Guadalupe River State Park, Spring Branch, Texas
Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah (it isn’t known what this name means) and gave him Asenath (she belongs to the goddess Neith – the goddess of war and weaving) daughter of Potiphera (he whom Ra has given), priest of On (a city 10 miles northeast of modern Cairo; it was an important center for the worship of Ra), to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt. ~ Genesis 41:45a Wait a minute – Joseph is given an Egyptian name and wife? And he accepts them? How does this make him any different from Judah? Apparently, it’s okay. I looked high and low and no one comments on this except to say that this wife would’ve been involved in worshiping the god, Ra. He the king of all the deities the Egyptians worshiped and was considered the sun god. The one who ruled over life and death. The god our One True God proved false when He brought about darkness and smote the firstborn of all Egypt – the last of the ten plagues before Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. So. Knowing all this (about the god, not Moses stuff), I wonder how Joseph handled all this idol worship? Did he teach his wife and in-laws and eventually children about his God? Surely he must have tried. It’s hard to function as a believer in an unbelieving world, isn’t it? Just as Jesus said it would be.
It’s Spring in San Antonio! Blooms are not quite everywhere you look, but there are a lot!
Today was a busy day.
It began with a visit to Fort Sam Houston. I had discovered it when I was researching things to do in the area. It mentioned having peacocks and deer and free, so that was pretty much all I needed to know. 😊 Blaine agreed. We had no idea what we were in for just to see a few peacocks!
First of all, I’d stumbled upon the fact that you had to check in at a different place than the actual fort. (and by the way, why is there a fort in the middle of dry land??) So we went there first, and were confused. Turns out, the place is an actual bonafide military installation! I went in just to see if we were in the right place, and everyone was wearing Army fatigues! One guy was even wearing a flak jacket! A friendly female soldier asked me what I wanted and I told her. I was instructed to bring in our driver’s licenses, vehicle registration and proof of insurance. So we did. It took a while, but we finally came away with this pass.
Then it was on to the second address, through a security gate where this guy was wearing full military gear – fatigues, flak jacket, guns, etc. We both found it a bit nerve wracking, like we were doing something wrong. And he didn’t tell us where to go, or what to do. And we didn’t ask. Eventually, we located the museum that’s on the grounds and then we felt better. And we could hear the peacocks squawking up a storm outside. Whew! I’ve never been so happy to hear a peacock in all my life!
So what’s the story here? Other than our brush with feeling like criminals. Although, now that I say that, maybe criminals don’t feel like Nervous Nellies. Maybe that helps them be criminals? I digress.
Here’s what their website has to say. Short and concise. Not at all like me who rambles on and on.
The Fort Sam Houston Museum tells the story of Fort Sam Houston from its beginning in 1845 as the Post at San Antonio to the present day. It also highlights the close relationship between the Post and San Antonio — “Military City, USA” — with roots extending back to the Spanish presidio of 1718.
Artifacts, images, and stories share the events and people that transformed a small Post and quartermaster depot into one of the nation’s largest military installations by the start of the 19th-Century, then follows the post’s impact on military readiness into the modern era and today.
Housed in a National Historic Landmark structure built in 1876, the museum looks out on the iconic Fort Sam Houston Quadrangle, with its centerpiece Clock Tower and the home of Fort Sam’s peafowl and deer who have been part of the scenic landscape for more than 130 years.
I also found this on mysanantonio.com when I went looking for why there are tame deer here.
The U.S. Army had a long but tenuous relationship with San Antonio as headquarters of the Department of Texas before the Quadrangle was built, occupying the Alamo (and adding the distinctive roofline) during the U.S.-Mexican War, then the Vance Building where the Gunter Hotel now stands. Federal troops left town in February 1861 and returned after the Civil War to find rental properties costly and flood- and malaria-prone. Because the city was considered a major supply point for the western forts and troops stationed along the border, Army Quartermaster General Brig. Gen. Montgomery Meigs asked Congress in 1870 for “the erection of a fireproof building for the storage of military supplies (and as) a depot for troops on the Rio Grande frontier.”
Once the Army made the decision to stay in San Antonio, despite its lack of a railroad at the time, the city made this important economic generator and defensive force lavishly welcome. City Council voted to donate not only free land north of the city but free native limestone from the nearby city rock quarries (where the San Antonio Zoo and Sunken Gardens are now). Construction began June 21, 1876, on the 749,000-cubic-foot storage unit to be built around eight acres of what became known as Government Hill. A second story was added to be used as headquarters office space. The structure originally had no name but acquired “The Quadrangle” through common usage.
