Day 2 In San Antonio

I spent my second day in San Antonio visiting the Missions. All four of the missions are still active and hold worship services on Sunday.

Mission Conception (the featured image) is the mission of Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion and was transferred from east Texas in 1731. The church looks essentially as it did in the mid-1700s.

Mission San Jose was founded in 1720 by Fray Antonio Margil de Jesus. This mission is the largest and best restored of the four missions. I was amazed at architecture and only wished that I knew more about architectural photography. The way that the arches were designed were gorgeous. The outside walls of the grounds were homes for the Indians that lived there and were protected from attacking Apaches and Comanches.

Mission San Juan is a beautiful white church. The grounds were not as large as the previous two missions but one of the things that I learned about it was that because it was bright white it could be seen for miles and that would welcome people.

Mission Espada was also small but the thing that struck me most was the greying front with three bell towers. It looked like a typical church that you see in a John Wayne movie.

It was a long day because I did it all by bus. I found out that I could get a day pass and jump on and off any bus for $2.75. I wasn’t until later that I found, because I am an old fart, I should have only paid $1.35. Of course, it takes a lot longer to get where you want to go because of the routes around the city that the buses must take. But you don’t have to pay for parking. If you are going to places downtown it is worth it because of the cost of parking. But if you are going to the missions the parking there is free.

More images can be found at: https://kgarrett.smugmug.com/Around-The-USA/San-Antonio