Día de Los Muertos

Día de Los Muertos, a day to remember departed loved ones, is a big celebration in San Antonio with festivities known as Muertosfest held the last weekend in October.  The remembrance actually lasts three days from October 31st through November 2nd.

While downtown recently I passed these great shop windows in the spirit of the holiday.

I even went inside for a bit of shopping.



It's fun to be a tourist in San Antonio.

Click here to see my previous post on Día de Los Muertos celebrations in La Villita.

You can see more photos and a short video about Muertosfest here.

The kid's museum with a grown-up landscape

The DoSeum, a kid's museum in San Antonio, opened in June 2015 and the landscape has been catching my eye ever since.  For the last two years I've passed this landscape on Broadway just north of downtown and intended to stop.  A few weeks ago I did just that.  This may be a children's museum but the landscape is fun for grown-ups too.

Impossible to miss a bright red wall along Broadway, a major north-south artery connecting downtown with close-in suburbs.  San Antonio's Lake|Flato Architects, the museum's designer, and Austin's Ten Eyck Landscape Architecture collaborated on the project.  The two firms have worked together on several local sites recently and the results are always excellent.  See my post on landscapes at The Pearl here.

A block-long striking red wall (bright as it looks) gets attention on busy Broadway which also serves as the gateway to our Museum District and the Pearl Brewery mixed-use redevelopment area.  Gabions filled with aqua glass cool that hot red wall color.  Texas sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) sits on a filled slope behind the wall.  Spots of bright red color show through softening trees.

Gulf Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) softens sidewalk edges and should be spectacular in full cotton-candy mode during fall bloom.  I'll try to return to see how all the fluffy pink works with the red wall.

The bus stops here.  Our Via bus system has a museum route plus a Trolley for visitors.  Mexican Olive trees and a bright yellow Esperanza are there to greet you.  Imagine that wall as seen from the bus.  I'd ride out from town to see this.



Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' looks best against a bright, solid background.

A peek inside the gabion revealed the center is filled with rubble rock but there still seems to be plenty of shine on all sides.  Four-nerve daisy  (Tetraneurus scaposa) is thriving in a west-facing location.

A curving hillside seems the perfect location for gabions.  Matching aqua recycled glass granules pressed into concrete at intervals repeat the color and a mix of textures make this a decidedly not boring sidewalk.

A few of the grasses are struggling on the slope.  Still looks good with dots of gold lantana.  I'd follow the aqua spiral up the hill but it's getting hot out here!

We'll turn to the cooling welcome of the museum entrance and the "place-based" design of Lake|Flato which draws inspiration from traditional buildings of South Texas.  With this approach, even the firm's earliest projects (now at 30 years) don't seem outdated.  Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights' punching in more red accents brought over from the streetside wall.

Thoughtful architecture includes a walkway for families to safely navigate the parking lot.



Stroller and wheelchair-friendly access with shade sails to help beat the Texas heat.  Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) in raised planters with softening effects of Mexican Feather Grass and Salvia greggii alongside.

Back the other way, planning ahead for our inevitable deluges.

This is how it's done.  One of my favorite things about Christy Ten Eyck projects is most of these plants are already in my landscape or readily available at local nurseries and are a main reason for stopping: plant massing, repeating colors, varying textures--all good ideas to consider.

We won't have to wait long for Ten Eyck's next project which is expected to open just around the corner at the San Antonio Botanical Garden in October.  Looking forward to seeing what she does to follow this wonderful DoSeum effort.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from San Antonio!  Our wedding anniversary is during the week between Christmas and New Year's and it's always fun to celebrate this time of year.  Downtown is festive and fun all year round, but especially so at holiday time.

The view from our table at Bohanon's, an excellent place to celebrate a special occasion.

After dinner we strolled around town for a bit.  Perennially one of America's favorite Christmas towns, San Antonio never disappoints this time of year.  This seemingly random spot along the sidewalk sports a decorated Christmas tree.

Very cool window displays in an empty storefront are part of downtown revitalization plans.

Two different windows facing across the building entrance with color changing lights.

We skipped the Segway tour and kept on walking.

The lights are still up along the River Walk for a few more days.

 Outdoor heaters blasting with temps in the 50s.  Nice for walking, a bit chilly for dining.

Trees filled with cascading, twinkling light.

I'd heard a new Biergarten had opened up downtown. View from above, the River Walk is below street level.

Candy cane stripes on the main city tree at the Alamo.  It's different every year.  I like this effect which might be fun to try next year at home.

Giant ornaments.

There's always a crowd.

Tree lights blink to sounds of the season as carriages roll by.

The Alamo at night looks quite surreal.

Across the street, not so nice.  The usual Guinness World Records Museum, Ripleys, Tomb Raider....we keep hearing that changes are coming to Alamo Plaza.  It's going to be less commercial, more historic.  Maybe, I'm pretty sure my grandparents heard that too...back in the 1920s.

There's always that great view back across the street.

It never gets old.

2017 rings in the countdown to San Antonio's 300th year celebration in 2018 and a year-long fiesta.   New Year's Eve we'll have dinner at home and watch fireworks from a nearby church.

Happy New Year!

Mission Concepción

Our U.S. National Park Service is turning 100 on August 25th.  According to their special centennial website: "We invite you to find your park and discover the national parks and programs in your own backyard!"

Well, that's easy.  Sharing the beautiful sights of San Antonio is one of my favorite blog activities, so what better way to celebrate than to take their advice and visit my nearest national park.  The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park comprises four Spanish missions established along the San Antonio River in the early 18th Century.  The fifth mission, The Alamo, is managed by the State of Texas and is not part of the national park.  Founded in 1716 by Franciscan Friars, Mission Concepción is the most easily accessed of the four since it stands closest to downtown.

Dedicated in 1755 the main church building is just a few years younger and very similar in style to San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio.

On the Feast day of Assumption the ocular window over the door directs a beam of sunlight into the exact center of the cross-shaped church.

For nearly three centuries a crowd has gathered to see the light every August 15th.

The restored fresco ceiling and dome mark the spot from overhead.



An iron scrollwork lantern with brightly colored glass lights the side of the altar.

Frescoes left unrestored in a niche add to the sense of history.

Decorative details on a side corridor which leads outside again.

Stone archway connects buildings.

Along side the church walls are very fortress-like.

A few of the original working buildings remain.



We visited the stone grotto on the grounds.

Since this is a garden blog after all....

Karst stones commonly found in my northside neighborhood look remarkably like catacombs.

The sign reminds visitors to be respectful of the grotto.

Another look back at the church framed by oaks against our typically bright blue sky.

This view from the nearby road is the one residents see while heading to work or running errands.



Just another beautiful day sightseeing in my backyard.  Next up Romantic Mission San Jose, and to see my visit to Mission Espada last fall click here.