ACTFL 2007 III: The Alamo

I have mixed feelings about the Alamo, but then, who doesn't? Well, who doesn't who's actually studied the whole sorry affair, that is... The tour guide on the River made it sound as though Mexico had invaded Texas, rather than the American colonists and some Tejanos wanting to essentially steal Texas because the rules had changed ... the curse of the South, slavery, playing no small role, as did resistance to central rule. And that's without my gut feeling about missionaries (I'll save that for my post on The Sparrow next month).

Well. It's all a long time ago, isn't it? If those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it, and those who can't forget the past are condemned to live in it, I suppose the best thing is to accept it. It's a lesson, not a choice, after all.

So when you're in San Antonio you have to go to the Alamo. So I did. And it's a pretty place, and men did die there. Here are some of the entirely too many pictures I took (ah, digital cameras!):

Outside on Alamo Plaza

The main building and a great old tree

Across the interior toward the main mission and a wonderful tree

The wind wouldn't cooperate but this shot is pretty nice anyway, I think

The gift shop building and another angle on that fabulous tree

I'm not sure if these are Texas Stars, aka Meadow Pink, or not, but I think so

Some yucca and a huge cactus... there wasn't graffiti on the walls, but there was some on this cactus

The cactus against the sky

Sunlit grass rising out of shadow

Flowers by an outbuilding

The gift shop building

The main doors into the central mission building

Plaque on the main doors

Texas Crescent butterfly on clover

View across the interior