“Where’s the basement?”

Okay. I admit it. During my San Antonio trip last week, I had to do at least one tourist spot.

I mean … even one of the in-flight movies on my trip into San Antonio was Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. And I’m sorry, but if you can’t watch a Pee-Wee Herman movie without laughing your head off, you are too grumpy for this world.

And of course, there’s this classic scene in the film … where Pee-Wee Herman visits a specific tourist attraction, based on spurious information that his stolen bicycle is stored in its basement.

Yep. I’m in San Antonio, I had to visit the Alamo.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t difficult to find the Alamo, nor were there any problems finding good parking. A paid parking lot was only one block away, and the rates were reasonable.

I arrived, paid my admission fee, and was handed an audio unit so that I could hear the tour guide explain the Alamo and its history and importance in Texas history.

Oh yeah, and I took a selfie while I was there.

After the guide walked us around the grounds, we all went inside the Alamo itself. And while there was no basement inside the Alamo compound, there were some incredible images and markers and remembrances of the men who fought to protect the building from the armies of Santa Ana. There were also displays of the state and national flags of every man who fought in the Battle of the Alamo (two of our parties in the tour came all the way from Scotland, and yes, there was a Scottish flag on display).

Oh, and in a special area inside the Alamo were displayed the national flags that represented Texas over its many centuries. You want to know why there’s an amusement park chain that started with Six Flags Over Texas? Here’s your clue.

There’s also an incredible monument in front of the Alamo, featuring carvings of the many heroes of the battle, as well as the names of all who fought and perished.

Yep, you can see the names of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie on the pedestal. A large carving of Crockett is on the other side of the monument.

After the tour, I spent a few moments at a quiet nature area adjacent to the main Alamo building. Sat under a sprawling oak tree, watched a bushy-tailed squirrel scooting around the attendees for a snack or two.

I also stopped at the nearby Alamo museum, which featured artifacts from the Phil Collins collection of historic treasures from the 19th century. I thought to myself, “Wow, that guy must have had a time having to share his name with the drummer from Genesis.”

Guess what, folks. The Phil Collins collection was actually curated and collected BY THE DRUMMER FROM GENESIS. He even narrates the history of the Alamo, which plays over loudspeakers in the museum.

I haven’t had my mind blown about a rock star’s other interests since the day I found out that Rod Stewart has built a gigantic scratch-crafted model railroad.

All in all, I had a very fun time visiting the Alamo. It was educational and reflective.

And guess what … there actually IS a basement there.

Not in the Alamo building itself … but in the neighboring gift shop.

Which Pee-Wee Herman actually visited years later. How cool is that?