Mission Report: Mission Concepcion

You may recall from a previous report how my wife and I met a very nice family during our visit to SAS. The husband mentioned to us that not enough people get out and see the San Antonio Missions (the actual missions, not the baseball team), so if the rain ever decides to cease and desist, we are making an effort to visit them.

Last week after leaving Espada Park, we took a short drive up the Mission Trail to Mission Concepcion. The road seems to be one of San Antonio's typical dual-named roads, called Mission Parkway or Padre Drive depending on which intersection you are at. (Don't even get me started)

Anyway, we took the drive up Mission Parkway to where it turns into Padre Drive near Padre Park, then up further to Mission Park. This is a really nice drive where the city has gone out of their way to make things look nice. There are lots of fancy looking street posts and in conjunction with regular sidewalk, lots of brick work.

I was surprised at how nice things were along this drive and thought of people on bikes or joggers taking advantage of the area. Unfortunately, there are lots of heavily wooded stretches that, frankly, say "mugger or sexual assaulter, please hide here". And, this may explain why on the first break in rain in several weeks, it was not full of joggers and bike riders.

I don't mean to scare you away, but before you explore a new place outside of your car or by yourself, you ought to at least get a lay of the land. I'm sure that during the day on weekends and such, there is nothing to worry about, but I'm about certain that I wouldn't take a nice late night stroll along this road without a can of mace or a shotgun. I could be wrong though.

By the way, from what we saw, Mission Park looks awesome with baseball and soccer fields etc. Thumbs up to Parks & Recreation. Also near Mission Park is a thing called the San Antonio Charro Association. They have a regular rodeo stadium right there like something straight from Mexico. That looked really interesting, but I was not equipped with my spurs, lasso or fancy sombrero. Perhaps next time.

After a short zig and zag, we were off Padre Drive and back on Mission Parkway on the way to Mission Concepcion.

When you see old movies where the star rides up on a church out in the middle of nowhere, think of this place. Of course, now, there are neighborhoods built around this one. But in sort of the same way they have strategically built the city of San Antonio around the Alamo where you can still take a good photo without the disturbing visual of progress and tall modern buildings, you can visit Mission Concepcion and appreciate the architecture and the beauty of the place without feeling like a traffic jam complete with honking horns and the obnoxious thumping of stereos will take away from the religious history of the place.

And yes, it is a church. They do hold mass there and though quite small, it is very beautiful.

You can tell that there is a lot of work taking place to rehabilitate the mission. In fact, they had one area blocked off to visitors as work progressed.

I think if you have any interest in photography, this is a must see place. Some of the shot set-ups are obvious - I was surprised that Kodak had not figured out a way to post those little "Photo Spot" signs in front. For example, I took this one shot of the porch in front of the mission using my inexpensive, often beat-up, just hanging on by some scotch tape, digital camera, and I thought the picture came out okay. It may have been nicer had some guy not walked into the scene just as I snapped the picture, but you get the feel of the place. Only later, I was doing some searches on-line and found a web page where some guy had taken pretty much every photo I had taken, though he used a professional camera and seemed to understand something about lighting and such.

There are lots of other spiffy shots you can take, so even if you are like me and just want to take pictures as a reminder of the things I saw, or if you are into setting up the shot and doing it as art. By the way, if you are getting married or just want to take some really nice family photos, this would be a great place to use as a backdrop.


I don't know if it is part of the official rehab or if some volunteers have pitched in to clean things up, but out in front of the mission is a little grotto similar to what we saw at Lourdes Grotto near Blanco Junction. People seem to be putting in a nice do it yourself stone walkway and adding some bricks and other landscaping work.

Like all national parks, there is an office which has information and of course, souvenirs and books for sale. But the most important thing you should know abou this place - assuming you decide to visit, is that the bathrooms are clean and have the most kick-ass air conditioning EVER! My wife went in to the ladies' and I stood out in the shade looking at a map of the mission trail, but due to the high humidity, I started sweating just standing there. I decided to hit the boys room and I swear, as soon as I opened the door, the wave of cool air nearly knocked me over. I stood there at the junior sized urinal mumbling to myself about how good it felt before realizing how incriminating it might look to Park Police. I did take an extra long time to wash my hands and comb my hair as a father and son walked in and both started commenting on how nice the air felt inside. My wife later told me that a young lady in their restroom who had worn long pants simply wasn't going to leave the comfort of the restroom.

