HISTORIC SAN ANTONIO

For a lesson in early American history, head to San Antonio. A city influenced by colonial Spain, the Native Americans, Mexico, and the early pioneers, you can retrace the past by visiting the Alamo or one of five 18th-century mission churches. Ride a barge down the San Antonio River, the heart of the country’s oldest and most extensive Spanish-colonial water system, then wander the streets of La Villita, one of the first Spanish settlements and later home to German and French pioneers.