It was supposed to be a nice 60 degree day today, but this morning, it was still 30.  We picked up Jeffrey at 9AM, dropped by the Lodge to pick up the grandparents, then headed off to downtown San Antonio.  Today would be a walking tour.

Our first stop was at the parking lot right by where we would end the evening.  I could not believe that all day parking was only $10!  In San Francisco, it would be $30 easy.  We walked to the first historical site, and it was closed.  Fortunately, it was right by a Starbucks, so that became our first stop.  It felt good to be inside with something warm in our hands.  Down a few blocks, we came to the town’s original cathedral.  The church was fairly large, but the most impressive thing in there were the remains of the soldiers who died at the Alamo — all in one sarcophagus!  Daniel Boone was there, as was Jim Bowie.  Next stop was the old Governor’s Palace.  It was really just a very nice home for a Captain, but I guess he was also the Governor.  Nice rooms, good displays, it was just like walking through many of the Spanish Missions back in California.  Beyond the Palace stood the town’s original Mexican Market, or Mercado.  This was a fun and lively place.  Since it was now lunchtime, we went to the best place there and ate lite (since dinner would be so heavy).  The food was awesome!  We walked a section of the River Walk after that, stopping by one of the buildings that was used in the filming of Ghostbusters.  Now that it was warmer, we went back to our car, dropped stuff off, then headed to the “History Store” which stood across the street from the Alamo.  My guidebook said to stop there first and see the show before going to the Alamo.  I’m really glad we did.  We got to learn a lot about the Alamo in that store.  They had a massive diarama there and the lecture was given (via audio) by Phil Collins.  We then headed to the Alamo.  It was a nice place, but without that lecture beforehand, I would never have understood any of what I was looking at.  We went to the nearby mall after that for more coffee, and then we walked a lot of the River Walk.  What a nice walk! About the time we were getting tired, we got to my next destination – The Hard Rock Cafe — so I could buy a t-shirt.  We sat in a very nice hotel lobby for a while after that and then headed to our dinner destination: Texas de Brazil.  This restaurant was voted the best in the city, and it sure was!  The salad bar was filled with marvelous and wonderful things, and the meat…. wow, so much meat, and all of it good!  We all left completely stuffed.