Rails Around the USA: Summer, 2005

San Antonio

July 10, 2005

Laurence Krieg

Sunday 7/10/2005

8 AM (from an email)

"Yet another change in travel plans! Yesterday, it became apparent while on the train that even six hours late was too optimistic an estimate of when it would get to San Antonio, and that my 6 AM Sunday flight would leave without me. Sure enough, the train pulled in to San Antonio station at 6:15, seven hours and fifty minutes after its scheduled 10:25 PM arrival. So, using my cell phone from the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico for nearly 60 minutes to Travelocity's Customer Support Center in Bombay, and losing contact twice, here's what I ended up with...

"I'll be spending today and tonight in San Antonio, leaving tomorrow on an 8:20 AM Continental flight to Houston, followed by a flight to Tampa that gets in at 2:15. I'll shuttle to Sarasota from there. It looks like Dennis has brought Sarasota only light rain and gusts up to 37 MPH between 4 and 5 AM this morning, settling down now.

"Meanwhile, I'm in a sunny Starbuck's on the River Walk, using the T-Mobile hotspot service. In a few minutes, I'll head 4 blocks north to Grace Lutheran Church, which is the church I believe I went to when I was stationed here in 1968. :-)"

Again, San Antonio

Fort Sam Houston was where I had Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (to be an Army medic) 1968, when I was drafted into the Army and chose to be a non-combatant Consciencious Objector. This is not the place to talk about my Army experience, except to say that San Antonio, of which "Fort Sam" is an important part, became one of my favorite venues as a result. That's a remarkable accolade for a city, if Basic Training there made it a favorite place.

My memories are hazy enough that I can't be sure if Grace Lutheran was indeed where I went with my Army friend Bud Henning while we were there. But it is now one of the warmest, most open-armed churches I've been to, where everybody was incredibly welcoming. I greatly enjoyed my (re-)visit there.

Just after getting off the train, the two rail-fan friends I'd met led me to the Red Roof Inn, a short (but tortuous) walk from the station. There I was able to reserve a room for later that afternoon and night, and leave my baggage (except my laptop, of course!) before walking downtown with another stranded fellow-Sunseter. I acquainted him with the River Walk, which at 7 AM Sunday morning was totally deserted and peaceful. We found the Starbucks from which I sent out the email quoted above.

The River Walk

River Walk: Navarro Street Bridge

returned to the River Walk after church, then again in the evening. The River Walk is what sets San Antonio apart from every other city in the world, except possibly Venice, Italy; and Stockholm, Sweden (which I've never visited). Originally, the San Antonio River made an extensive loop, around which the town grew up. To combat flooding problems in the 1920s, a bypass was constructed giving floodwaters a more direct path that avoided the downtown loop. Dams were constructed during the 1930s above and below the city to maintain the water level, and over the years those dams have been improved and new ones built.

River Walk: Bougainvillia

The river channel, well below street level, was made into a park lined with rock walls; a walkway was constructed next to the river, with steps down from street level in many places. With encouragement from farsighted civic leaders, restaurants and shops were opened in the basements of buildings whose "backs" were turned to the river. Gradually, the river walk became The River Walk, a lovely center for relaxation, entertainment, and celebration.

River Walk: Restaurant at evening

On my first San Antonio stay in 1968, the River Walk was the scene of several poignant evenings with my bride of six months, Martha, who came to see me shortly before my deployment to Vietnam. With its mosaic-tiled walkways and soft lights, it was the ideal way to escape the rigors of life on a military base, not to mention the dark cloud of war in Vietnam that loomed just over our horizon.

River Walk at night: Arch bridge

So it was with great delight that I found myself with a chance to re-visit the River Walk. At 7:30 on a Sunday morning, it was very different - but no less charming - than my memories of the softly lit evening scene. Apparently the River Walk had become such a civic and commercial success that the "river" was extended twice, and a multi-story urban "Rivercenter Mall" was built. As you can see, the River Walk is very photogenic, both by day and by night.

HemisFair

San Antonio gave a warm, exciting welcome to this scared young solider when he first arrived. I had just been inducted into the Army four days before, and had spent a harrowing few days and sleep-deprived nights at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, being outfitted with a military haircut, boots, uniform, glasses, and respect for Drill Instructors. We were tested physically and mentally, poked, prodded, and vaccinated, taught the rudiments of marching, dressing, and military protocol - which was summed up by one wag as, "If it moves, saluted it; if it don't move, paint it." One thing we were not allowed to do for three days and nights was sleep, as the Army was well aware of the value of sleep deprivation in controlling large numbers of unwilling young men.

My fellow inductees were then sent from one part of Fort Bragg to another for their basic training, but conscientious objectors were given basic training in only one place: Fort Sam. So I was sent to the travel office where a bored clerk issued me an airline ticket and travel orders requiring me to report for basic training at Fort Sam. By some incredible stroke of good luck, good will, or good fortune, my orders required me to report to Fort Sam four days later - but my ticket was valid immediately.

I've seldom been happier to leave anyplace than I was to leave Fort Bragg that day. You can be sure I examined my orders-sheet time and again to make certain I didn't have to report for duty until four days later. So upon arrival I checked in to the YMCA; you may be sure I slept long and peacefully before setting out the next day to explore the city.

