San Antonio (2)

The day dawned cool (14 C) with intermittent mist, drizzle, and rain. Sounds like the perfect weather for playing tourist? But, by late morning, the skies started to brighten and we decided to take a chance.
It was only a 20 minute drive to downtown San Antonio. Max guarded the car while we first checked out the Alamo. A fabulous old building!  Most of the main buildings (mission and fortress) still exist along with beautiful gardens and fountains. Turns out the history of Texas starts with San Antonio and "the Alamo". With the weather being cool & cloudy, we thought we would have the place to ourselves ... not!  There were crowds almost everywhere!!
Max did come with us on the famous River Walk.  The walkway winds its way along the river through downtown with sidewalk cafes, flowers, and gorgeous brickwork everywhere. There were small tour-boats full of tourists cruising all along the river - looked like something in Venice Italy!!  The River Walk actually goes for miles beyond the downtown area.  Still has the gardens and stonework, but only a few tourists.  We walked for almost 3 hours in total!  It was actually a good thing it wasn't a sunny hot day!
Along the River Walk, we found an open-air amphitheatre and above it, Villista, a market place for arts and crafts. Karl found a picture he really liked and I found ..... a pottery mug!!
Well, Max was not ignored. It seems that he makes friends everywhere he goes without even trying!! If I had a nickel for every person who stopped to pet him or otherwise, I'd be rich!  And he was happy too, until he saw a horse, which kind of unnerved him (biggest 'dog' he ever saw), and a scary guy in a sideshow dressed up like a ghoul who called out to him (he looked like a head and upper body on bones).
We got back to camp and had a quick supper so that we could go to the ice-cream social at the campgrounds. We ended up sitting with a poor lady whose home was apparently taken by the state to build an exit ramp for a highway.  I did feel bad for her.  Apparently the state (Wisconsin) tried to settle and she refused.  Very angry lady, she went on and on and,  sigh.....
So, another day in the books.  Gotta take Maxi out before the snow starts, it is after all 11C. Next, we're off to the southern-most tip of Texas, the area around McAllen and Brownsville.
Joanne.