Leave no rock unturned
One of the awesome things about being a certified professional guide with the Professional Tour Guide Association of San Antonio is that we are given many opportunities to familiarize ourselves with every nook and cranny in the Alamo City.
Bill Simons, incoming president of PTGASA and owner of Cycling San Antonio, is an expert on San Antonio’s UNESCO World Heritage Site missions and their acequias (ah-say-key-ahs), water distribution/irrigation systems, and he offered a recent “fam trip” to learn about these San Antonio jewels.
Spanish Colonial Era
San Antonio became a municipality (city) in 1718, and Franciscan friars from Spain taught the native people–who’d been hunters and gatherers in this region for more than 12,000 years–how to farm. By the mid-1700s, after the native people had constructed more than 55 miles of acequias, Mission San Juan provided food for San Antonio’s five missions and the Spanish military garrisons.
The 50 acres of farmland surrounding San Juan are currently leased by the San Antonio Food Bank, and five acres is preserved as a historic demonstration garden, where water from the 300-year-old acequia irrigates the farmland.
Engineering feat
The importance of water in the settlement of this hardscrabble region cannot be overstated. Just south of Mission San Juan, you must also visit the only surviving Spanish Colonial era aqueduct in the United States, Espada Aqueduct, built in approximately 1740. The aqueduct spans Sixmile Creek and is a shining example of Roman and Moorish ingenuity. It feels like you are in Spain when you are there.
Aviation history
After exploring the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and their aqueducts, I recommend heading over to nearby Stinson Municipal Airport to learn about San Antonio’s rich aviation history and enjoy a meal at the Trailblazer Cafe.
I ordered a Fried Green Tomato BLT sandwich on housemade whole wheat that was out of this world, and my husband ordered a Spinheart vegan sandwich with chipotle aioli, vegan cheddar, roasted mushrooms and roasted red peppers on multigrain whole wheat bread that he also loved.
Ahead of her time
Getting to watch helicopters and small planes take off and land while you eat is a bonus. Seeing Katherine Stinson‘s photo on the wall and seeing the tribute to her and her family near the runway never fails to make me smile.
Trailblazer Cafe, located at 8535 Mission Road, is open Sundays through Thursdays from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Denise Barkis Richter, Ph.D., author of “San Antonio’s Passport to Fun,” has been blogging about San Antonio since June of 2010. Follow her at facebook.com/SanAntonioTourist so that you’ll never miss a post. Her love affair with the Alamo City began at Hemisfair in 1968. She moved to San Antonio in 1979 as an 18-year-old college student, and San Antonio has been her home ever since. Denise completed certification to become a professional tour guide in 2019. Please contact her at sanantoniotourist at gmail dot com if you’d like for her to curate a fabulous San Antonio experience for you!