HemisFair Park entry arch and Tower of the Americas

I discovered that San Antonio had just opened a mini-world's fair, called The HemisFair. What a treat. It featured the usual rides, national pavillions, and corporate technology displays. As a GI with only a few loose coins to jingle in my uniform pocket, I avoided everything the cost money - except food, of course. There were lots of hotdog stands. But that still left quite a lot of interesting free things to see. I was particularly fascinated by the IBM pavillion, since I had learned to program (and love) an IBM mainframe in college the previous year. Just about all the Latin American countries were represented too, and that was a comforting reminder of my innocent childhood in Guatemala and Chile.

Topping the whole show was the Tower of the Americas, completed just a few weeks before I arrived. Not the first tower of its kind: Seattle's Space Needle was built for their World's Fair in 1962, 605 feet / 184 meters tall. Erected six years later, the Tower of the Americas is 750 feet / 229 meters tall (Number Two always has to try harder). But wait - Number Three, the CN Tower in Toronto, was built eight years later, more than twice as tall, 1815 feet / 553 meters, looming over Lake Ontario. Number Four? Let's not go there...

But I was very eager to go to there - to the Tower of the Americas, that is - when I returned to San Antonio this time. I'd never been to the top - too expensive. But now, it was getting on toward lunch time, and I was no longer an impoverished Private. What a nostalgic treat to come back and have lunch there, where I couldn't have dreamed of eating in 1968. I wove my way along the River Walk, through the Convention Center, up stairs bordered by waterfalls, my expectations rising with every step. Finally I reached the base of the tower, only to be confronted with a chain link fence and a large sign, promising a completely remodeled restaurant next year. Oh, well.

Tower of the Americas: Under Construction

The HemisFair itself is gone now, of course. In its place is a shady park, a long mall bordered with tall trees, and nothing much else. One thing is the same: the heat. In my enthusiasm to get to the tower, I had walked at a normal pace, which drenched me with sweat. How different from the heat in California, which makes you sweat just as much, but quickly sucks up every drop in the dry, thirsty air. (Well, except in downtown LA...) In San Antonio, I had to sit down and let myself drip-dry. There weren't many people - HemisFair park has retained little to attract the crowds, especially so near the romantic River Walk.

Eating by the Walk

River Walk's lush landscaping along the "bypass" section

So where did I end up eating? I wandered around the River Walk a long time before finding a place I wanted to eat. At first, I walked north along the "bypass" section without realizing that it was not developed for dining and entertainment; it is a lovely park with lush ornamental trees, bushes, and flowers. Confident that I had only to walk along the river bank and restaurants would appear to welcome me, I continued north along what turned out to be the original part of the river north of the downtown loop. Still beautiful, still graced with lush landscaping, but still unsullied by commercial enterprise.

Finally, I climbed out of the River Walk to a street corner where I could get my bearings, and went south to the loop portion of the river walk. There I found an abundance of restaurants, but I was suddenly hit with a reprise of my GI budget instincts and everything looked too expensive. At last, I found a place that looked like a modest hamburger joint, with picnic tables under an awning. This turned out to be deceptive. (I should have known better than to think "budget" on the River Walk, but I was famished.) I ordered a hambuger and a glass of beer. The hamburger was huge and came with a big basket of fries, but the beer was truly humongous. So was the bill.

Menu of Dick's Last Resort restaurant on the River Walk

Classic Spanish colonial courtyard, now a hotel property

Dusk brought with it the hope of slightly cooler temperatures, so I set forth once more, refreshed, to enjoy evening "on the town". But first, I was impelled to resume my continuing quest for free Internet access. At Starbucks that morning, while paying for T-Mobile access, I had done my usual Google Map search for free WiFi, and found a café that looked pretty close to the River Walk. Well, maps have a way of making things look close. Within two blocks of the hotel, all hope of cooler temperatures was dashed - or rather, drowned. Near the River Walk and the Alamo, I had to fight my way through throngs of merry-makers, but as I strolled south into a neighborhood of modest homes and shops, the crowds melted away. The farther I walked, the seedier the buildings got, and the wetter I got. At about 5:30 I reached the café, which looked modest but simpático, except for the sign saying it closed at 5:00 on Sunday. Amazing what difference a few blocks can make.

RiverCenter Mall by night

So I trundled back up South Alamo Street to the River Center mall, where I hacked my way through the crowds in search of a restaurant with any seating available. (But it was fun!) Finally I was able to get a stool at the bar of a bustling steak house - Texas steak house, I should say. When in Texas, do as the Texans do: I had a steak and a couple of glasses - normal size, this time - of "lite" beer. The steak was good, but what was really memorable was the bartender, a turbo-charged young woman named Katie. Her energetic attention to detail was inspiring to watch. No time for the traditional bartender side-lines of talking up the customers - much less bar-side psychoanalysis. Every moment was intense activity for Katie, as she took orders from the computer and put multi-colored drinks up for the waiters to deliver.

River Walk: illuminated cascade

I left energized and ready for an intense session of night photography, which I enjoyed tremendously - and I even got a few passable photos to show for it. The new Olympus is much better at night work than the Fuji was, and though many potentially wonderful shots flopped for lack of a tripod, I was exhilarated by the challenge.

Of course, the result of such exhilaration on a warm, muggy night was that I needed a second cold shower when I got back to the hotel. Ah, but it was worth it. I'm really glad hurricane Dennis gave me the chance to revisit San Antonio. It's a magical place.

This is The Alamo - remember? No visit to San Antonio would be complete without a look at The Alamo.

You can take a really cool virtual tour of San Antonio with Quicktime Virtual Reality. (If you don't have Quicktime, get it here.)