Post by Paul Sylvain on Sept 21, 2009 21:38:48 GMT -5
I couldn't figure out the best place to put this, so I apologize if the mods/administrators have to move this.
I'm in San Antonio on a job-related trip for a few days (my first trip to San Antonio this year) and made a point to escape downtown for a couple of hours this afternoon with specific intent to see Mark Lemon's Alamo model at the History Shop on East Houston. I even dragged my wife along, who tolerates my Alamo "thing" without understanding it much ... well, at least until today. I usually get an earful of, "Why do you have to see the Alamo again -- you've only seen it 100 times."
Until today.
For anyone here who has yet to see it up-close-and-personal, you owe it to yourself to see it for yourself. Kudos to Mark for this amazing piece of work, and to Phil Collins and the others involved in scripting, creating and producing the diorama. It puts so many things into perspective, especially the Alamo's original "footprint" on the Plaza.
Seeing the sample basement "dig" with the artifacts found last year brings a reality to what took place on these grounds in 1836. For the first time, my wife was asking me questions and talking about the things she was seeing.
More importantly, when we left the shop and walked down East Houston to the plaza, for the first time in all my trips to the Alamo she seemed to grasp the scale of the site, and asked me, "What about Ripley's and those other 'junk' shops over there?" When I told her we believe they should be gone and replaced with something more appropriate and representative of the compound, she agreed. "So many people died here," she said, "and the best this city can do is allow a freak side show here? This is a shame and is so wrong."
Looking down the plaza from the old Post Office building the magnitude of what took place there struck a nerve. Having seen the model, she was able to place the North Wall and Travis' cannon battery, the command post, and all the rest. Will she ever be as addicted as me? Probably not, but that's okay. Mark's model and the presentation opened her eyes and helped her connect the dots about a place I consider hallowed ground. It's a start. If Mark's model can touch my wife, I'm sure it has done as much for many others.
We have some company visiting us from New Hampshire in two weeks. I'm driving them down from Dallas (and back the same day) specifically to show them the Alamo. I believe I will start with the diorama, then begin a tour of the grounds with them. I think they will better understand the Alamo after seeing what it was in 1836.
We did walk through the church and courtyard, as we always do, and it was a "light" day on the plaza this afternoon. No lines, a smattering of folks, but only a few. I was pointing out the faint traces of the painted frescos in the room where the women and children huddled during the fighting. A couple of folks who were rushing through heard me, did an about-face, came back and started looked closer at the walls above the doorways. It made me wonder about how many folks race through the site every day just so they can they've seen The Alamo, but never really see anything at all. All I know is every time I come to San Antonio, I squeeze in a visit to the Alamo. And every time I visit the Alamo, I see or hear or learn something new about it.
Paul
I'm in San Antonio on a job-related trip for a few days (my first trip to San Antonio this year) and made a point to escape downtown for a couple of hours this afternoon with specific intent to see Mark Lemon's Alamo model at the History Shop on East Houston. I even dragged my wife along, who tolerates my Alamo "thing" without understanding it much ... well, at least until today. I usually get an earful of, "Why do you have to see the Alamo again -- you've only seen it 100 times."
Until today.
For anyone here who has yet to see it up-close-and-personal, you owe it to yourself to see it for yourself. Kudos to Mark for this amazing piece of work, and to Phil Collins and the others involved in scripting, creating and producing the diorama. It puts so many things into perspective, especially the Alamo's original "footprint" on the Plaza.
Seeing the sample basement "dig" with the artifacts found last year brings a reality to what took place on these grounds in 1836. For the first time, my wife was asking me questions and talking about the things she was seeing.
More importantly, when we left the shop and walked down East Houston to the plaza, for the first time in all my trips to the Alamo she seemed to grasp the scale of the site, and asked me, "What about Ripley's and those other 'junk' shops over there?" When I told her we believe they should be gone and replaced with something more appropriate and representative of the compound, she agreed. "So many people died here," she said, "and the best this city can do is allow a freak side show here? This is a shame and is so wrong."
Looking down the plaza from the old Post Office building the magnitude of what took place there struck a nerve. Having seen the model, she was able to place the North Wall and Travis' cannon battery, the command post, and all the rest. Will she ever be as addicted as me? Probably not, but that's okay. Mark's model and the presentation opened her eyes and helped her connect the dots about a place I consider hallowed ground. It's a start. If Mark's model can touch my wife, I'm sure it has done as much for many others.
We have some company visiting us from New Hampshire in two weeks. I'm driving them down from Dallas (and back the same day) specifically to show them the Alamo. I believe I will start with the diorama, then begin a tour of the grounds with them. I think they will better understand the Alamo after seeing what it was in 1836.
We did walk through the church and courtyard, as we always do, and it was a "light" day on the plaza this afternoon. No lines, a smattering of folks, but only a few. I was pointing out the faint traces of the painted frescos in the room where the women and children huddled during the fighting. A couple of folks who were rushing through heard me, did an about-face, came back and started looked closer at the walls above the doorways. It made me wonder about how many folks race through the site every day just so they can they've seen The Alamo, but never really see anything at all. All I know is every time I come to San Antonio, I squeeze in a visit to the Alamo. And every time I visit the Alamo, I see or hear or learn something new about it.
Paul