Tourist's Guide And New Comer's Guide To San Antonio
Welcome to San Antonio. San Antonio is a quirky small town of almost a couple million people. It lies where the Edwards Plateau makes a sweeping turn to the north east meeting the costal plains. To the north of down town you have the limestone formations that contain the water source for this city. There is a small school that actually has springs underneath it. There are San Pedro springs and the San Antonio river emerges on the campus of Incarnate Word downstream from Olmos Basin. To the North you have this strange constrictor called the Texas Rat Snake. If you visit Sea World and see this snake do not freak out. There are many employees of the park who actually welcome the snake's presence. It competes with the heat seeking venom carrying western diamond back rattler.
It is a city with Spanish Heritage founded by Canary Islanders from Spain....many of them still run this place. If you do not have large sums of money you will find one of the annoying quirks of the city....the remnant of the Spanish class system. You see all those large developments north of 1064 on the north side of town were built without impact fees. The developer's laughed all the way to bank and really enjoyed making the deposit. The thing is you play the role of sucker! Those newer schools are overcrowded and the roads are lousy. This has lead to another scam on the roads which seeks to make money out of your misery. Despite all the data that shows San Antonio can not outgrow its lack of drainage and poor roads lousy drainage San Antonio pins its hope on developers and new developments to bring in enough revenue to fix the mess. The trouble is there are segments of the city decorating and such large developments were never properly constructed coupled with the tax breaks the treasury does not have enough money to spend on the infra structure that should have built in the first place or paid for with impact fees. Just remember it is not mordita it political contributions. Such political contributions allow the DA to overlook an illegal loan by the city to the regional mobility authority.
If you visit you notice there are no lakes...in the immediate metro area. San Antonio lives on ground water. The result is if you drink and taste the water you will find some odd flavors. San Antonio has two basic additions to the water. Since the water comes from underground limestone formations it contains lime lots of it. Those of us who were raised on this hard water love its taste for a person unfamiliar with the city it comes witha a big shock! The city despite objections from the head of then head of the UT health science center added fluoride as well. Water heaters do not have the longest of lives here they get filled with rock from the water that flows through them.
Despite the San Antonio Spurs and a very rich cultural heritage that puts Dallas to shame San Antonio has an inferiority complex. This plays into the hands who can not earn money the old fashioned way but use government to line their wallets. San Antonio is unmistakably a southwestern city. It is more laid back then the southern city of Dallas with its desire for commerce. There are some positive aspects of the Spanish culture. Also the Alsatian influence from the west of Castorville and the German influence from the north impacted the culture of San Antonio. The supreme irony is that San Antonio has a rich cultural heritage. Conjunito music was born here. Conjunto music is like Chili it is the blending of South Texas rancheras born out of the Spanish heritage mixed with the Polka accordion from the German's who settled just to the north in New Braunfels and had maintained their culture. San Antonio can blast the best diet to the fate of an F-105 hit with three surface to air missiles. Tex Mex is Spanish cooking influenced by the Cohuiltecan need for heat added to the new world's wheat and beef. Fat is considered a delicacy . Tex Mex originated with food with a bit to survive the heat and the harshness of south Texas. Flaming flavorful fat that is the hallmark of good Tex mex. Salsa to some south Texas mouths is the all purpose condiment from breakfast till dinner! Keep in mind the times the San Antonio Spurs have on the championships and the biggest complaint police had from the first one was the sore hands from all the high fives they received. Puro San Antonio looks out for its neighbors. Puro San Antonio gives to the poor but leaves it to the ultimate accountant to record it....the heck with deducting it from the income taxes. San Antonio boasts its share of colleges and boasts the Institute of Texas Cultures, Mc Nay, Witte, and Smithsonian Branch Museum. San Antonio has had a lasting impact in the World of Aviation. The first military flight took place at Ft.Sam Houston. Brooks, Kelly and Stinson field are WWI era training bases. WWII introduced Randolph Air Force Base. San Antonio is military city primarily Air Force. Lackland AFB is where all basic training for the USAF takes place. Ft.Sam has a major mission. Kelly USA still boasts its own contingent of C-5s and F-16s. Many military seek to retire here. Ft .Sam Houston has a cemetery that is the final resting place of heroes who served sometimes to giving the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. The military has influenced San Antonio culture as many retirees decided to comeback and live in this area.
San Antonio is also located just south and east of the hot bed of pro union sentiment during the Civil War. If you drive on Interstate 10 to Boerne you are in it. New Braunfels while having become a suburb remains stubbornly independent at its heart. During WWII the Germans who built the town started speaking more German to piss off those who distrusted them. After German scientists found a home in the small town while they worked with the military of the USA. A Nazi rocket scientist who lived with his life and worked at security hill and his wife killed themselves in New Braunfels in 1998. If you visit New Braunfels be mindful of the fact you are viewed with skepticism and to a degree contempt. The big bursts of ordinances show this.
Welcome to San Antonio if you are a tourist spend your money here. You might find that we the local find it a local obligation to help you when you visit our downtown. San Antonio may not have the pace of Dallas and may seem at time charmingly old enjoy it. By the way the Alamo in 1836 was on the outskirts of town....as you well know that was before the era of the revolver and long before the car was invented.
Some other interesting facts the north side and the Texas hill country was originally a grassland. The Alamo is neat but Espada and San Jose are must see sights for the tourist. Once you enter the mission you find yourself in a time warp. This is great job by the National Park Service! Below Stinson Airport you might want to check out the San Antonio River and the Espada aqueduct. To understand some of the best Tejano influence one must read San Antonio Express News Nacho Gurache!