Mission San Jose

True to my upbringing, I made sure that we did something "educational" while we were at the stockshow. (I would argue that the stockshow is plenty educational. I could go on for hours about the exhibit barn that featured Texas products and many educational displays by the extension service; not to mentioned the Farm Bureau barn that had educational displays about the importance of agriculture. But, I won't.)

Last year, we visited the Alamo and took the riverboat tour. This year we visited Mission San Jose. We chose it because it was actually built in San Antonio. Some of the missions originated elsewhere in Texas and were moved to San Antonio for one reason or another. Mission San Jose has been restored--the church still has the original wooden doors. We also chose it because it has a restored grist mill. We actually got to see how they would have ground the wheat at the mission. It was interesting that they grew and ground wheat rather than corn.

The kids were really impressed with everything. T.S. thought the holes for guns and cannons in the walls and above the gate were very cool. Sadie was shocked that the ovens were actually outside. It took the kids awhile to figure out what the igloo-looking things were for. I was impressed with the granary as well as the carving on the church doors and the front of the church. the statues carved on the front and around the doors were used to teach the Indians about the Christian faith.

I'll post more pictures later.