Friday’s friendship walk will take you past the Alamo, but make sure you poke your head into the bar at the Menger Hotel, right next door. Built in 1859, it is an exact replica of the bar at the House of Lords in London. It’s probably most famous as the place where, in 1898, Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders (1st Volunteer Cavalry) during the Spanish-American War. They became famous for the Battle of San Juan Hill, in Cuba. Roosevelt joined his regiment in San Antonio on May 16. There, encamped in what is now Roosevelt Park, it learned drill and discipline. The men, he wrote, were pleased to have been organized and trained “in the city where the Alamo commemorates the death fight of Crockett, Bowie, and their famous band of frontier heroes.”
This post has been updated for the 2019 Texas Trail Roundup.
