The gushing springs that form the headwaters of the San Antonio River are just four miles from downtown San Antonio. Since earliest native settlement the river has been the lifeblood and center of life in this part of Texas.
In 1921 a huge flood lifted waters as high as twelve feet above normal causing terrible flooding all over the city. It was proposed, and then carried out, that a flood canal be built to bypass the large horseshoe bend that now forms the Riverwalk. With both the original river’s route and the flood canal filled with water, a circular waterway became open with the now lazy river ready for creative development.
The biggest boost in Riverwalk development came in preparation for the 1968 World’s Fair as hotels and restaurants, as well as the “walk” itself, being built for the coming tourists. People fell in love with this part of San Antonio, and the rest is history. The Riverwalk is the top tourist attraction in the entire state of Texas.
Trish and I had three extra days between the Midland Festival and my next engagement in LaGrange, Georgia, so, we decided to have a little pre-Christmas mini-vacation on the Riverwalk.
We slept and ate and walked and rode the boats on the river for those days. We rode twice in the daytime, the trips being very different with one another because our guides were so different. Then we took the City Lights ride at night on a night when the near-full moon added to the multitude of strands of colored lights. We had a great time and rested up for the last weeks of this trip.
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