Mission Impossible (Theme Song)

Another beautiful, sunny day in San Antonio. We are on a mission today to visit several missions on the Mission Trail. The Alamo is the northernmost of the six missions and the smallest. We drove south of the city to see Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo. It is a beautiful place considered the queen of the missions.

Founded in 1720 by Franciscans from Spain. The Friars were sent to convert the native peoples and convert them to Roman Catholicism, teach them Spanish and train them in skills useful to the mission so they could pay taxes to Spain. We saw an informative movie and went on a guided tour with a National Park Ranger.

Much of the exterior walls and housing units had been destroyed and were rebuilt by the WPA during the 1930's. Unfortunately the church was locked because of it being a national holiday, Martin Luther King Day. So we decided to visit another mission where we could view the church interior.

On the way we stopped at a local cafe for some Mexican food for lunch. Then on to the Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purisima Concepcion de Acuna. That is quite a mouthful. The grounds here were smaller as the perimeter buildings had been destroyed and not rebuilt.

We were able to go into the church and they have beautiful frescoes adorning some of the walls. These are original art and so wonderful to see. It is considered one of the country's oldest original stone churches. Both churches we visited are still functioning with services held each week for the local community.

Back to the hotel for a little rest and then a short walk to the Riverwalk. We bought tickets for a boat tour which took 45 minutes. So much fun to ride along the narrow San Antonio River and see all the restaurants, bars and craft booths on the river.

Under bridges and alongside hotels which sit right on the river. We took a loop coming back to the same place and headed off to explore and finally a margarita and chips on the river's edge. We sat under one of these brightly colored umbrellas.

At 6:00 we had a dinner reservation at Boudrous which was recommended by our concierge. We sat outside with large heaters and blankets on every chair in case you were chilly.

The food and ambiance were great! I had a soup that was cheddar on one side and black bean on the other. Really good. Then I had wood fired grilled sea bass with (drum roll) mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini. A delicious dinner. We waddled back the hotel where we packed and now watching TV and soon to sleep. Left a wake up call for 7:00 am so we can get to the airport in plenty of time.