Remember the Alamooooooo!!!!!

My family, along with Stubb's family decided to go to San Antonio for the 4th of July weekend. One of the main events on the agenda was to visit the Alamo. Of course most should know this as the place where many of our nations "heroes" took a stand against General Santa Anna's army for the independence of Texas from Mexico. Many men died trying to hold off the assault, great men like Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett ( he prefers David), Juan Seguin, William Travis and many others. This particular post is not for a history lesson but rather a complaint. Yes, I know, you probably don't care for reading someone else's complaints but please make an exception for this. You see, the excitement I had for visiting this famed historic site ( bolstered by Pee Wee Herman's search for the basement in Pee Wee's Big Adventure), was crushed as I stood before the old mission and walked the grounds. I observed a building that had been desecrated by sealing up many of the original doorways and windows which once existed. Now many are blocked up for whatever reason. The grounds of the Alamo also stands amongst many modern buildings, hotels, offices, etc, towering over her structures within a few feet. The layout of the original fort area has long since been covered by concrete and asphalt, which is shown to visitors in a diagram as they tour the disappointingly small museum they offer in the former barracks area. One photo even displayed a business in the early 1900's using the barracks area, as well as the mission building, as offices, manufacturing area or whatever else. I don't know if you care for history or not but one thing I can tell you is that it is a shame the people of this country have allowed our historic sites in many places to become what I witnessed in San Antonio. After moving to Texas 2 years ago, I have spoke to many people who aren't afraid to tell you of their "Texas Pride". Unfortunately I go to one of the sites of all that "pride" and am tremendously disappointed in what I found. It is a shame that over the short 150 years, give or take, a little more preservation measures couldn't have been taken to assure that the integrity of the Alamo and it's surrounding grounds survived more in it's original state. I hear and see many crying out for protecting animals, forests, oceans and so on, but it's obvious to me that protecting our country's important landmarks past just the main building and a few feet of ground that surrounds it may not be so high on our list. To finish, it's not that I was disappointed in being able to visit this hallowed ground but that I expected more. More from the people responsible for altering the buildings from their original state and more from the state and national governments in trying to preserve these type of sites. Thanks for listening!