San Antonio: The Tower of the Americas

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I was in McAllen, Texas on a job assignment in Sep 2003. After much consideration about how the weekend was to be spent, I thought it would be nice to drive up to San Antonio after hearing opinions from friends and getting information from the internet. On Sep 13, 2003, I drove up to San Antonio, Texas. It was a 4 hours 20 minutes non-stop journey. Well, actually I was stopped by the police officer for identity check while on US70 north. I supposed there were a lot of illegal immigrants in Texas. One place that should not be missed in San Antonio is the Tower of the Americas. It is a great place to get an arial view of the Alamo city. The fee is $4 to go up the top. To fully utilise the money spent, it is best to go up in the evening at about 6pm (in Sep) when you get to see some nice day view and then wait for the sun to set to see some awesome night scene. That was exactly what I did.

The Tower of the Americas

Completed in 1968, the Tower stands as an 80-ton reminder of HemisFair, Texas' World's Fair, for which it was the theme structure. The Tower is a triumpant feat of architechtural and enginnering skills and is still one of the tallest freestanding structures in the Western Hemisphere. Rising 750ft to the top of the antenna, the Tower is 87ft higher than the Seattle Space Needle, 67ft higher than the Washington Monument and 52ft higher than the San Jacinto Monument. Telescopes are provided on the inside viewing, but the outdoor observation deck is just around and encircled by an outdoor walkway which enhances the sensation of height above the Alamo City. Remember to hang on to your hat! In Mar 1990, the Tower of the Americas renovation was completed. The renovation included major interior refinishing of the public observation level and the installation of eight panoramic panels, which feature photographs that highlight major sites visible from the Tower.  This level features special interior lighting designed to afford spectacular night time viewing. The revolving Tower Restaurant also provide the most breathtaking view of San Antonio. The view from both the lounge and the observation deck is fantastic. It provides a tremendous vantage point of the Rivercenter Mall, downtown hotels, Hemisfair Park and the entire area.

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