Month: March 2022

More of the splendid river walk

3/2/22

I can see why this city is so renowned for this river walk. It is a beautiful urban park that stretches for miles! Today I biked from my hosts’ house north of downtown, mostly on a car-free path nearby, and retraced some of the steps I took yesterday with Rohn on the northern part of the walk (known as the “Museum Reach”). Once I got to the square section of the walk in the center, though, I knew I needed to lock up my bike and do it on foot. It’s too narrow and crowded for cycling.

That central part of the walk was truly delightful. It felt like being in another land, perhaps in Europe.

After spending probably an hour strolling that pedestrian section, I got back on the bike and headed south, along the “Mission Reach.” I stopped briefly in the King William neighborhood to look at the opulent houses from a part of San Antonio’s history when there was a thriving German immigrant community. The Germans ran a mill and several other local businesses. Some of them made their fortunes this way, and the houses reflect that.

The whole segment of the trail that follows the four missions south of the Alamo is about ten miles long. I was not feeling very motivated to do the whole thing, nor to visit all the missions, so instead I mostly meandered along just enjoying the riverfront environment. I did stop at two parks along the way: Confluence Park (with those recent arch sculptures—very striking) and Concepcion Park.

On my way back north, I went through downtown and was able to get a clear look at the beautiful brick courthouse that I had glimpsed from a distance yesterday.

Then I rejoined the river walk, and saw a cool sculpted cave that I remembered noticing yesterday (there were people sitting inside it then, unlike this evening) as well as an extravagant marriage-proposal scene made of balloons, which fondly reminded me of my 18 years working in a party store around balloons and balloon arrangements.

I exited the trail to enjoy a cocktail at a nearby bar, and then my hosts picked me up to take me to dinner at a local vegan restaurant in the northern part of town, Green. We had a wonderful meal and some great conversation. Sadly I will be leaving their place tomorrow; I have just one more day in San Antonio, and my train to Houston will be leaving at a rather uncivilized hour the following morning.

But I plan to thoroughly enjoy my last day here tomorrow!

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Sunken Japanese Garden + amazing San Antonio bike tour

3/1/22

Wow, what a day! I got a personalized bike tour by a local force of nature named Rohn (rhymes with John) Bayes. I found Rohn on the Warmshowers website. I’m already being hosted here by another wonderful couple, so I didn’t reach out to Rohn for hosting, but his “reviews” by former guests indicated that he gave really great bike tours of the area, so I thought I’d reach out and see if he’d be interested in meeting up for that.

Thankfully, he was willing and available.

Of course the Japanese garden here in San Antonio was high on my list of priorities to see, so we agreed to meet there.

Admission-free and open to the public, it is also known as the “sunken garden,” and for good reason: it is built into a former quarry. I am coming to understand that the Austin and San Antonio areas are geologically very interesting, rich with limestone. I think I may have mentioned in some of my Austin posts that I found several of the local parks to have very rocky and uneven ground. At Cibolo Gardens yesterday, I learned that limestone quarries surrounded the property, and a crater from a spent quarry served as a lake on the property.

Today, I was struck that the entire sunken garden was filled with rocks, built into stairs (many more than these photos show) as well as pathways, bridges, and buildings. The limestone from the quarries is in high demand for cement and road paving (and quite possibly other uses I’m not aware of.) Rohn also pointed out to me that limestone is rich in calcium because of the bones of the fish who used to live in the areas that used to be underwater thousands of years ago. The fishes’ skeletons were eventually calcified into limestone. It had never occurred to me to wonder about that connection, but it made sense when I heard it explained like that.

The koi pond, of course, took up most of the space in the garden, with various walking paths through it. Of course koi ponds are usually focal points of most Japanese gardens, but this was the first time I had seen a garden that consisted primarily of its pond.

The shape of the arched stone bridge suggested a dragon, and after crossing it, one encounters a beautiful tall waterfall.

At the top of the garden, on the opposite end, stands an open stone building with a roof that reminded me of some of the roofs from the structures at Cibolo Gardens yesterday.

The day was off to a good start.

Next, I told Rohn that I was wanting to see San Antonio’s iconic river walk. We didn’t make it to the most central and touristy section of it (I do plan to see that, possibly tomorrow) because it is narrow and crowded, and therefore not suitable for cycling. But we rode a long stretch of the northern section of it, and it was delightful and not very crowded at all. We passed one section with cool fish shapes dangling from an overpass. The river walk was originally constructed in 1941 as a WPA project. (I mused that in that year, it must have been one of the last. Checking now, I see that the agency was dissolved in June of 1943.)

Then we headed into the downtown area, and saw the Alamo and a beautiful cathedral. (Apologies for the minimal photos; I try not to upload more than about a dozen photos each day, to avoid overwhelm, but that is very challenging today because we passed so many beautiful places. Perhaps I’ll do another post that is simply a “photo dump” of the various murals, buildings, fountains, and trees we saw.)

Rohn took me past numerous colorful murals, in all sorts of nooks and crannies, including a rather thematically complex one that we spent some time studying. Take a look, if you like, to see all the details in it.

We also passed the Tower of the Americas—vaguely reminiscent of Seattle’s space needle—which Rohn told me was built for the San Antonio World’s Fair of 1968. (Again, I wondered if this had been one of the last World’s Fairs. Checking now, I see that the last World’s Fair was held in New Orleans in 1984.) Surrounding the tower were more beautiful trees, fountains, and large and beautiful wall art.

We attempted to get a late lunch/early dinner at a vegan Mexican restaurant I had hoped to try, but sadly we arrived after they had closed. But we went around the corner to a different Mexican restaurant, with lovely shaded outdoor patio seating, and had a very interesting conversation—including the waiter, for parts of it—about many esoteric aspects of life and purpose.

After the meal, we meandered back on our bikes towards my hosts’ neighborhood, stopping on the way at San Pedro Springs Park. The large pool in the park used to be spring-fed, but sadly the city has overtaxed its aquifer to the point that the springs (described, perhaps in exaggerated fashion, by the conquistadores as “shooting as high as a man on a horse,” Rohn told me) have run nearly dry. The pool is now fed by municipal water sources, but the surrounding park is lovely.

These photos, and my descriptions of our travels, do not adequately convey how full this day felt. It was a remarkable experience, and I have a new appreciation for the history and magic of the city of San Antonio. If you’d like to learn more from Rohn’s encyclopedic mind, you can take a look here, here, and/or his Vimeo channel.

More adventures await me here tomorrow; stay tuned!

Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Use the green “contact” button above to schedule a one-hour phone or video call with me!

Want to be notified of future blog posts? Use the green “sign up” button to subscribe!

Want to support my vision financially? I am in the process of manifesting $50,000 in lieu of a “salary” for the year of this journey. You can make a one-time or monthly contribution, or even become a Fairy Godfunder! (Heartfelt thanks to all my patrons and supporters!)