Saturday, August 15, 2009

Dissin' the Alamo



Oh, Yahoo, you hurt me.

4 comments:

Sabra said...

I grew up with that reaction from tourists. "Where's the Alamo?"

Point across the street. "Uh, right there."

"No, where's the rest of it."

Feh.

Albatross said...

I understand why people have that reaction (it's not quite an imposing structure), but at the same time it's actually pretty amazing that as much of the Alamo still survives as there is. Really, here's a battlefield that gave birth to a central business district in one of the largest cities in the United States. It's a wonder the whole thing wasn't razed for new development at some point over the many decades since the battle with Santa Ana.

Despite the area's growth into an urban core, there is still a lot of history extant, and some of these structures are hundreds of years old. Besides the Alamo, you have La Villita, the Spanish Governor's Palace, the Bexar County Courthouse (which is still in use and not just a history piece), and many other historic buildings. These things are pretty cool, and if the tourists just aren't that impressed with the Alamo, there's plenty more to see and do.

They just need to make sure they bring loose clothing and comfortable shoes. :-)

AlanDP said...

It's because too many people now have substituted flash and glitz for substance. To appreciate places like the Alamo, one must be aware of the history and significance of that place. One must especially be able to imagine what it must have been like to be there when it happened.

Too many people now aren't interested in history, and they have no imagination.

Dave said...

Actually, the Alamo gets a really nice plug/compliment from Adam Richman, the Man V. Food guy on the Travel Channel in his Vlog about the visit to SA. He suggests visitors take the audio tour, then they can appreciate it a bit more.

Of course, if they could get a bunch of fuzzy Alamo characters, say Goofy in a coonskin cap or Minne Mouse with a musket, we might do better on Yahoo...