San Antonio

Author: By Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, April 27, 1997

Page: M1

Section: Travel

The Alamo is an American shrine and a stirring sight but hardly the only attraction in the area. For instance, during one four-day weekend in San Antonio and environs, I:

-- Sipped a margarita on a restaurant patio while strolling musicians serenaded my wife with a Mexican birthday song.

-- Explored early-18th-century Spanish missions surrounded by flowers and mesquite trees.

-- Saw some of the world's strangest sights (without even looking in the mirror), including a two-headed animal and the Lord's Prayer engraved on a grain of rice.

-- Dined heartily while watching boats float by on the winding San Antonio River -- and took one of those boat rides myself.

-- Held a meaningful conversation with an anteater at one of the nation's top zoos.

-- Visited the ranch of a former president whose ego sometimes appeared to be as big as the land.

-- Shopped for glorious gimcracks in a Mexican marketplace and in a fascinating town with strong German roots.

-- Rode in a cable car, high above a park where people were riding on a mini train, paddleboats or a carousel, or merely relaxing.

-- And, ah yes, I visited the Alamo.

That's the San Antonio area -- a multicultural mecca for history, dining, shopping, missions, museums, mansions, and theme parks. Even with four days of nonstop sightseeing, I wasn't able to take it all in.

Let's be realistic, though, and begin where almost everybody does: downtown, at the Alamo, easily the most famous spot in Texas. It was here in 1836 where 189 people defended the Mission San Antonio de Valero, better known as the Alamo, against repeated attacks by Mexican General Santa Anna's army. All 189 defenders died, giving rise to the battle cry ``Remember the Alamo!'' and to one of the nation's most enduring and inspiring legends of bravery. Visiting here, you cannot help but be moved.

All that remains of the original fort is the chapel, the barracks, and, across the street a way, a bit of the original wall. So to get a better understanding of what the Alamo was like during the siege, it is worthwhile to see ``Alamo . . . the Price of Freedom'' on a six-story-high screen at the IMAX theater at nearby Rivercenter Mall, or to study the diorama in the lobby of The Texas Adventure, a special-effects theater across the street, where the ``ghosts'' of the Alamo trinity -- Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and Colonel William Travis -- tell their story amid the booming sounds of the battle. Or if you've a mind to travel 100 miles or so, visit Alamo Village in Brackettville, a replica of the Alamo at the time of the battle and the site of many movies.

You will, of course, return to the real thing and step into the chapel (gentlemen, heed the sign and remove your hats) and the Long Barracks Museum and Library. In these buildings, and in the museum/gift shop, displays include Crockett's rifle, Bowie's knife, the names of the dead, and relics and mementos of the Republic of Texas. All of this is contained on lovingly landscaped grounds.

Inevitably, such a popular exhibit gives rise to touristy attractions, and you'll find several near the Alamo, some of which are actually enjoyable. In addition to the Texas Adventure, there is a Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum containing more than 500 one-of-a-kind artifacts collected by the adventurous cartoonist Robert Ripley, including the Lord's Prayer on that grain of rice and even a replica of the Alamo made of rattlesnake rattles. (Add to this a visit to the Buckhorn Hall of Horns, Fins and Feathers, currently on the grounds of the Lone Star Brewery, and you'll gain a true feel for the bizarre. There are more than 3,500 species of horned game animal trophies and such oddities as the stuffed two-headed calf.)

Next to Believe it or Not! is the Plaza Theatre of Wax, which may not give the Madame Tussaud people the shakes but which does contain 225 figures from Hollywood, horror, history, and religion. (I was proud to pose for a picture near a likeness of my hero, Forrest Gump.) And nearby is the Cowboy Museum, a replica of an Old West town, showing how the people lived in those long-gone days.

Not far away is Market Square, where El Mercado, a 32-shop area patterned after a Mexican market and filled with all the statues, trinkets, blankets and jewelry that such markets are known for. If you factor in what you save by not driving to the border, the prices, too, are about the same as in Mexico. There, too, are 80 specialty shops in Farmers Market Plaza and plenty of places to snack or dine, including La Margarita, where my wife had the birthday serenade along with the fajitas.

A few blocks away -- and easily accessible by the colorful trolleys that ply San Antonio streets -- is a place that's fast becoming as synonymous with San Antonio as the Alamo -- the 21-block River Walk, or Paseo del Rio. This historic jade-green waterway, with its banks lined by green subtropical foliage, runs one level below the city's streets. And because a river runs through it, todaythe area is filled with shops, nightclubs, and restaurants. Whether you're dining on paella at Ibiza or catfish at the Lone Star Cafe (the River Walk also boasts a Hard Rock Cafe and a Planet Hollywood) or listening to jazz, rock, or Tejano music emanating from the clubs, it's hard to imagine a more pleasant setting. (If you suddenly hear booming noises, though, don't be alarmed: They're not restarting the Battle of the Alamo but rather scaring the birds away so they won't drop in on, or drop on, the diners and boat passengers.)

En route to or from the River Walk, many visitors stop at La Villita, an arts-and-crafts community, highlighted by 26 colorful shops. And few visit the River Walk itself without taking a boat ride conducted by Yanaguana Cruises. (Yanaguana, or ``place of refreshing waters,'' is what the area was first called by the Papaya Indians.) The 35- to 40-minute jaunt combines scenery and history with the guide's jokes. Example: ``From here you can see the 750-foot-high Tower of the Americas. Near the top is a restaurant that makes a full revolution once an hour. Any speedier and they'd have to call it fast food.'' Argggh.

Mention of the Tower of Americas, however, does call to mind some of the unusual architecture of San Antonio. The tower itself was the symbol of the 1968 HemisFair and resembles Seattle's Space Needle or perhaps George Jetson's landing tower. And the fair site itself is now the very pleasant HemisFair Park, adjacent to the central business district and containing the German Heritage Park, the Mexican Cultural Institute, and the Institute of Texas Cultures. Visit the institute and observe the influences of cultures and immigrants around the world, and you may come away with an entirely different idea of just what and who a Texan is.

Other eye-catching San Antonio buildings include the towering Tower Life Building, with its gargoyles and lights; and the big, red Bexar Court Building which, fittingly enough, is nicknamed Big Red. The Alamo Dome, home of professional sports, has a nickname, too: The Upside-Down Armadillo. And the San Fernando Cathedral, with its twin spires and arches and circles, is the oldest cathedral sanctuary in the United States, dating to 1731.

But what about the places where the people live? Surely the most impressive is the King William District, where many stately mansions dating to the 1800s are being restored and many already-restored Victorian homes give a glimpse of the grandeur of an earlier day. So many people like to look at these houses that there are restrictions on tour buses arriving early in the morning or at night.

And for even older architecture -- and something more -- there are the adobe-and-stone missions of San Antonio: Concepcion, San Francisco de la Espalda, San Juan Capistrano, and San Jose. Mission San Jose, established in 1720, has been completely restored, so perhaps that's a good place to start. Look at the intricately carved Rose's Window, the vaulted roof of the fortified tower, and the myriad other examples of Spanish ornamentation and you'll understand why San Jose is called Queen of the Missions. But visit them all because each offers something unique. Mission San Juan Capistrano, for instance, has in its chapel rare cornstalk pith figures of Christ and the Virgin. In their day, the missions were bastions against invasions, and major mistakes have been acknowledged in the treatment of Native Americans there, but today they are places of peace.

Speaking of serenity, San Antonio has its share of parks, too. Along with HemisFair Park, perhaps the most frequented is Brackenridge Park. The 343-acre showplace for the San Antonio River includes a skyride, a carousel, a miniature railway, paddleboats, stables, and the Brackenridge Park Japanese Tea Gardens. The tea gardens are impressive for their winding walkways, stone bridges, placid pools, and lush gardens. They also provide a lesson in recent history: During World War II, when the United States was at war with Japan, the name was changed to the Chinese Tea Gardens, and one sign with that name can still be spotted. Then during the Cold War, when relations with China were strained, the name became the Oriental Tea Gardens. Now they are the Japanese Tea Gardens once more.

