San Antonio!

"IF we succeed, the country is ours, it is immense in extent and fertile in its soil and will amply reward all our toils.  If we fail, death, in the cause of liberty and humanity, is not cause for shuddering. Our rifles are by our sides and choice guns they are; we know what awaits us and are prepared to meet it".

This most well-known and oft-quoted section of the letter written on December 26, 1835, and addressed to his “beloved brother,”  by Daniel William Cloud,  a twenty-two year old lawyer turned warrior from Kentucky,  en route to Alamo, the battle fort in San Antonio,  perhaps explains the spirit behind the Texas Revolution for independence.   Liberty or Death!

Cloud concludes his letter telling his brother, "If I were with you, I could talk enough to tire you. I hope we shall meet."

Along with Bailey, Cloud joined the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers and was killed when Santa Anna’s troops attacked the Alamo on the morning of March 6, 1836.

What a heart-rending tale!  Isn't it? 

The city of San Antonio is some 220 and odd miles (around 350 Kms precisely) from the place where we are in Houston and we went there for picnicking during last week-end. 

San Antonio is a beautiful city and it houses a well known Theme Park called Sea World.  In Sea world, we took a ride in a huge and tall roller coaster, called Steel Eel.  It is a driver less vehicle in which you are securely seated.  It goes upto a height of 150 ft. and then drops down straight from that level, then again it climbs up and drops down, all in a few seconds. The total ride is only 2 and odd minutes, but it is a ride you will remember for all the time to come.  During drop downs, you will feel u r going to die!   (It will be the last if there is any mechanical malfunctioning, no doubt, but they do unquestionable maintenance; you can rest assure, nothing will go wrong). 

We also enjoyed rides in water roller coasters, and saw something called a ‘Dolphin Cove’, another attraction in Sea World.  This is a spacious lagoon where we could see a pod of playful Atlantic bottlenosed dolphins.  It was amazing to watch their jumping skills.

We had a bitter experience too.  We boarded a circuclar  raft knowing not that it would spray cool water on you and make you drenched literally  as it bobbed and bounced through the unexpected twists, turns and drop-offs!  However, it was all part of the fun over there that we were able to enjoy.

We visited Alamo (they call it the Shrine of Texas Liberty) twice.  Once, on our way to SeaWorld and then again in the evening for a ‘river walk’.  While we spent an hour or so in the morning, en route to the Sea World, in the so-called Alamo Fort (where a battle was fought and lost by Texian and Tejano volunteers against the Mexican troops, symbolizing Alamo as a heroic struggle – a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom), in the evening we had a beautiful boat ride in River Walk.  The 45 minute ride was really enchanting as it was refreshing too.  The Captain of the Boat, a Mexican by name Mike, narrated, during the ride, the history of each and every building that stood by the river.

River Walk is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath the streets, shops and restaurants, the River Walk is an important part of the city's urban fabric and a tourist attraction in its own right. It winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shops, connecting the major tourist draws from the Alamo.  It was so beautiful to see in the evening with special effects of electrical illumination.  We enjoyed every bit of the scene there.

Thus the last week-end was very memorable indeed in our stay here in US.