My wife had seen a news story on a small memorial created to commemorate the many fallen soldiers we have lost from Texas. It seems that some veterans have assembled this memorial and are showing it here before going to Austin with it. She wanted to zip down to Alamo Plaza to take a look, and I thought this might be a good day to do just that, and take a quick look at the new Main Plaza redevelopment project.
I know for those who happen upon this site from other cities and states, you have seen the image of The Alamo, taken from an angle that takes advantage of our lack of any skyline behind it. This allows us to continue to sell post cards, and get a spiffy view when sporting events head into commercial breaks.
But how many of you have ever wondered what the Alamo looks like from behind? This view is from Crockett and Bonham streets.
How about inside the yard? I bet you had no idea the Texans had vending machines to keep them cool during the big battle.
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Just outside the shrine in Alamo Plaza, we found the small memorial to the fallen soldiers of the current conflict.
Without saying it, my wife and I both looked for a picture of our young friend, Dane Balcon who was lost in Iraq. Although he attended high school here, because he transferred to Colorado to finish school, they did not list him. I'd like to say we didn't know of anyone on the memorial, but two other fallen had connections. A kid my son competed with in drill attended John Jay, and as it turned out, his mother attended Jay with my wife. They figured out the connection at the funeral of all places. Another young man had worked for my wife for a few years before he joind the military.
It was nice to see a small tribute like this, but it would be nicer if the rest of the tiles could remain blank.
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Having paid 10 bucks to park, we decided to walk over to Main Plaza rather than drive. It really isn't that far, but note to all people who walk in mid day: There are two sides to the street. One side will have full exposure to the sun, the other will be shaded. Stay on the shady side of the street.
Anyway, I have been wanting to see this Main Plaza deal ever since they had the grand opening. Hello? What got opened that was so grand? The place looks fully under construction, only half or less of the pavers are in place and the landscaping is far from complete. Call me gullible, but they had the grand opening months ago; I just assumed that meant they were done working on it.
Anyway, I guess it will be nice once it is more than open. There were already people sitting around on tables and chairs and there was a band of some sort getting ready to play. The public restroom aren't open yet but there was a kiosk selling ice cream.
We did go into the air conditioned restrooms behind the gift shop next to San Fernando Cathedral which makes one side of the Main Plaza. It was nice to get out of the heat. A smelly homeless guy asked me for two dollars but sadly, I only had a debit card with me, and he didn't have any of those credit slips with him. Anyway, if I was homeless, I'd live in these restrooms.
My wife took a picture inside the ladies restroom. It shows San Antonio is concerned about saving water. Flush up if you go number one. Flush downward if you go number two. What if you do both?
Finally, on our way back from Main Plaza, we came upon the big sculpture given to San Antonio as a gift from Mexico. We like to call it Gumby. I didn't like it at first, but it grows on ya.
Did you venture out into the fireball today? Slather on some sunscreen and tell me about it.
This is what the ugly, dirt covered, no grass having area looked like shortly after I started. You'll note that by the time I thought to grab the camera (always - always have the camera handy), I had started to place some rocks around the offensive area.
I had to till up the old dead sod (dirt really) that was a little higher than it should have been, and push that dirt down toward the other side to try to level things.
Next, we made a trip over to Wal-Mart to grab some mulch. I know that we could have gone to Fertile Gardens or one of the other local nurseries and gotten some mulch by the yard, but to be real honest, I didn't want to have to move several loads by wheel barrel to the back of the house when I could make a few sort trips with bags in the wagon.
Here we are spreading out the mulch, and if you are keeping score - yes, I had to go back to Wal-Mart for another several bags. Here is a little hint from me to you: When the calculation chart says you need 14 bags of mulch to cover the area, you really do need 14 bags, not 8. That might save you a trip if you try this yourself.
Okay, end product. We took some of the plants and such that we had on our deck and in the yard and filled in the mulched area. It ain't Garner State Park, but at least I won't have to mow the dirt anymore. 