The best of Brackenridge, though, is the Zoological Gardens and Aquarium, considered by many to be the third top zoo in Amerirca, behind the San Diego and Bronx zoos. Barless cages and open pits display baboons, penguins, flamingos, and other exotic species and birds. At the zoo, I saw my first-ever anteater and told him how happy I was to finally meet one of his species. (But when I noticed the crowd looking at me instead of the creature, I shut up.) In all, the 50-acre zoo has 3,400 specimens and 700 species; its African animal collection is one of the world's biggest and most varied. I came to spend an hour or so at the zoo and ended up spending half a day.

Because I lingered long at many San Antonio area attractions, I didn't get to visit Sea World of Texas or the Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park or many of the museums and galleries. Nonetheless, I took a day to visit the Texas Hill Country, which ranges for 125 miles north and west of San Antonio and which in spring is a riot of color, with bluebonnets and paintbrushes growing in profusion. President Lyndon B. Johnson called it ``a special corner of God's real estate,'' and one highlight of the Hill Country is the LBJ Ranch, the president's sprawling home across the Pedernales River, about 80 miles from San Antonio. At the ranch, they tell how LBJ was once asked by a visiting dignitary, ``Weren't you born in a log cabin?'' ``No,'' the not-overly-modest Johnson reportedly replied, ``I was born in a manger.'' On the National Park Service tour of the ranch and its buildings, LBJ's contribution to American education and his War on Poverty are stressed, although the problems of civil rights and the Vietnam War are not ignored.

Another Hill Country highlight is Luckenbach, Texas, population 3, if you can find it. This is the place that Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings sing about as a symbol of ``getting back to the basics of love,'' and it's worth finding just to visit its combination post office, general store, and bar.

Still another highlight is Fredericksburg, where the roots are German, the main street is extra wide and the shopping and dining are abundant. There are German restaurants, antiques shops, clock shops, gift shops, food shops, whatnot shops. Do be careful with the Texas hot sauce though: A modest sample in one store had me guzzling a can of Big Red soda to quench the fire. Fredericksburg is also home to the Admiral Nimitz Museum and Historical Center, where the World War II's Pacific battles, under Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, are commemorated.

Back in San Antonio, my visit was nearing its end. But I felt I had to return to the Alamo to see it aglow from the outside at night. You see, despite everything else I had seen and done, I couldn't forget the Alamo.

San Antonio has dozens of hotels, ranging from the ``brand name'' and budget hotels to historic ones such as the Menger, whose bar is more or less across the alley from the Alamo and is where Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders. And the Fairmount, a boutique hotel with 19 rooms and 17 suites, has even made the Guinness Book of World Records. The three-story brick hotel, built in 1906 and weighing 3.2 million pounds, was moved in 1985 to its present location three blocks south of the Alamo -- a six-block move that took six days and earned it the record for the largest building move. The hotel was then meticulously restored and has lots of charm.

Getting around San Antonio is no problem, even if you don't rent a car. Trolleys to San Antonio's major centers are 50 cents each way. Buses run frequently, and their paths include the Via Vistas Cultural Route, which goes by the missions and several museums and other attractions. Tour companies include Gray Line, San Antonio City Tours, and the Texas Trolley. If it weren't for Gray Line's Hill Country Tour, I never would have been able to find Luckenbach.

San Antonio is also a haven for golfers, with about 25 courses. For racing, there is Retama Park in nearby Selma.

Attractions such as the Alamo, the missions and much of Brackenridge Park (but not the zoo) are free, although some accept donations. Paid attractions seemed reasonably priced, with most costing $5 or less for adults. (Looking at the diorama in Texas Adventure costs nothing; there is a charge for the actual show, however.)

Spring and fall are wonderful times to visit. San Antonio does get warm in summer, with temperatures sometimes topping 100 in July and August. During the Christmas season, city buildings and the River Walk glow with holiday lights.

For more information, write to the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, PO Box 2277, San Antonio, TX 78298-2277; or call (800) 447-3372 or (210) 270-8700. Be sure to ask for the booklet of discount coupons. For recorded information on the city cultural scene, call (800) 894-3819 or (210) 2166.