Japanese Tea Garden, Riverwalk, We've been doing this a month and we're on the road again!

Today marks the one month anniversary of beginning this RV adventure. How time speeds by! We've ridden a roller coaster of learning, emotion and adventure. We fought winds through the midwest and in Santa Fe, gathered our belongings and said farewell to dear friends and a lovely phase of life that is preserved in my heart and mind like a scene in a snowglobe.

Today, we find ourselves at the end of our five day stay in San Antonio, Texas - the first multi-night destination on our itinerary. We've had a blast! Tomorrow we head out again, with our next multi-night stop being New Orleans. With luck, we'll arrive there Tuesday.

Yesterday we went to the Japanese Tea Garden, which my husband, Dick, aka RVPainter, went to fifty years ago - yes, I said 50! He thought the garden was lovely then and it was high on his list of "must see's".

It's still lovely, as you can see. But, as with most history, there is a sad story to go with the tea gardens, and as a writer of course I love the stories!

The first thing you notice when entering the Japanese Tea Garden is that the sign over the entrance reads:

CHINESE TEA GARDEN

The Japanese family that owned and ran the gardens and tea house were "relocated" to an interment camp during WWII and never returned to live there again. One child, now in her 80's, did come for the dedication of the tea gardens as city park a few years ago. You can imagine how emotional that must have been!

Because of anti-Japanese sentiment during the war, the sign was changed to read Chinese Tea Garden, and for historical preservation, it was left that way.

Here is a picture of the original Japanese Tea House in 1931:



The original tea house, with the children sitting on the wall.

 Walking through the peacful sunken garden, I imagined these girls chasing each other up and down the paths, playing hide and seek, or leaning over the bridges to peer into the koi ponds. I could almost hear the echoes of their laughter ....

                     .... Walk the paths with me and see if you can hear them too ...

RVPainter at the entrance to the Japanese Tea Garden. Notice that the sign
reads "Chinese Tea Garden."

The sunken garden consists of pathways that meander around koi ponds and beautiful flowers.

This tree could tell many stories



And a picture or two from the Riverwalk, which we enjoyed very much. Down along the river it is cool and green. The walk is lined with flowers and restaurants - we enjoyed our lunch at Boudrou's the best.

And of course, The Alamo :