The Historic River Walk

The temp this a.m. was around 0 C so Irene & I never left on the trike until around 9:30 or so. We headed North towards Austin and then took the 1604 loop around back to the west just to see the country side a bit. We ended up at our morning destination the Bass Pro Shop. They told us it was the largest one in Texas and was it ever big! It is unbelievable how they have the interior of the stores all done up with mounted game of all sorts. Irene took the picture of the tree made of deer horns. They also have a rock climbing wall and this little 6 or 7 year old went up it like a monkey. Her Dad was telling us she does gymnastics and is very nibble, that was obvious. We were there long enough that we had lunch there as well at the Fish Company, boy was that good. It is the same chain that they have in the Florida Keys that we were at before.

The River Walk was the idea of architect Robert Hugman in the late 1920s. As an alternative to paving over the troublesome San Antonio River, Hugman drew out a plan he called "The Shops of Aragon and Romula" which allowed for both flood prevention and commercial development. Hugman maintained his office along the shallow river, despite warnings that he would be "drowned like a rat" and its early reputation as a dangerous hole (The River Walk was declared off-limits to military personnel at one point). Hugman persisted, and his office can still be found next door to another early presence on the River Walk, the landmark Casa Rio restaurant.

tion of a network of some 17,000 linear feet of walkways, about 20 bridges, and extensive plantings including the live oaks whose branches are visible from street level.
Through the following decades the network has been improved and extended, without losing its original character. One major extension of the River Walk was performed by the joint venture of two general contractors Darragh & Lyda Inc. and H. A. Lott Inc. to Tower of the Americas as part of HemisFair '68. That was also the year the Hilton Palacio del Rio was built, the first of many downtown hotels that leverage their slice of urban "riverfront."

In 1981 the Hyatt Regency San Antonio opened with a beautiful new pedestrian connector that linked Alamo Plaza to the River Walk with concrete water falls, waterways and indigenous landscaping. Known as the Paseo del Alamo, this river "extension" actually flows from Alamo Plaza into the San Antonio River through the atrium of the hotel. This connector not only allows the hotel to market itself as being on Alamo Plaza and on the River Walk, but it provides the city with an urban park that connects the city's two largest tourist attractions.

Many downtown buildings like the Casino Club Building have street entrances and separate river entrances one level below. This separates the automotive service grid (for delivery and emergency vehicles) and pedestrian traffic below, and creating an intricate network of bridges, walkways, and old staircases.

Dennis wrote:
This morning was a little warmer then yesterday. Heated clothing was necessary. We headed west on hwy 16 to Bandera. This town is just a small cowboy town. We ate at OST Restaurant. I had Mexican cuisine. Myrna enjoyed a western lunch. Their buffet was set up in a chuck wagon. The buffet looked very appropriate with the restaraunt decor. From there we headed farther north-west on 16 to hwy 337 and went west to Leakey. This hwy 337 is known as the best bike road in Texas. We had corners the speed limit was 60 mph right down to 10 mph. You did not want to be going faster than the posted speed. When we arrived at Leakey we stopped at Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop they have motorcycle clothing accessories and novelties. They also have a restaurant called Bent Rim we had a coffee outside so we didn’t have to take of our electric jackets. The lady that owned this place grew up at Lake Cowichan B. C. We left there and headed south on hwy 83 to hwy 127 then hwy 90 back to San Antonio. What a day 240 miles.