By the end of Friday, I was really pleased with my decision to go to San Antonio. I had already met some great people. At that point, I really couldn’t have asked for more. But there was more to come and as it turned out, Saturday was going to be full.
The hotel I stayed in was right on the Riverwalk. I could go out the back and I was there. There were a lot of restaurants and eating places, and a few regular shops. There was a CVS, and a Hard Rock Cafe, and a Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. There were two places that had been there for over 70 years. I ate at one, called The Original. The food was good. It was Mexican. Watch out for the salsa, the heat just keeps building with that one. But the chips, for sure, weren’t Tostitoes.
The scenery along the Riverwalk was interesting, and sometimes pretty. You have to consider this is basically a canal. There is water with walkways on either side and the buildings going pretty much straight up from there. I really liked seeing the old buildings that were still there. Some looked like they were even being repaired.
I could walk through the Riverwalk area pretty much from my hotel to the Alamo. I had to take a surface route for just the last part. For the two or three times I was out front of the Alamo, I must confess, I didn’t go in. The outside is much smaller than I think people expect. It doesn’t stand near as tall as it is depicted. Still, an important piece of history in a city with loads of history.
When I planned the trip, and then heard about the March for Our Lives I decided that if there was a march in San Antonio I would try to participate. For whatever else you may think there are things about the movement that I consider positive. And I can support that. So vacation or no, a few hours to go support a cause and support the people organizing it, was the right thing to do.
There were two marches in San Antonio on Saturday. First there was the Ceasar Chavez march and then around noon was the March for Our Lives. It was interesting to get there early and watch the crowd gather and to read the signs. Unfortunately, at a certain
point where I was, we really couldn’t hear the student speakers. And there were student speakers, as well as a few others. It’s quite a moving experience to stand with people that are doing what they can to make a difference. There was one scene in particular that I found as powerful as the students coming together. We started at City Hall, which is across the street from the Cathedral,
and at one point I turned around to no less than what I thought was 5 members of the clergy standing together. As it turns out, I have a few pictures of at least 6. And I know for sure at least 2 of them marched along side us.
There were also the very young there, who as is being reported, now have active shooter drills in school. When I was their age, all I had to worry about were tornado drills in Oklahoma, earthquake drills in California, and fire drills everywhere. So for some those young people were why they were marching.
I met some really nice people while waiting to step off on the walk and they were kind enough to let me stay near by them. John took some of the more aerial pictures for me as he’s a little taller than I am. And Sherry kept the evangelical with the portable PA system at bay. Every time he got close, spouting his rhetoric, she started up one of the slogans for the march and we all echoed back to shut him down. I didn’t get a picture with them but they did take this picture of me at the end of the march.
From the march, my plan was to head back to Market Square and watch a gentleman, that I
met at the Corynation line, dance Folklorico. I thought he was dancing around 2:00pm but as it turned out, he had danced earlier so I missed it. I did stay to watch the women from a local dance studio perform some Flamenco and Folklorico dances. There were a couple who were quite talented.
I had intended to watch the light show in front of the Cathedral that night as well but honestly, by the time I got back to the hotel after the Market, I kind of knew I was wearing out. Saturday was the day I discovered the only down side to the trip. It rains pollen. Really. I was standing at City Hall for the pre-march rally and saw these weird yellow spots on the people in front of me, and then some on my stuff. And then I saw it fall from the sky. Yep. It rains pollen. Little pollen bombs.
I had hoped to get to see some local music at one of the bars or pubs or whatever but was having a hard time finding it. Possibly because at that point I really hadn’t gotten too far from the Riverwalk area. I might have had more luck if I’d gone a little farther out. And no, the Hard Rock Cafe did not have live music that weekend. I did finally find some Saturday at Mad Dogs. The duo was called Box String Duo. They both sang and one guy was on guitar and the other on cajon. I stayed until they took a break and then kept wandering. But I was about to wear out. Stay tuned. There was even more on Sunday.