San Antonio Missions

We head out of downtown San Antonio and explore the San Antonio Missions. The missions are made up of five missions along the San Antonio river, four of which are part of the National Park System.

Which one is not included? Well the Alamo of course. It is considered a shrine to independence for Texas from Mexico. While the Alamo fight itself did not settle the independence question, it did provide some momentum for subsequent battles.

The missions were run by the Franciscans and the four under the care of the Park Service are active Parishes. As a result, they are not overcrowded, quiet and reflective places.

On the other hand, the Alamo is swarmed by hoards of people with no manners. Lines everywhere, kids running and shouting, so much for the facility being a shrine.

If you click on the map at right (as with any pictures in the blog) it will blow up so you can see the locations of the missions. The first mission visited was Mission San Jose which is the park headquarters. We then headed south to Mission San Juan and Mission Espada. Finally, on our way back into San Antonio we visited Mission Concepcion.

Because it is a required stop on any trip to San Antonio, I have thrown in a couple pictures of the Alamo. However, I think this picture most likely will be the reason that Don will "Remember the Alamo".

I have attached a few pictures of each mission. Click here to see them.



OK, OK, here is a real picture of the Alamo: