A River Flows Through It

As the Riverwalk of San Antonio is such an ornament to the city and such a popular tourist attraction (only second after the Alamo) that one of the nicknames for our fair town is 'The River City' you'd think that any municipal organization possessing the necessary attribute – a permanent body of water deeper than a puddle in, or flowing through downtown – would have been been seen as a gift and an opportunity to do something like it. Maybe not cheek by cheek eateries and boutiques – but at least a pleasant string park, paralleling the river bank can this be created, for the benefit of the residents, the enriching of those retail establishments lucky to overlook it, and the sheer

What happened to the Spurs?

by Randy Watson

You have to score points to win in basketball; even someone who does not follow the game knows this. The Spurs were hammered by their Mid-west nemesis the Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder. The Spurs were stomping the Thunder just like they have trashed every team they have played up until now. That is right, the Spurs were undefeated in this 2012 playoff tournament but ran into a juggernaut in this Thursday night game losing by 20 points, 102 to 82. Yes, points matter in basketball and the Spurs did not score than many of them.

The Thunder Started off Hot

There are many reasons the Spurs were defeated. It does not help that their All-Star center and/or power forward Tim Duncan only shot 5 of 15 from the

City of Waters

It only makes sense that San Antonio would be most famous for – after the Alamo – for the Riverwalk. The downtown landscaped banks of the San Antonio River are a tourist draw without peer. Less well-frequented, or newer developments – say, through King William and Southtown, or along the new Pearl Brewery-Museum Reach are a secret and treasured green-space as well as a breath of fresh air for residents.

The existence of the San Antonio River is more than just a happy coincidence and landscaping opportunity; when San Antonio began to expand and industrialize in the late 19th century, the river provided power for establishments like C.H. Guenther's Pioneer flour mill – as well as power and a necessary ingredient for breweries like the

Gone with the Wurst! 2011

Wurstfest in New Braunfels, Texas! Now thru November 13, 2011 

by Celia Hayes

Well, another first weekend after Halloween and where would we be, but up in New Braunfels, in Landa Park, enjoying ourselves amid oceans of beer and continents of sausages  . . .  and kettle-fried potato chips, meatballs-onna-stick, roast corn and sundry other fair food delights. Every year in November, New Braunfels exuberantly celebrates everything to do with sausage, beer, music, their German heritage, and funny hats, not necessarily in that order. Really, we have the impression that every public-spirited citizen and the members of practically every social club, community support organization and scholastic extra-mural activity in

The Edwards Aquifer - San Antonios Primary Water Source

Written by Randy Watson, Texas Real Estate Agent with Mission Realty

So, just what is this Edwards Aquifer that I hear so much about? And why is the level of the Edwards Aquifer important enough to post everyday along with the weather. SAWS, the San Antonio Water System, supplies nearly 2 million people in surrounding San Antonio homes and businesses with clean drinking water, primarily from the Edwards Aquifer. Our area lakes are not used by the City of San Antonio as reservoirs to supply drinking water. 

The Edwards Aquifer is an underground body of water with sufficient pressure to be considered an artesian aquifer. Not so much like a river or lake or some other body of water you

20 Acre Ranch with Medina River Frontage

PRICE REDUCED!

No Longer for Sale- OFF MARKET

LISTED By Randy Watson of Mission Realty!

Must see to appreciate! A rare opportunity to own 20 acres of Ranch land on the beautiful Medina River. This property offers something for everyone. Front flat cleared open grass with scattered mesquites. Remainder is great recreational area along the Medina River with trees, some huge pecan trees, heavy brush and over growth.

Wildlife is abundant for the hunter or nature lover. With around 500 feet of Medina River recreational frontage for hunting, fishing, swimming or tubing/canoeing. Bring your horses, too! An area along the bluff overlooking

Canyon Lake

Upon moving to San Antonio fifteen years ago, I had always wondered – in a perfunctory and mildly curious way – why there would be so many boats and wave-runners around. Such watercraft would be parked on a trailer in the street, or in a driveway, or moving purposefully down the road behind a pick-up truck – and I would be wondering where they were going, actually. We are too far from the coast, and as charming as the various local rivers are, unless they are in 100-year flood, there’s no scope for floating anything larger than an inner-tube on them. And slightly later, I realized that – that damming of various upstream and down from San Antonio had produced lakes sufficient for recreational

Peace Like a River

by Julia Hayden

We went to Wimberly last weekend, first for the Market Days, and then to try and find the place where I had taken some particularly beautiful pictures along the Blanco River some years ago. I am getting ready to publish a all-in-one hardback version of the Adelsverein Trilogy, and I thought that a nice rural view of the hills, river, trees and wildflowers would be just the ticket for the cover. Alas, no luck with the wildflowers this year, and we couldn’t find the road that we had gone driving down, which paralleled the river and offered a wonderful vista around every bend  . . .  never mind – we still got some lovely pictures, I got some plants to begin reviving my poor dog-and-frost destroyed garden again, and

Our Riverwalk

by Julia Hayden

It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the downtown Riverwalk is the heart of San Antonio – after the Alamo, it’s the other completely unique tourist attraction. Water, trees and skinny riverbank gardens in the heart of a high-rise city – not many other places like it, and all hail Robert Hugman, the architect-genius who conceived the idea of a riverbank promenade, lined with shops and adorned with bridges and gardens.

Water and plenty of it drove the establishment of a settlement and missions here in the first place: an oasis in what was otherwise near enough to a desert. Early San Antonio looked to the water, measured out careful amounts through the acequias, the irrigation ditches. By the mid-19th century,

By the Rivers' Edge

The rivers that run through Texas were not historically reliable enough to facilitate heavy transport in the way that the Mississippi and its various tributaries were and still are. The various rivers - Rio Grande, Nueces, Guadalupe, San Antonio, Sabine, Brazos and Trinity - were at times and in places navigable by shallow-draft boats and steamships - it all rather depended on how recently it had rained. They were slightly more useful at providing small-scale power for mills, at those points where they could be built. But the most important use for Texas rivers though, especially the western-most of them - was simply that they were there, providing water in an otherwise arid land.

San Antonio