ACTFL 2007 V: The Riverwalk / Paseo del Rio

The hotel we stayed at was on the Riverwalk, and, as I said before, we didn't go very far away from it. It's beautiful. Yes, it's a commercial, touristy thing (though on Saturday night the River Center Mall was swamped by local teenagers), but it's still beautiful. We walked around on it, ate a number of meals there, and took a boat tour on Sunday.

Just an aside ... this was a tourist tour, not long and not in depth, and I wasn't expecting a dispassionate look at the facts of Texas history or anything like that. But don't the tour guides wonder at some of the things they say? For instance, as we went past the spot where the first Catholic mass was said in San Antonio, the guide told us that the place, and the river, "didn't have a name until June 13, 1691, when Domingo Terán de los Ríos, who was on an inspection tour with Father Damián Massanet, named it after St Anthony." Okay, if doubtful, but after a brief pause she took up the next paragraph of her spiel, which dealt with the color of the water. "This water is not really green," she said. "It's clear. See the limestone? That's what makes it look green. If you take it up in a glass, it's completely clear. The Indians called it Yanaguana, which meant 'Clear Water'." Is it just me, or is that not a name???

Oh well. The place is absolutely beautiful, and San Antonians have every right to be proud as hell of it. Here are some of the many photos I took. To avoid too many photos (hahahahahaha) I'm putting the birds into a separate post, birds of the Riverwalk.

Steps down to the river level are everywhere on the streets.

This picture is from Crockett Street looking down.

That's the convention center in the mid-background, with the Tower of the Americas behind it.

This was right down from our hotel.

Also right down from our hotel; just cross a footbridge and you can walk to the convention center without messing with the street traffic (that purple bridge is inside the convention center).

The tour boats - there are also river taxis.

A footbridge, and part of the River Center Mall.

From inside the convention center grounds, our hotel (the big square one on the left, not the stepped one on the right which is also a Marriott and part of the River Center). You can usually walk in on either side of the river, but they're building another hotel and that side is blocked off right now. River taxis can come into the convention center and drop people off.

The River Center. Yes, it was Sunday before Thanksgiving.

The river entrance to La Villita.

(FYI, here's an informative site on the history of the San Antonio River and the Riverwalk.)