Since mission times, the San Antonio River has been the key to the city's fortunes. Destructive floods in the 1920s, and subsequent oil drilling, reduced its flow, leading to plans to pave the river over. Instead, a careful landscaping scheme, started in 1939 by the WPA, created the Paseo del Rio, or River Walk , now the aesthetic and commercial focus of San Antonio. Below street level, the walk is reached by steps from various spots along the main roads and crossed by humpbacked stone bridges. Cobbled paths, lined with tropical plants and shaded by pine, cypress, oak and willow, wind for two and a half miles (twenty-one blocks) beside the jade-green water, with much of the city's eating and entertainment concentrated along the way. You can catch a river taxi at a number of places, but strolling is cheaper and just as much fun, for the view of the river slowly changing character between the lively Rivercenter Mall and the quieter, more park-like outskirts.
While the Alamo is the main attraction in the downtown area, the surreal Buckhorn Museum , 318 E Houston St (Sun-Thurs 10am-5pm, Fri & Sat 10am-6pm; $8.99), takes a pleasingly kitsch look at Americana. During San Antonio's heyday as a cowtown, cowboys, trappers and traders would bring their cattle horns to the original Buckhorn Saloon in exchange for a drink. The entire bar has been transplanted to this downtown location, which boasts an extra floor of exhibition space and, as well as thousands of horns on display, mounted as trophies, chandeliers and chairs, there are many stuffed animals, including "Blondie", an unforgettable two-headed lamb.
