There's a yellow rose in Texas that I am going to see...No other soldier knows her, no soldier only me....

Sometimes when I take these tours, I wonder if there is anymore room in my little brain for any more information....the more I learn the more I crave. Today we took a trolley tour through San Antonio....what a fabulous city, full of charm and history.

This is the oldest cathedral in the city.....

This gold altar was awesome....I wish I had time to attend a service in one of these magnificent churches.....

This was interesting.....a marble coffin sits in the entrance way with the remains of three of the most famous defenders of the Alamo....Travis, "Davie" Crockett and Jim Bowie.....along with other unnamed heroes.

Mission Concepcion www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/concepcion.htm We were not allowed inside this mission as they are trying to restore a portion of it.

The cathedral within the mission San Jose. There was a 12:00 noon Mariachi Mass, but we arrived just as They were finishing up.

They did however, perform a few pieces outside the church before they left.....Ending with a "make you want to dance" version of Feliz Navidad.

Some of the beautiful sculptures in the front of the church.....These missions are the pride and joy of San Antonio and they are very well maintained and preserved......

The historic Rose Window...

The wall of the mission, built to keep the Apaches out. Attacks would occur as often as three/four times a day.

Visiting the Alamo .....Of course I would be the one whose throat they would slit first....keep me quiet...
The Alamo has such an interesting history....the bravery and determination of the few men who defended it fighting off thousands of Mexican soldiers is incredible... www.thealamo.org/history.html .

An interesting story told by our tour guide was of Santa Anna's final defeat at San Jacinto www.enwikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San-Jacinto . As was told to us, the song The Yellow Rose of Texas is in reference to a very charming mulatto slave girl who was set up to "entertain" Santa Anna, while the American troops sneaked up on him. We all chuckled when he said "entertain" and he said "oh no, not in the way you are thinking....Santa Anna liked his heroin so she supplied him with that.

The Daughters of the American Revolution are responsible for the rehab and upkeep of the Alamo. The grounds/gardens are so pretty......

I wanted Gene and Ruth to stand in front of this tree to show the actual size of it.....Located within the mission walls......

The memorial in honor of the defenders of the Alamo....