So - note to homeless folks: Be a good tourist and wipe down the counter-tops after you take your afternoon bath. And hit the donation box on the way out.

And as is obligatory in our fair city, please Do Not Write on the Wall.

Visit Report: Espada Park...

Last week during a brief break in the rain, my wife and I took a drive to south San Antonio and stopped in to look at Espada Park, just off of SW Military Drive. We actually were interested in checking out the dam there, just to see if it was busting at the seams. It wasn't.

There isn't a lot to the park itself - some picnic areas, the dam, and while we were there, a guy selling raspas (shaved ice with flavored syrup), and lots of people just chilling out. The water was rushing over the top of the dam, but I confess, I don't know if it was rushing any more than normal.

According the the official website of the SA Missions Trail, "Espada Dam, built between 1731 and 1740, is the best existing example of the four Franciscan-designed dams placed on the San Antonio River. The dam is still in use today." I'd say it was hanging in there.

One thing I noticed was a tree that seemed to be singled out with a plaque. Turns out that the tree was planted by Senator Ted Kennedy, quite possibly after a night of Margaritas on the River Walk, and dedicated to his late brother, JFK. The tree seems rather small for having been planted such a long time ago, but upon closer inspection, it appears that what remains of the tree is just a small twig growing from the larger trunk that was either chopped down or otherwise damaged. If anyone knows the story behind that, e-mail me.

I thought one enjoyable aspect of the park was the long drive along the river from the entrance all the way down to the damn. Many people were walking, riding bikes and skateboarding along the street and I thought, for the person who wants to get out for a little exercise but would like to avoid heavy traffic, you could park your car, walk down and back and it would be nice.

We didn't go all the way down to Mission Espada while we were there, but perhaps we'll make a trip back soon and take some pictures.

So, looking for something to do? I wouldn't say you could make a day of it, but if you wanted to check out the missions, you could certainly stop at Espada Park for a picnic during your tour.

A Chance Encounter Report: Meeting the Peña's

Saturday my wife and I were off on one of our many weekend adventures and while visiting the San Antonio Shoe Factory, we met an interesting family that I'd like to take just a moment to write about.

We often get strange looks when we enter a store or restaurant and I start in with the snapping of pictures. To take happy snaps at Sea World or the Zoo is one thing, but to meticulously take before, during, and after pictures of your lunch is quite another. So, my wife has become quite skilled at explaining that I'm a nut, but that I also like to write about the different places we visit throughout San Antonio. Just a hobby, she tells them, no need for alarm.

When I finished taking a few pictures of the SAS place (which I'll be happy to tell you about later), my wife was sitting at a table eating some popcorn and sipping a soda, and she was telling this nice family about our daughter who is in the Air Force. You would be surprised at how many people ask you about your kids when you where a T-Shirt that says, "I'm an Air Force Mom".

I have a maddening shy streak in me that makes me want to avoid conversation with strangers unless forced by danger or beer, whereas my wife is one of those people who has never met a stranger. She is friendly to everyone and people seem to like her enough to engage in lengthy conversations as though they have known one another for years. So to find her talking to these friendly people about our daughter was no surprise at all.

Soon, the husband began talking to me about our idea of visiting different places in San Antonio and telling of our encounters. He suggested that we visit the Missions - how he often felt embarrassed that young kids from Mexico know more about the Missions here in San Antonio than we as residents do. It's true. Somehow, his conversation turned to current events and the war, but mostly about Iran.

Though this man had a very solid perspective (in my opinion) on the issues facing the country as related to Iran, I could feel myself wanting to find an excuse to move along and continue taking pictures. I listened and agreed with most of what he had to say but still, there is something about me that wants to escape in situations like this. But I'm glad I sat and listened to this man speak.

As a parallel conversation was going on between my wife and his wife, I heard the woman say that they had lost their son in Afghanistan.

Her husband paused for a moment and then confirmed what I had just heard and told us a little bit of their son's story. I felt a twinge of stupidity in myself when I finally read the words on the cap he was wearing, a memorial to his son with accouterments of miniature medals and such.

When we did finish talking and we all shook hands and bid farewell, I thanked the Peña's for their son's service to our country. Not surprisingly, these fine people wanted us instead to thank and think of the others who have served and still do serve.

These are good people and it was a pleasure to meet them.

You can read more about their son, Sgt Roger P. Peña, Jr., here.