Our first full day in San Antonio was spent on a mission to see all five of the missions. We began with the most famous of all- The Alamo. The kids had studied the Alamo in school so they were excited to see it in person. We walked through the building interior, around in the back courtyard, and through all of the exhibits.
They had some historical interpreters in the courtyard, and we listened to this guy who was giving a talk on the practice of bloodletting. The kids were fascinated.
Before leaving we visited the gift shop and got Owen a utility knife. We couldn't find one with his name on it, so he got one that said "Proud American". He thought that he was big stuff because he had been deemed old enough to own a blade. For the next several days he kept volunteering the use of his knife whenever there was even the slightest hint that something may need to be cut.
Upon leaving the Alamo we took a short stroll to the river walk for an early lunch. We also took a boat tour along the river. This area of the city was beautiful.
After lunch it was time to hit up the other four missions. The original plan was to rent bikes and ride to each one along the mission trail, but it was as hot as hades and there was no way that this plan was going to work. We drove instead. Our first stop was Mission San José, which was the largest and best preserved of all the missions. It was also the most beautiful. The inside was elaborately decorated. We were not allowed to take pictures inside any of the churches, but they were all beautiful.
Our second stop was Mission San Juan. This was the church that we could not go inside of. One interesting thing that we learned is that the early inhabitants built a dam and aqueduct system to provide water to this mission.
Our third stop along the mission trail was at Mission Espada. This was the southernmost mission was therefore the most vulnerable to attack. This mission was small but cute.
We stopped along the trail to see a portion of the old aqueduct system. It still had water in it.
We also stopped to see the old dam.
We finally arrived at our last mission- Mission Concepción. Like the others, it was beautiful. We really enjoyed seeing the sites along the mission trail. The missions played an important role in the history of the area, and it was neat to "step back in time" and see what life was like back then.
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