I am glad that the collection is old, and I am glad that it is still around with its collections displayed.

Old Postcard showing First Mission, Mission Concepcion in San Antonio Texas

This postcard was sent from Mexico, but the date is indecipherable.

Mission Concepcion- San Antonio Texas

After visiting Mission San Jose, we stopped by Mission Concepcion nearby.

We had a nice tour with a great ranger here too.  The tour is pretty short but interesting.

The inside of the church here (and there is an active congregation) is perfect, and feels peaceful.  Our ranger guide told us that the church is perfect for live vocalists.  No one on our tour would accept his offer to sing and test the acoustics.

At this Mission, you could see traces of frescos all around.  Sadly, much of that artwork has faded but you can see some of it, restored, at the park.

San Jose, Second Mission, Built 1718, San Antonio Texas

This postcard was sent from San Antonio to Frankfort Kentucky in 1911!

Mission San Jose- San Antonio Texas

Building started on the San Jose Mission in 1768.  it would become known as the Queen of the Missions.

From a brochure given out at the National Park office at the mission:
"The Franciscan friars' objective was to convert indigenous hunters and gatherers into Catholic, tax-paying subjects of the King of Spain.  The Indians' struggle for survival against European disease and raiding Lipan Apaches led them to the missions and to forfeit their culture.  Everything changed for these neophytes: diet, clothing, religion, culture- even their names.  They were required to learn two new languages, Latin and Spanish, as well as new vocations."

The church at this mission is still used by a congregation, thought the grounds officially ceased being a mission in 1824.

We ended up spending a bit of time at this Mission, which is ran by the National Park Service.  We took a great tour with a guide who talked a lot about daily life and events at the Mission.

Greetings from San Antonio Texas- Alamo Plaza

This great old postcard from San Antonio was sent in 1911!

Market Square- San Antonio Texas

According to Wikipedia, Market Square is the largest Mexican market in the US.  The place is large, and there was a good crowd there on the day we went.

We had a lot of fun here.  There were some interesting vendors, live music, a magician, and some interesting things for sale.

We looked for jewelry and some other novelties to take home.

I haggled playfully with one vendor who came down on her prices... a little.  We found some cute souvenirs for friends.  There was a band that rocked pretty hard too, and the crowd loved them.  Oh, and there was a small mechanical bull for kids!

Check out my colorful photos of this unique area!

US Post Office, San Antonio, Texas

This postcard went through the mail in 1908 from San Antonio- probably from the exact post office shown on the card!

San Antonio at Night

Here are some photos of San Antonio Texas at night.  I took these from on top of the previously mentioned Hyatt River Walk Hotel.

The Guenther House- San Antonio Texas

 The Guenther House was built by Carl Guenther in 1859.  Guenther was the founder of Pioneer Flour which has been in business since before the Civil War!

The house is now a great restaurant, and according to our guides in San Antonio, the place does not advertise because it doesn't need to!  Our guides assured us they were not being paid to endorse the place, but they raved about it!

I had a great enchilada here, and we ordered a cinnamon roll about the size of my head!  We nibbled on that for days!

The grounds were attractive, and this was simply an amazing stop on our trip!  AND, how often can you patronize a business that has been around since the Civil War?

Random Thoughts on Friday

I wanted to take a second to mention that I just found out that the Marx Museum in Moundsville West Virginia (near Wheeling) will be closing in a few months.

We visited there last year and we LOVED the place.  I have always enjoyed painting figures and the old Marx soldiers look great painted.  They put a lot of detail into all of their toys that has never been matched.  Their Best of the West toys are, in my opinion, the coolest boys action figures ever made.

Luckily, other companies are still using Marx molds, and you can get modern versions at reasonable prices if you look around.

But there is something so cool about looking at the actual, vintage toys from the 60s, 70s and earlier.

The Marx Museum has done a great job of telling (and showing) the Marx toy story.  They do say on their web site that they plan to continue as an organization.....  Check out the statement on their site for more info on that.

OBVIOUSLY, if you have been thinking about making a trip to Moundsville to see the Marx Museum, you should do it in the next few months.....

Alamo Trolley Tour- San Antonio Texas

We were in San Antonio for several days and we did a lot of walking.  We also did a two day pass on one of their Hop On Hop Off trolleys.

We used the Alamo Trolley and we were really happy with this group.

One thing that we liked about them is that they had a couple of the Missions on their route, and we wanted to visit them.

We had two great drivers while we explored, Perry and Phillip.  We spent so much time with them that we felt like they were our friends when we left.  Phillip was our last driver on the two days and as he dropped us off for the last time, he made a brief but very sincere "God Bless You" statement that touched us.  These guys care about their city, their passengers, and the experience that visitors have.

The drivers narrate the whole time you are on the trolley too, talking about history, places to shop and eat, local legends, etc.

Both drivers mentioned the Market Square area, and Perry strongly suggested that we try the Guenther House for lunch.  We were very happy that we did both, and those were stops we had not originally planned on our tour!  Both drivers also were helpful with our budgeting of time.  They knew about the weather, church service times at the missions, and the easiest ways to get to certain attractions after we got off of the trolley.  We were able to cover a lot of ground thanks to Perry and Phillip!

Sisters Grimm Ghost Walk- San Antonio Texas

I mentioned before that we did the Sister's Grimm Ghost Tour in San Antonio.  We had a great time with our tour guide Mark.

I won't spoil any of the stories, but I would say they were all dark, and interesting!

Here are just a few photos from the walk.  I was most crept out by the story relating to the Holiday Inn in town.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Andean Fusion

We caught these guys playing music on the River Walk in San Antonio and we loved them!  Its funny, I have pretty much stopped going to concerts but I still stumble into great live music here and there.... like I did in Texas!

These two guys (Andean Fusion) played some interesting covers (I remember John Lennon's Imagine being performed).  Some of the tunes I did not recognize, but I enjoyed them all.

They were drawing a pretty good sized crowd, and we were glad to see that their merchandise table was doing a good business.  I went over and bought a few CDs myself!

With the guitar, vocals, flutes and drums, this will be great music to listen to next time I am driving around the desert!

The Menger Hotel- San Antonio Texas

San Antonio is FULL of cool, historic hotels!  We were pretty excited about getting the opportunity to stick our heads into a few of them.

Well, the Menger Hotel was at the top of our list!

Everyone has stayed at this hotel, from Robert E. Lee to Bill Clinton.  Teddy Roosevelt recruited Rough Riders here.

We hoped to explore the hotel some, grab a meal in their restaurant, and take a ghost tour at some point during our stay in San Antonio, and we were able to do all of that through Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours.  They have a dinner and tour at the Menger, and then a ghost walk through town ticket!

Our ghost tour guide Mark told us that the Menger has over 30 ghosts, and he said that many have spotted the legendary Roosevelt still at the hotel trying to recruit!

The place is beautiful inside and out, and we enjoyed sitting in their court yard before our dinner.  We had nice steaks and salad, and then had a half an hour tour through the hotel.


More on Mark and the Sisters Grimm later, but for now, check out some of the photos I took!  There are some cool shops inside of the hotel, including a toy soldiers shop.  They display  a miniature version of the Menger inside!