Recently I had talked with Sarah about having our wedding ceremony at one of the historic missions on the southside of San Antonio and though Sarah had grown up in the area her whole life, she could not recall having ever visited them. She had of course been to the Alamo, but the missions I was speaking of were the four lesser known missions along the San Antonio River on the south side of the city. Although a few of them are arguably more preserved and more beautiful than the Alamo, many visitors and even residents never venture out to see them or even worse, don’t know they exist. Given Sarah’s busy school schedule and our frequent familial obligations, we rarely find a free day that we don’t have to plan for in advance. Luckily today was the exception so we packed a picnic lunch and headed south to the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
The first mission we arrived at was Mission Concepción, the northern most mission on the “Mission Trail.” Concepción is a beautifully preserved and well cared for structure that can be very photogenic from the right angles. I was able to get a few shots in before a crowd of people arrived and Sarah and I had parts of the mission to ourselves for small periods of time. After we finished there we packed up and headed south to our next destination.
The next mission along the trail is arguably the best one of them all. Mission San José is absolutely astounding and the grounds are enormous. It has the unique ability to give its visitors a fairly vivid picture of what a mission most likely looked like during its prime. Everything is meticulously preserved and the grounds are maintained better than some resort golf courses. We spent quite a bit of time here reading the signage and simply enjoying our surroundings. San José can get quite crowded but its size usually helps alleviate this minor annoyance.
The third mission along the trail, Mission San Juan, is without a doubt my least favorite of them all. It has not been maintained very well and to be honest its more of a ruin than anything. Walls are deteriorating and the main building itself has essentially been reconstructed with modern materials. In short, we gave the whole thing a once over but didn’t stick around for too long. Our final destination and our picnic lunch were still waiting on us.
The fourth and final mission, while not the largest nor the most well kept, is definitely a diamond in the rough. What Mission Espada lacks in size and grandeur it definitely makes up in charm and serenity. Few visitors make it to the southern most mission on the trail and as a result you frequently have the place to yourself. Sarah and I finally got to enjoy our picnic and fortunately for us fellow visitors were few and far between. The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, and the sights were grand! If you’ve never been to the four lesser known historical missions of San Antonio, you should definitely stop by if you are in the area. There is a unique combination of history and beauty to be found here for those few that dare to seek it out.