San Antonio River Walk and the Alamo

Our drive from the Base to Downtown San Antonio was no where near pleasant. The directions we were given were awful!!! And Downtown is psycho at best!! After many a wrong turn (and quite a few annoyed undertones!) we all finally made it to our destination!

Casey and his family had all been to the River walk before, but it was a first for my parents and I! Let me just say...WOW!! It was beautiful!! Amidst all the traffic and roadways, the River walk is tucked in safely below. Given all the trees and lush surroundings, it's actually quite peaceful. The River meanders it's way between tall buildings and is flanked on both sides by walkways, restaurants, and shops. I definitely recommend it to anyone in the area...I could have easily spent days there!!
So here is our whole group...all 12 of us. I don't know how we got so lucky, but the first restaurant (Mexican, of course!) we stopped at was able to seated us almost instantly! With the weather being so nice out, we were fortunate enough to eat outside...or so I thought....

Apparently the River walk is home to quite a large numbers of birds...pigeons for the most part. For those who know me, I hate birds. I know I'm crazy, but they just creep me out. The only ones I can actually stand are ducks (and that's only from a distance). Eating outside amid hungry little "flying rats" was NO BUENO in my book! But I did make it through, and even had a laugh with my Mom when one tried to get a drink out of a stray margarita glass...Awesome!!
Here are a few more views of the river, seriously didn't do the place justice though with these shots...



Once we left the River walk the main attraction for our day was the Alamo. I was expecting it to be teen-tiny. Everyone always told me it was minuscule. I have to disagree. The main building was pretty large in my opinion, and the surrounding grounds were amazing! I was able to get plenty of good pictures there, even with all the crowds.

Here are my parents in front of the Alamo. Aren't they the cutest couple!?! I love them so much, and am so glad that they were able to come down.

AWWWW...

Here are some other shots from our day...




We headed back through the River walk on our way to the car, so I was able to get one last picture.
The way back to base was so much smoother. After the bad directions, we decided to stick with the garmin....it took us through a much smoother (and shorter) trek to the Base!! Go figure!!