The Quadrangle (hosts a) menagerie of deer, ducks, peacocks and other wildlife — a tourist attraction and family-photograph staple while Fort Sam was an open post. “There is no good reason why the animals are in the Quadrangle,” says Fort Sam Museum Director Jackie Davis, “except that having peacocks and tame deer was a popular thing to do in the 1800s.”
When I tried to take a close up of the words, all I got was glare.
There are actual street names in here! The place is huge!
But when we got to the other gate, it was closed, so we had to turn around.
We enjoyed our time here. Now it’s time to make our escape.
Thank goodness we didn’t have to be searched. That would’ve been really nerve wracking! As it turned out, we didn’t even have to talk to anyone, just drove away through the angled barricades.
Now the next hurdle – – drive amongst San Antonio traffic and find a place to park and ride. There’s a bike trail in town that takes you to all five (yes, five) missions. You can also drive to them, but it was a pretty nice day, albeit a bit cool, so Blaine talked me into riding (aka exercise) between them. Each one is roughly two miles from the other, so we parked in the approximate middle.
Our mission now, and the main purpose of visiting the city, was to visit each one. The last time we were here, we used the city bus, but only made time for the two main ones – Alamo (Did you remember that it began as a Catholic mission? I didn’t.) and San Jose.
These lovely trees were in the parking lot where we left the Jeep and took off on bikes.
The first documented arrival of Spanish explorers at San Antonio River in June, 1691 named the river in honor of Saint Anthony. Gradually, the area developed into what was honored in 2015 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Gazing upon history, have you ever had the thought, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”? Or to quote Solomon in all his wisdom, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”? Well, here’s proof!
This mission had a National Park Ranger on site and corralled indoors, so we asked why there were so many missions so relatively close together. Know what he told us? There were several different Native American tribes in the area that the Church was trying to teach and convert. However, those tribes didn’t really care much for each other. In order to keep them separated and discourage in-fighting, they built several churches! Just like so many churches today! Isn’t that crazy?!?
An additional reason was because everyone had to walk, so it saved on foot-traffic and saved time. 😊
Seems they call them “Hairy Cactus”. More creativity from the Father!
Can you imagine the entire thing painted like this?
It must’ve been gorgeous!
From here, we rode back to the Jeep, then drove to the next. one.
We covered about ten miles up and down hills today, visiting San Jose, San Juan and Espada, deciding to drive to Concepcion as shadows were beginning to lengthen, and dinnertime was approaching.
and a guide was talking to them.
The mission wall is on the right.
Our final mission for the day was a quick visit to the Alamo, followed by a walk along the San Antonio Riverwalk to enjoy the gorgeous view we remembered from our last visit, and search for dinner along the way.
We shoulda stopped at Concepcion and found an out-of-town place for dinner.
The Riverwalk was absolutely packed with people! To the point that at times I was concerned about getting nudged into the river. All the restaurants along the way were overflowing. All I could see was the back of whatever person happened to be in front of me, and if I took my eyes off the edge of the walkway, a quick look at the river. It was definitely not like this the last time we were here! We’re thinking today’s crowd was still celebrating St. Patrick’s Day – through the weekend.
Eventually, we came to an area with less people – no businesses. But we were getting tired and hungry by then. Not wanting to fight the crowds again, we left the river for a walk along the city streets, in search of the Alamo again. There was a larger crowd there and a very long wait to get inside, so we just headed to the Jeep.
Only we had a bit of an issue finding the lot where we’d left it. Right by the lot, there was a nice looking bbq place with smokers going in a screened in porch area, so we decided we were hungry enough to give it a shot. We walked in and discovered it was a la cart. They sold their meat by the pound. We ordered a half pint of baked beans, half pint of potato salad, a small handful of shredded pork (which ended up being ¼ #) and three slices of brisket, plus one fountain drink. It was $50! We felt ripped off! And the only thing that was really good was the brisket. The fountain drink that was supposed to be Fanta orange, was pink. We didn’t really know what it was, but it tasted okay. Live and learn, right?
Mission accomplished – peacocks, biking, missions, the riverwalk, and dinner. It just wasn’t accomplished quite the way we envisioned it. A fantastic day nonetheless! So grateful to the Father that we’re healthy enough to do this!