Why you should visit the Alamo in San Antonio.

Trying to avoid the craziness that would be spring break at a beach, I decided that after a few bad “usual” spring break experiences I would choose to do something different this time. I decided to go to San Antonio, Texas with some of my friends that were also trying to avoid the controlled chaos that spring break can be. After visiting some very beautiful churches and the river we went to this place called the Alamo. A little side note the Alamo seems to be very popular and well known, however me being a foreigner had no idea what it was or represented. So the rest of this will be me telling you my experience at the Alamo, and why I think is a place you must visit.

First let me give you some historical background, Mission San Antonio de Valero, nowadays known as the Alamo, was built in 1718 by a man also known by the last name Valero. During its early years the mission was used to accommodate the missionaries, but when their dominance was threatened by French and American forces the Alamo was converted into a frontier outpost.

The Alamo would see action again in 1835 with the Texas Revolution, where Texas was trying to cut ties with Mexico. Even though Texas won the war, Mexico didn’t gave up so easily, they kept sending troops in order to restore their lost territory their attempts weren’t successful. In consequence, the Alamo and the other territories stayed under Texas domain that eventually joined the United States. After that the Alamo kept on being an fortress and was used by the army, a few years later it became a warehouse and in 1906 it became a touristic attraction.

After walking around downtown San Antonio for a while a got used to see old building blending with new ones creating an very pleasing landscape. However, the Alamo still got me by surprise, after you take a good look at the building you can see that that structure has been around for quite longer than the rest of the churches and building scattered inside the city limits. After first seeing the Alamo I decided I had to take a look inside, even though there was this amusingly long line, but let me tell you the line walks fast and it is worth the wait.

While waiting in line I noticed some neat plaques that give some information on its history, when was founded, what was its purpose, how it was used later on. It also gives a short version of the time line giving you an idea of how everything happened. The atmosphere on the line was great, nobody seemed to mind the line, there were whole families on vacation and you could see the excitement in the children that could not stand still, maybe because they’re children, but let’s say it was because of the Alamo.

After waiting in line for about 20 minutes we entered the Alamo. Entering for the first time in such a historical place, gives you goosebumps you can feel how much happened there, how much history was made in that place. History was always one of my favorite subjects during high school, in consequence being able to visit such a place which such historical background was an amazing opportunity for a history lover like me.

There’s no original furniture in the building, there’s some rooms that you can take a look inside and see where the soldiers stayed. It’s a cold atmosphere, but it fits the place and makes you realize how old the place really is. Walking a little bit further you can see a model of how the Alamo was when it was built, its original structure and how much land it actually occupied. While walking inside the building, you can see that there’s plaques scarred around explaining the rooms. Behind the model that I mentioned before, there is some memorial plaques with the name of the soldiers that died in the Alamo in the Texas Revolution, there is also another plaque dedicate to the countries that participated in the war.

After staying inside for a while and admiring the architecture, my friends and I head over to the gardens. At the gardens they have some tents that resemble the ones that were used in the war, inside the tents you can see some old artifacts such as a table, a gun and some other interesting objects . It’s a vast garden where you can spend some quality time with you significant other, your family or you friends appreciating the view or watching a very interesting documentary on the story of the Alamo.

In conclusion, if you’re looking for a fun and free touristic attraction in San Antonio, the Alamo is a must. It is located in the middle of downtown San Antonio, close to the river walk, it’s a great a place to go with any group, family, friends or even by yourself.

Here is some useful websites:

The official website: http://www.thealamo.org/

The map of the Alamo: http://www.thealamo.org/visit/grounds/visitor-map/index.html