Historical Holiday

Recently my wife and I celebrated a special wedding anniversary. We decided to splurge and travel to San Antonio and stay at Hotel Emma. This was an amazing trip. The Emma is the old Pearl brewery that has been converted to a luxurious hotel. The service, accommodations, and food were top notch. The location is right on the San Antonio River. You can travel by water taxi to all the river tourist venues. One of our reasons for this trip was to visit and learn the history of the other 4 of the 5 missions of San Antonio since we’d both already been to 1 of the 5, that one, of course, being the Alamo. We asked the concierge for any knowledge she had on the best way to see the missions. Immediately she suggested a private tour with Michael Robinson of San Antonio Pro Tours.

We took her advice, and she contacted Michael for us and set up a tour for the next day. Wow! What a great experience it turned out to be. Michael picked us up the next morning at the Emma and gave us a personal tour of Mission Espada, Mission San Juan, Mission Concepcion and Mission San Jose. Michael is a former history teacher who brought the culture of each mission’s historical period to life with his knowledge, passion and humor. We came away with new knowledge and an appreciation of the historical significance of the Spanish influence on the native Americans and their struggles during the 1700’s and beyond.

As a bonus, we were treated to a guided drive through the King William District of historically restored homes. This is one of the oldest neighborhoods in San Antonio. It was named after King Wilhelm I, the King of Prussia in the 1870’s. The restored historical accuracy and architecture of the homes is amazing. Michael pointed out the famous people who are currently living in a few of the houses along with the history of the neighborhood.

Next, we were treated to a stroll through El Mercado where we bought some souvenirs for the grandkids and some Mexican pastries at Mi Tierra Cafe and Panaderia. Michael’s knowledge of the best restaurants in San Antonio came in handy as we sampled a few of them during the next couple of days. Our favorite was La Fonda on Main. It is the oldest Mexican food restaurant in San Antonio. It was started in 1932 and was one of my Mom and Dad’s favorites. Michael also drove us through some of the most historical parks in the area with some very informative historical information on each landscape. He even drove us by my grandmother’s old apartment building where as a young boy I used to gaze down San Pedro Avenue from her ninth story bedroom window.

Michael dropped us off back at the Emma where we ate an amazing supper at the hotel restaurant named “Supper”. He suggested we visit the San Antonio Botanical Garden and the Witte Museum while we were in town. We enjoyed the Witte Museum and were amazed by the color and beauty of the Botanical Gardens.

I have included a video of pictures I took while on this trip below. If you travel to San Antonio, you will want to treat yourself to a stay at the Emma and a tour with Michael Robinson of San Antonio Pro Tours.

https://www.sanantonioprotours.com

Thanks for reading my blog and enjoy the video below of some of the sites we saw.

God bless you and safe travels! 2 Corinthians 12:9

Tim Lumpkin