The Perfect City Tour
The Perfect City Tour
Created Especially
For
NAYDO
April 12th 2014
(9:00am-4:00pm approximately)
Our first stop will be Mission San Jose after leaving the hotel. Here we will view a film and then walk the grounds of the largest and best restored of all the missions. We will tour the Indians’ quarters that were located within the walls as well as the Spanish soldiers’ quarters. San Jose’s church is one of the most beautiful in the country with its elaborate carvings on the chapel façade. The famous Rose Window and the cemetery from the 1770’s will be points of interest. This represents the Spanish influence in the early years of San Antonio’s development.
After our visit to Mission San Jose it is on to the Mexican Market known as El Mercado where you will get as close to real Mexico as you can this side of the border! But our first order of business will be lunch at the world famous Mi Tierra Restaurant (don’t forget to visit their amazing bake shop!). Then you will have some time to visit the shops that offer authentic Mexican arts and crafts-shopping as close to Mexico as you can get this side of the border.
Then it’s a quick driving tour of downtown San Antonio seeing the San Fernando Cathedral, the original church of the Canary Island settlers built in 1731 and one of the oldest churches in continuous use in the country. Then we continue on by the Spanish Governor’s Palace, a national historic landmark and considered the sole remaining example of an aristocratic early Spanish house in Texas.
Then it’s on to The King William Historic District where prosperous German merchants who made their mark in San Antonio in the late 1800’s built their grand homes. If time allows we will take a short walk down the tree lined streets of yesteryear and visit Steeves Homestead which still contains some of the original pieces of the era and is home to the very first swimming pool in Texas!
Next is a drive by of the historic Menger Hotel known for it’s storied past and also as a gathering spot for the city’s ghosts! This is also the site where barbed wire was introduced into the Wild West as well as where Teddy Roosevelt’s recruitment of the Rough Riders took place.
Our last stop will be The Alamo, “The Shrine of Texas Liberty” and San Antonio’s first Mission. Today, it is one of the most photographed facades in the country and the #1 tourist attraction in the state. We will tour the chapel and walk the grounds as we learn about the “Battle for Texas Independence”. You will also have some time to wander thru their wonderful gift shop.
