Historic Goliad Area

We did some exploring today and learned a lot about the area. History abounds here at the mission, the town and the fort.
See for yourself...

The mission was located right next to the campground. We walked over and went through the grounds and museum.

The mission was abandoned in the late 1700's and began to deteriorate. In the 1800's the locals were carrying away stone to build houses in the village of Goliad. In the 1930's the CCC began restoration on the mission and rebuilt most of it. 

The town has a square surrounding the courthouse. Old historic buildings are lined up neatly on the sidewalks.

The courthouse was built in 1894 and had to be rebuilt in 1904 when a hurricane knocked down the clock tower and side towers.

The town of Goliad suffered extensive damage in 1902 from a tornado that killed over a hundred people.

The fort at La Bahia looked like a medieval castle. 

It was the site of numerous hostilities between the Spanish, French, Mexicans and Anglo's over the years.

There were monuments here dedicated to the massacre that took place when the Mexicans executed over three hundred prisoners in 1836. 

It was very interesting to imagine life here when the Spanish first started the missions to convert the native people to their way of life. The indigenous people were her for centuries before the Spanish came and had their own culture and tribes. With the evolution of the missions they were brought in and all lived together other than the tribes that remained hostile toward abandoning their old ways.

Goliad, Texas

On Sunday we packed up camp and pulled out of Traveler's World and San Antonio. Our next stop is near Goliad, Texas, an area we know nothing about. After doing a little research we learned that this is a very historic part of Texas. The Spaniards looked at this area as a place to expand their missionary efforts and they built a fort and mission here in the mid 1700's. There were conflicts over the area between the Spanish, French, Mexico and the English Americans over the years. In 1836 the Mexicans controlled the fort and had over 350 prisoners from the former occupation. The Mexican president ordered the prisoners executed and over 340 prisoners were killed. This was only 10 years before Texas was granted state hood.
In 1902 a tornado ripped through the town and killed over a hundred people. It was the second deadliest tornado in the history of Texas.
There is a historic downtown area that has been preserved as well as the old missions. We plan on touring on our bikes today and exploring the area.

On to Town

Saturday we got on our bikes and took a ride to town. We are only three and a half miles from down town San Antonio along the river trail and were there in no time.
We rode through one of the historical neighborhoods with it's big mansions and then on past a street fair to the Tower of the Americas. We went to the top of the tower and walked the observation deck and then had a drink in the lounge. Fantastic views from the top decks!
From there we went by the Alamo and then walked the downtown riverwalk and watched the tour boats and the crowds walking the walk. It's a busy place on the weekends!

Biking through one of the neighborhoods near the river

The mansions along here were gorgeous

There is a rich history of wealth in this town

One more before we move on

Thje tower of the America's. This is a landmark seen for miles and miles

And a view from the top. Our third visit to San Antonio and this is the first time we went up.

Remember the Alamo!!

The old federal courthouse in downtown. Boarded up due to the government shutdown.

The tourboats were loaded on the riverwalk.

So were the sidewalks and cafes.

Biking along the river and the missions

On Friday we finally got a large dose of sunshine and warm temperatures as it hit seventy today. We had a great day outdoors.
We started the day with a long bike ride to the southern end of the river walk trail about seven miles south of camp. On the way back we visited several of the old Spanish missions along the way. Several of the smaller structures resemble the Alamo, which was also one of the original missions. We had a picnic lunch along the trail in between stops.
After getting back to the campground we got on our shorts and took our books down to the pool and enjoyed the sun.
Later still we drove into town and had a great Mexican dinner at one of the local restaurants.

A beautiful day along the San Antonio River.

The southern terminus of the river trail. The plans are in the works to extend the trail to neighboring towns soon and add miles of additional trails.

Mission Espada is one of the smaller missions in the area. It is all decorated for the Christmas season. 

These missions were built in the early 1700's and renovations have been underway in recent decades to restore them to their original beauty.

The missions were not only places of worship, but were entire communities with residences and garden areas to make them self sufficient.

The inside of  Mission Espada's church.

I thought this was quite the ornate drinking fountain.

Mission San Juan Capistrano was our next stop. It was across the river and a bit north of  Mission Espada. This area was still being restored, and a lot of it was locked due to renovations and the government shutdown. Go Donald!!

An outdoor sanctuary with Mother Mary and a sacrificial candle alter.

The missions used the rivers for agriculture and had a series of dams and aqueducts to supply water for farming.

One of the oldest remaining man made dams in the country.

Mission San Juan was one of the largest and most ornate missions in the area. The grounds were huges and once contains an entire small town.

The sculptures decorating the mission were ornate and beautiful works of art.

San Antonio River

The weather finally warmed up and we had bright sunny skies all day! After lunch we took a long walk along the river from the campground. There are miles of walkways along the river that were developed by the city for the community to enjoy nature along the river and to let the area revert to it's natural condition.

The San Antonio River

Downtown in the distant background

Saw grass?

Blue Agave, Tequila anyone? 

The river didn't look conducive to kayaking. 

Built in rapids in many places.

This looked like the Sydney Concert hall.It's actually a structure built to collect rainwater. 

Hunkering Down through the Cold Snap

The temperature stayed in the forties today and rain, rain, rain. It kept us inside most of the day. We did get out after lunch and bought a new TV since ours in the camper lost it's picture. I guess Legend is not such a good brand?
We got the new one set up and Nancy bought new filters for the water source on the coffee maker. We turned the afternoon into a repair day and that kept us busy until dinner time. After that we watched the new TV and listened to the rain on the roof. Today looks dry and by tomorrow they are promising high sixties and sunshine. WooHoo!!

Happy New Year to All. Touring Texas

We left Louisiana on Sunday and drove past Houston, Texas. We called to our favorite campground in San Antonio and couldn't get in until Tuesday, January First. We looked at the map and found a state park campground at Bastrop, Texas. We spent Sunday and Monday nights at Bastrop State Park and found it to be a nice park in a decent location. The hiking trails in the park were wonderful and we did a four mile hike on Monday and a five mile hike on Tuesday.  The park was not far from Austin, but we never ventured into that town. We did go into Bastrop and did some shopping for New Years Eve. Our celebration dinner was coconut shrimp and Sushi with a nice broccoli salad. Couldn't have been better.
We watched TV and listened to fireworks going off all around until midnight, then hit the sack.
We packed up camp after our hike and lunch this morning and are now at Travelers World RV Resort in San Antonio.  This is a great spot about four miles from down town and the river walk. We can ride our bikes to town along the San Antonio River or go in the opposite direction and see the old Spanish missions along the river. The weather doesn't look promising for the next two days, but should improve quite a bit after that.
Wishing everyone the best New Year with great things to come in 2019 !!