Hey I am thinking way ahead to the summer of 2007, thinking about taking the texas eagle from chicago to Los angeles. Does anyone know if the alamo is close to the station? There is about a 6 hour layover in San Antonio in the middle of the night to wait to connect with the Sunset Limited. Is it possible to see the alamo in the middle of the night?
Posted by Geoff M (Member # 153) on :
Well, I guess you can see the outside of it... not sure what you would call "close" though. Maybe twenty minutes walk roughly, if memory serves me correctly. I felt pretty safe wandering around the area, and the Riverwalk is certainly safe during the evening, but I wouldn't be too sure in the middle of the night.
Geoff M.
Posted by Boyce (Member # 2719) on :
Originally posted by MontanaJim: Is it possible to see the alamo in the middle of the night?
The Alamo is near the station but that area would be desserted in the middle of the night. I assume you're speaking of going inside, and that is not possible in the middle of the night. You can visit the grounds but be prepared to deal with the police.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Jim, try it in the other direction--go out a different way and come back LA to Chicago on the Sunset Ltd (Texas Eagle from San Antonio). You can leave the train at 6AM, walk to the Alamo (it's about 15-20 minute walk, I'm told), maybe even breakfast at the Hotel Menger but anyway tell them to get you a taxi which you can take back from there to the train--or if not walk--and get back in time to catch the Texas Eagle northbound at 8AM.
Posted by Ira Slotkin (Member # 81) on :
I seem to recall from my years in TX that the Alamo was lit up at night. And is certainly cooler for walking around. You might get a cab over, ask the driver to wait, and then you can at least get an idea of what it looks like. Mighty small, I think. especially among the building surrounding it.
My two pesos.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I was in San Antonio just a couple of weeks ago staying at the Red Roof Inn. From our hotel we walked to the Alamo, to the River Centre Mall which is at the end of one section of the riverwalk (the operator on the boat we took called the mall the 'Lagoon of Doom'), and to the Alamodome Stadium which is just south of the Amtrak station.
I would say that 15 minutes walking each way would get it as none of the walks I mentioned above was longer than 5 blocks. It's a good idea to Google it or map it ahead of time and understand how to get where you want to go. I-37 separates the Amtrak station area from the Alamo area. The area seemed reasonably safe as late as 9:00pm. I do concur that making the layover eastbound and trying this around 6:00am sounds better though.
Posted by The Chief (Member # 2172) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ira Slotkin: Mighty small, I think. especially among the building surrounding it.
Ira, you've been gone too long. Mission San Antonio de Valero (akaThe Alamo) was rather large when it was built in the early 18th Century. Like we say in Texas, it's not the size of the fort in the fight but the size of the fight in the fort*. Don't mess with Texas. And yes, it is lit at night.
*w/respect to Mr. Clemens
Posted by Ira Slotkin (Member # 81) on :
Aye, Chief. Been gone to long. Away from the Honky Tonks and the coast and the desert and the Blue Bonnets. Raising a Shiner Bock to y'all (Thankfully I can get them here in CO).
And to keep this related: I sure think a train from Denver to TX (DFW) would be a good idea. Connecting to the Ski Train and to the Gulf Coast.
Posted by afternoonhiawatha (Member # 2566) on :
The Alamo is open every day of the year except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Hours are 9:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Monday through Saturday and 10:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. on Sunday. The Alamo is open on Fridays and Saturdays until 7 P.M. during the months of June, July and August. (Source: http://thealamo.org) Posted by MontanaJim (Member # 2323) on :
I didnt think it would be open all night, just wondering if one could see the outside and if the neighborhood was safe at 3 am. Im going to do the route heading west, I will probably be relocating from the East Coast next year. Also, i figure there is less of a chance of the train being really late into San Antonio heading west. With the sunset's otp, i imagine there is rarely much of a layover in San Antonio heading east.
Posted by Boyce (Member # 2719) on :
Two or three taxis will probably be waiting at the station when the train arrives. By all means take one.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)