May 20, 2008
The RiverWalk, Emily Morgan, and the Alamo
Emily Morgan was reputed to be the Yellow Rose of Texas that kept Santa Ana otherwise occupied during the battle of the Alamo. The hotel named after her is incredibly opulent and a fine example of Art Deco architecture. It is right across a brick paved street from the Alamo and was the site of a recent two day class in procedures that I took.
San Antonio is a fun city to visit but not so easy to drive around. To be fair, I was still getting accustomed to my new GPS unit. Somehow after a dizzying set of directions including exiting right a short three blocks after entering on the left into an eight lane road, I managed to find our way to our hotel—the Gunter. We decided to avail ourselves of the valet parking with security cameras and watchpersons instead of the much cheaper public parking across the street. And to be honest, I hate driving my truck into parking garages—the ceiling is just too low!
Class was good, the instructor great, my classmates intense. One arrived late, wore his hair like Elvis, had the sunglasses in the same style as Elvis, had the large shiny belt buckle like Elvis, and had a ‘look at me’ cell phone ring. The only thing missing was the white sparkly jumpsuit. Another classmate had the jiggly leg, click his pen, slash at his notes writing style that was so distracting I had to keep my notebook in my lap, my finger in my ear, and my eyes straight ahead.
During one part of the class, we needed a volunteer to experiment with the portable ultrasound machine. This is a really cool machine about the size of a laptop. My husband promptly volunteered—so he could add male model to his resume—and to let my other classmates have the opportunity to use the equipment rather than being the ‘patient’.
We ate lunch and dinner on the RiverWalk—there’s just something about sitting next to the water while dining that makes everything taste wonderful. A stroll on the sidewalks afterward is part of the fun. Egrets and ducklings and pigeons don’t seem to mind the people invading their territory. Mosaics and water fountains are everywhere and it seems that every other year or so, more things are added.
The Alamo itself is always full of people, quietly murmuring as they circle the exhibits, the flags of each state and country of the men who were in the Alamo. The grounds are beautiful with large oak trees and flowers. It is not the dusty and dry image of John Wayne’s movie. The post office now stands at the western wall of the fort/mission and the city has grown up around it. Still, it is an awesome place to visit.
There was a very long line waiting to get in to see the Alamo; the line looped back through a covered area and was halted by a photographer at the entrance.
Outside were lovely old live oak trees, a small rivulet with giant carp all hoping for a tidbit of bread, benches, and blooming prickly pear. 
Sylvia Weir Art 