Like many who have been to San Antonio, I've visited the Alamo - but I'd never visited the other four missions, which collectively make up the San Antonio Missions NPS site. The largest, and only restored, mission is San Jose. The mission itself was very nice - save for the church, we we didn't get to see as it's being restored - but what really made the ranger tour for me was the grist mill. It's simply fascinating to see how the the mission inhabitants worked around their distance from the San Antonio river to still run a water wheel. And the ranger explained the phrase "keep your nose to the grindstone", as noticing if the stone is rotating too fast and burning the wheat. No idea if it's the actual origin of the phrase, but it's a fine story.
The other three missions are much less complete, but interesting in their own right. Both San Juan and Espada had multiple church sites, including an incomplete late attempt at a new site at San Juan. Espada also has a separate area to see one of the aqueducts which helped make up the advanced water system. It's an impressive sight - particularly for being over 250 years old. The final mission we visited was Conception, which is much closer to downtown San Antonio and as a result there's really little left save for the church. But the church is in _fantastic_ shape - it's all original, including some very impressive wall decorations.
The most fascinating aspect of our visit was the understanding we gained of how San Antonio came to be; the Alamo was an important step in the history of the city, but it's really the missions which brought together the population to eventually making for the town.
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