Thursday morning was our last opportunity to play and be tourists. The AHDI conference got underway Thursday afternoon, so then the focus was on work.
We decided to head south along the river, a section we had not walked yet.
Our target was to see an historic German house and flour mill, but we got waylaid and didn’t make it that far. Surprisingly, there is a large German population and history in San Antonio, and the main draw was this big flour mill run by a family named Guenther. But although we saw some presence of a water wheel that powered the flour mill along the river, we actually explored an historic section named the King William District. It’s a 25-block area of fantastic restored homes. The Germans settled primarily in this area starting in the mid-1800s. As time went by, the area gained a derogatory name, Sauerkraut Bend, especially in the lead up to WWI. The stately homes in the district fell into disrepair after WWII, but then in the 1960s, a man named Walter Noid Mathis bought one of the run down mansions and began renovations. Mr. Mathis had bumped around the world and when he bought the mansion, he said it would be his last home and ultimate resting place, so he named it Villa Finale, and he is buried in the backyard. His renovation of Villa Finale began the revival of the King William Historic District and since the 1960s, most of the grand homes have been purchased and renovated. Being the German enclave, the King William name comes from Kaiser Wilhelm. Mr. Mathis brought 5 houses across the street from Villa Finale and renovated them because he didn’t want his neighborhood to be shabby.
Villa Finale is now a museum. We took a tour of the first floor of the house and the garden along the side of the property. Our docent, Carol, was quite entertaining telling us about Mr. Mathis and showing us his eccentric collection of stuff that comprises the museum. Mr. Mathis collected all kinds of things from his world travels. The largest collection was of Napoleon-related items. There was also a large collection of silver service sets, religious icons, porcelain, books, furniture and art. The rooms were stuffed full of collections of things.
We enjoyed the tour of Villa Finale and a quick walk around the block to see some of the great houses.
And, of course, our return walk to the hotel along the horseshoe part of the Riverwalk always provides a feast for the eyes.
And now it’s time to go to work. The rest of Thursday was taken up by the AHDI board meeting, which Christine attended. I practiced my talk in the room. There was a reception sponsored by M*Modal in the evening, which is always a nice event. Christine stayed to engage with people and I went back to the room to practice my talk.
That ended our Thursday in San Antonio.