Hurry Down the Chimney Tonight

... Santa baby, a '54 convertible too, light blue,
I'll wait up for you dear
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight
-- Marilyn Monroe

Only a few days before Christmas.

The air in San Antonio smells a little sweeter in the last couple of days. Christmas time conjures a familiar spirit inside me, although sometimes it is desecrated by the over-commercialization of desperate American industries, trying to recuperate from the current recession. This is what people would refer to as 'the most wonderful time of the year' - all of the five senses are brutally attacked by the repeats of Christmas carols played by the shopping malls (oh, I'm sorry, in the US, you ought to call them 'holiday carols', to be politically correct!), smell of freshly cut (or, humanely killed for the season) fir trees, taste of stinky ginger in cookies and the bright twinkle of colorful lights from nearby ornaments.

Fort Sam Houston, the Army base of which Corinn is stationed in San Antonio, has invited us to join the intimate Army Medical Command Holiday Concert. The band conducted an excellent concert of familiar Christmas carols, with a military band twist added to the orchestra. As the result, I had Marilyn Monroe's (and subsequently remixed by Madonna's) 'Santa Baby' in my head tonight, thanks to the flirty Army gals singing an excellent version of the song during the concert.

Ironically but expectedly, The Stars and Stripes concluded the concert, and we all left the Evans Theater at the Army base with a warm Christmas spirit inside.

For the most part, San Antonio offers some of the best selling elements other American cities would envy. As a lively, cultured city from its strong Latin influence (with more than 60% of its 1.3 million inhabitants claim to have some Hispanic heritage), it is ranked fourth in the US as a city with memorable distinctive cultural experience - thanks to its Hispanic culture assimilation and its tight connection with neighboring country of Mexico. San Antonio has a significant history to tell, only rivals to those of old cities of Savannah, Boston and Philadelphia - one of the oldest in the nation, which links almost everything starting from the Native Indians, Spanish/Catholic colonialism, Republic of Texas, and current United States of America; a very interesting subject to learn. A steady growth of the city is due to its five major US military bases, which results fairly save neighborhoods around the city.

Four out of five of San Antonio's original missions are still actively serving the parishioners, as in mid 1700s, when they were first established. It was quite a nice day to conduct what we called a 'Missions hopping' activity - trying to visit them all in one day, starting out in the Mission San José where the National Park Service has a headquarters center with an informative movie (the exact same one that I had seen in 2001) and elaborate displays. The complete names of these missions sound very foreign for the American ears - Mission San José y Miguel de Aguayo (established in 1720), Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña (established in 1755), Mission San Juan Capistrano (established in 1736), Mission San Francisco de la Espada (established in 1756), and Mission San Antonio de Valero (established in 1724) or simple known as the Alamo.

You remember the Alamo?

Of course you remember the Alamo - the Cottonwood. Its famous facade is still intact, and literally smack in the heart of San Antonio. Originally established as one of the Spanish Mission, it became the revere symbol of the Texas Revolution, with name such as Davy Crockett and General Santa Anna. Unlike the other four Spanish Mission in San Antonio which are maintained by the National Park Service, Alamo is under the watchful eyes of The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, whose name often appears up and around San Antonio to be the protector of the Texan rich history.

Alamo is one of the most recognizable landmark in the Texas (and the United States), and naturally it is one of the most visited tourism site in the country, centralizes the annoying tourists into one location. Although millions of people have visited this revered site, Alamo is suprisingly far from the crowded, tacky touristy image. There are certain simple rules have to be followed to enter the Alamo sanctuary, for example, gentlemen to remove their hats, and although there were hundreds of visitors when I stepped in, the building maintains its elegance and dignity as it was originally intended as a church.

The Alamo's ground is packed with people, and its original irrigation ditch has restored to its original appearance in the mid 1770s. Several massive oak trees have canopies over the ground, gives a place to rest and to relax underneath (which I imagine would be really appreciated in the hot Texan summer). We spotted several military personnel with their families - although most of them are dressed up in civilian clothes, their up-tight hair cut and fit active-figure is always a good indication that they are associated with some major military bases around San Antonio.

The City of San Antonio has magically transformed into a Christmas wonderland - without the snow. During the holiday season, thousands of decorative lights and ornaments were hung among the branches of massive hundred-year old Bald Cypress trees, where the 2.3 miles stretch of pedestrian sidewalk connects countless shops, cafes, restaurants, and bars that line up along the banks of San Antonio River.

We opted to stay around the Riverwalk for a couple of hours, including around the nearby arts village of La Villita. A couple of hours were long enough to taste the beautiful nightlife along the river and to experience my second concert of the season. The sixth annual Carols by Candelight at the Arneson River Theatre was certainly one of the highlights of my trip in San Antonio, with hundreds of candle lights lighting up the intimate outdoor auditorium, singing along my favorite Christmas carols with the choir on the stage across the river, and occasionally having the boats floating across the stage, carrying many tourists taking pictures or having dinner on their boats.

We attended the Sunday Advent Mass at the San Fernando Cathedral - the oldest Cathedral sanctuary in the United States (established in 1731). It was certainly an interesting experience to have the bilingual Mass, given by the Most Reverend José H. Gomez, the Archbishop of San Antonio. At the end, a group of local dancers performed in front of the Cathedral, and they too were blessed by the Archbishop himself.

Although I don't have any desire to request to Santa to bring me a '54 Convertible, I have my own set of hopes and wishes for him, and I would certainly hope for him to hurry up down the chimney tonight. But of course, even without Santa tonight, I enjoyed San Antonio, Texas.

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