San Antonio's King William District

On our last day in San Antonio, G and I had some time to spend before our late afternoon flight.  Deena, Carrie and their husbands had left early that morning for Dallas, it was time to check out of our hotel, and we'd pretty much seen the entire Riverwalk.

We decided to journey down the river a bit and stumbled upon the King William Historic District, a neighborhood of 19th century residences built by German immigrants.  The tree lined streets, beautiful architecture, and perfectly groomed yards were lovely.

I really wanted to sneak into that gazebo and enjoy a mint julep in the shade.

This home is usually open for tours, but since it was Sunday, we were out of luck.

I need to hire their gardener.  Wonder if they ever get snakes in there?

This was G's favorite.  I think he liked the little cannons in front.

I'm pretty sure that most of these homes were built from limestone bricks. 

Which reminded me of my great-great grandfather John Matthews, who founded the Matthews Stone Company in Bloomington, Indiana in 1862.  Known as the "father of the limestone industry in Indiana", he amassed a huge fortune during his lifetime.  In 1880 he had a home built entirely of limestone bricks, and today it's on the National Historic Register.

I would love to travel there someday.  My father spent a large portion of his boyhood visiting his grandparents in this home, and he has some great stories to tell.  There's not a penny left of the Matthews fortune, due to a series of unfortunate events that include gambling, adultery and alcohol.

One of these days I'll share THAT story.