Approaching Los Angeles in late December, the weather clearing.
Joshua Tree National Park
The best time to visit a National Park is when you can, even if it’s Christmas and half the world seems to be in line to escape the everyday, even if the only restaurant you can find for Christmas dinner is Jack in the Box taken back to the hotel’s breakfast room. Of course, heading back into the park in early morning (how else could we capture a photo at Skull Rock?) is amply rewarded with magnificent landscapes unspoiled by traffic and fellow humans lost, as we are, in their own thoughts. Another park, living up to the otherworldly hype.
The Huntington, Pasadena
The Huntington Library, Museum and Gardens in Pasadena is one more major institution of which we had virtually no awareness, but that merits much more exploration. We had time only to scratch the surface of the, frankly, astonishing gardens and none to explore anything else. While Joshua Tree at times seemed so pleasing to the eye that it must have been designed, rather than simply nature left to its own devices, the Huntington gardens were a continuous delight of showing how nature can be displayed to astonish.
Floats from the Rose Bowl Parade, Up Close
Fulfilling Amanda’s childhood fantasy, we joined 150,000+ of our closest friends to wander among the Rose Bowl Parade floats the afternoon of New Year’s Day. Over the course of the afternoon, her skeptical companions began turning the conversation from never again to if we do this again this is what we need to do. The San Diego Zoo was our favorite, although the dogs and cats on the pet food float were incredibly cute. And, the up-close look gave a whole new level of appreciation to the artistry involved in such an ephemeral production.
Everyplace you visit holds surprise. For us, the surprise in San Antonio was the Riverwalk in the old city that provides a very nice place to walk any time of day or night and seems to be the heart of what draws people into the city. It takes advantage of a natural loop in the course of the San Antonio river that is now supplemented with water from the aquifer to keep a major tourist draw afloat. We enjoyed it as a very pleasant way to walk below the city streets.
The Alamo
The uniqueness of San Antonio to Texas and Texans is, of course, the Alamo, the symbol of Texan independence, pride and grit where the defenders of the mission/fort sought no quarter and received none, the prequel to the battle of San Jacinto which sealed the independence of Texas from Mexico when President and General Santa Anna was surprised, captured, and compelled to sign away his territory. That’s Davy Crockett fighting the Lego bear during the battle of the Alamo in the visitor center.
About the Town
In the name of romance, certainly, the city provided chain link fences along one of the bridges over the river that are now completely encrusted with symbols of enduring love. What we loved was this special pastry from a nearby, and extremely popular, bakery that marries Mexican tradition with French technique. And, this Hilton is notable for being built in 202 days for the 1968 World’s Fair by fabricating the rooms 7 miles away and lifting them in place complete with furnishing, down to the ashtrays (n.b. 1968). The first guests rode their room into place on national TV.
San Fernando Cathedral
San Fernando Cathedral in the heart of San Antonio was founded in 1731 by 16 families from the Canary Islands who were persuaded to settle there at the invitation of the Spanish king because there was little interest by the mainlanders, given opportunities elsewhere. The Canary Islanders remained among the most prominent members of the community. The nightly sound and light show is actually quite good, presenting a whirlwind history of San Antonio in 20 minutes.
Briscoe Western Art Museum
The Briscoe Western Art Museum, with an entry from the Riverwalk, offered an interesting mix of artifacts and art, well presented.
SAMA
In addition to “the usual,” the San Antonio Museum of Art features the Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection of Popular Mexican Art (which appears to have been an out of the blue gift).
Botanical Garden
San Antonio Botanical Garden was another surprise – lots of bloom inside and out – and a great place to wander among the plants and the buildings brought there from the Hill Country.
Missions
North of the nascent city the Spanish established a string of Missions to secure territory against the French moving into east Texas and, of course, to save the souls of the Native Americans they persuaded to live under their protection and conform to their demands for labor and obedience. We visited a couple of reasonably well preserved Missions, as well as an aqueduct that formed part of the irrigation technology the Spanish picked up from the Moors. The separation of church and state is alive and well at the Missions, as the churches are owned, run and maintained by the local diocese, while the surrounding Mission land and buildings are owned and run by the National Park Service. Indeed, the Ranger guiding our tour of San Jose Mission was not permitted to enter the church and met us as we left to continue her narration.
LBJ & His Boyhood Home
Lyndon Baines Johnson, of Johnson City, grew up here a Texan from the Hill Country through and through, immersed in local politics learned at his father’s knee. With his social education jump started by teaching in a school built for Mexicans, he became the most consequential civil rights President, doing all he could for “the people,” only to be undone by a war that wouldn’t bend to his formidable powers of persuasion.
Next to his boyhood home is the headquarters of the rural electrical coop he brought to Johnson City (named for his grandpa) with a blazing display of exuberant excess during the holidays.
The Ranch
LBJ bought the family ranch from his widowed aunt and it became the Texas White House during his administration, which meant that the Air Force had to come up with Air Force One-Half, small enough to land on the ranch’s landing strip. Among the diversions for his guests, he enjoyed driving his Cadillac down the middle of his show barn to admire his Herefords or stocking the pond to take fellow Presidents fishing. (Lady Bird came from money.) You can see by expanding the photo of the bull, that LBJ branded his cattle on their horns, not their hides.
Fredericksburg
German emigration to America was really hitting its stride by 1846 when a syndicate of princes left would-be settlers stranded on the beach when their transportation fell through. The enterprising local agent improvised, purchased another large parcel not claimed by Comanches (as was the unpromising original tract of land) and (ta da) Fredericksburg was founded by 120 hardy and determined souls desperate to start a new life. Today, the Hill Country remains a place dominated by German stock and the town a popular (but, really rather nice) 19th century-quaint tourist destination for which Amanda’s cousins claim some bragging rights. We went through the Pioneer Museum and learned all about the tiny Sunday Houses, the plots for which were included in purchases of farm land so that all community members might have a place to stay in the city come Sunday. The hexagonal building, above, is the first church/meeting place built by the settlers.
