Davy Crocket: "You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas."

The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas---“Seriously? THIS is it? But, but…it’s so small!” In my mind THE ALAMO WAS ENORMOUS.  I guess I should have visited when I was 5 and it would have been.  Never-the-less, it was THE Alamo. Located center-city, surrounded by the hustle bustle of a city boasting 1.3 million residents. ---that also blew my vision that it was in the middle of a cow pasture somewhere.

My first realization was that they take this building very, very seriously. A shrine to those who died here. No photos, no touching the walls, no loud talking, no hats (even cowboys must take that hat off) no inappropriate clothing and signs asking you to treat this with the respect due to those who lost their lives here.

For those who need a quick review: San Antonio and the Alamo played a critical role in the Texas Revolution within a larger Mexican Civil War. A year before the famous battle, Texian and Tejano volunteers had fought against Mexican troops and occupied the Alamo.

I learned the famous battle happened on my birth date.

March 6, 1836. About 1,500 Mexican soldiers emerged from the predawn darkness and headed for the Alamo's walls. About 200 men used Cannon and small arms fire from inside the Alamo to beat back several attacks. Regrouping, the Mexicans scaled the walls and rushed into the compound. The desperate struggle continued until the defenders were overwhelmed. By sunrise, the battle had ended and General Santa Anna entered the Alamo compound to survey the scene of his victory.

Their website reads: “People worldwide continue to remember the Alamo as a heroic struggle against impossible odds — a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For this reason, the Alamo remains hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty.”

Davy Crocket’s gun and vest where on show. The vest was adorned with intricate bead work. A list of those who fought and died was on a wall. Many other items in cases with low lighting that made the interior have a serious tone.

But open the doors and walk outside to the walled-in compound surrounding the iconic building. A surprise awaited me as I gazed onto beautifully sculpted flower gardens and pathways to several other buildings. Huge Koi fish swam under a little bridge, and the area was peacefully unexpected.  

But before the gardens it was a fort and you can still imagine the walls being penetrated and the bloody fighting that took place in that very courtyard.

Of course there was the ever present traditional American gift shop where I suppressed the urge to buy the faux coon-covered Crocket hat made famous by the American legend of the famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee.

I escaped with only a few postcards and a magnet stating Crocket’s saying:  "You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas."

Can’t get any more Texas than that.