Back in the day, back before there was any city, there was a Spring. It gushed out of the ground, splashed on the rocks, swirled around and flowed down the hill. It became a Stream. It wound its way here and there as it flowed through the Valley of San Antonio (which wasn’t San Antonio yet) creating Groovy Nooks all along the way.
What is a groovy nook, you might ask? That is when two things meet and interact in an interesting way and create a shelter or a habitat for even more things to interact. That’s what it is. You find them all over the place in Nature.
The Stream made its way downtown, well there was no downtown back then, just some wild Indians camping out on the riverbank, but where the downtown would be one day. The downtown would be there because the water was there, two Spring fed Streams almost coming together and merging, and the rich alluvial soil that accumulated there. This is where the first settlers planted their gardens and irrigated them and started building a town.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention, there were two Spring fed Streams, one that joined the first Spring fed Stream or almost joined it, came within a quarter mile of joining it and the original one. They were both gentle and rambling and full of Groovy Nooks. Together they created the rich, fertile, well watered groovy place that would become downtown. But for now let’s call it the Woods. It was full of Groovy Nooks too.
And the Spring, where this whole story started, where the first Spring gushed out of the ground and splashed on the rocks and formed its Stream, it was a place of Groovy Nooks too. The people would gather there to enjoy all the Groovy Nooks they could find and all they had to offer: food and shelter and things to make things with - river reeds and special stones and branches of trees. They didn’t mind. The trees I mean.
And so, if you believe this story so far, there also was a Path between the two nodes - the Spring of Groovy Nooks and the Woods of Groovy Nooks - because people traveled back and forth, made pilgrimage, hunted and gathered there. Obviously. That path is called Broadway. Well it’s called Broadway now, I don’t know what it was called back then, but it’s my street. I travel it almost everyday on my horse, I mean my bicycle, from above the spring to somewhere around the woods.
Notice they’re not capitalized now? That’s because they’re all chopped down and the spring is dead. All that’s left is the heroic Riverwalk and Broadway. And downtown.
I mourn this but along this route can still be seen Pilgrims and Hunter/Gatherers (the street people) and travelers of all sorts. One time I stopped and talked to a guy who was walking down the sidewalk just because I wanted to find out who he was and say hi. He appeared in my mind’s eye to be on a quest. We ended up having a conversation for twenty minutes right there on the sidewalk. He told me that he had just been released from the county jail and was on his way to get a phone so he could start putting his life back together. He apologized for his appearance, dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans and I told him he looked fine, that I could see his power, his personal dignity, it was shining out. By the time I left I felt like we had bonded, like we were old friends. I was almost in tears. A fellow Pilgrim on the Path.
One time I saw this guy sitting under the tree with his pack, off in Lion’s Park (there are no more lions) sitting there with his head down. He wasn’t moving at all. I went over to where he was, pulled a bill out of my belly pouch and handed it to him. He looked up, took the money, said “God bless you sir”. I was blessed and I left, rolling down the bike trail next to Ave. B.
They shunted all the bikes off Broadway onto Ave. B. Get it, Avenue B? Broadway is now State Highway 368, a commercial thoroughfare with trucks and cars speeding by at 5 to 10 miles above the speed limit. But I still ride it. There are ways to get through. There are still Groovy Nooks if you know where to find them. Press Coffee is one.
The other day I was on Ave. B and I saw this beat up old car, like a 1976 Nova or something. It was parked with the engine running, knocking pretty hard but running with no one inside. There is a canal or culvert along the pathway there and on the other side - the Woods of Brackenridge Park. When I saw him, he was crossing the bridge back to where his car was after checking out the Groovy Nooks in the Woods (presumably). Sometimes people build houses back there, shacks really made with found materials. I didn’t talk to him, he looked like he wanted to be alone or atleast undetected, so I rolled on but I thought about him. I hope he found his happy home or whatever it was he was looking for along Broadway.
Sometimes I see runners and walkers. Sometimes I see other bicyclists. Sometimes the whoosh of the cars sweeps me along, sometimes I race the buses and pretend they’re buffalos and me and my buddies are chasing them. Of course it’s just me but back in the day . . . A buffalo is way bigger than a cow. Just so you know. They weigh as much as a small car. It would have been alot of fun and very dangerous hunting them with a stone tipped spear or bow and arrow on your horse or more likely on foot. Imagine that.
Broadway used to be called River Avenue, according to the Joeris engineer I talked to working to shore up the river channel at the Witte Museum, the river used to flow where the road is now. Where the museum sits was a marsh. That was a Groovy Nook for sure, full of grooviness, frogs and alligators and lily pads. Water birds eating the fish. They had to bring in 14 feet of fill dirt so they could build the museum.
This map from 1895 shows the winding river with River Ave to the east. The future site of the Witte Museum is at the bottom end of Brackenridge Park where the river does a horseshoe. Downtown is another 2 miles further on along River Ave in your horse cart. Pretty much all the wild Indians were gone by then.
I ride downtown and appreciate it even though I can’t see the beauty that once was there. They straightened the river for flood control, then made it curvy again for the tourists so who knows even where it used to flow. The swamps are gone, the Groovy Nooks gone.
Where the tall trees once stood, the tall buildings stand now, aiming for the sky, angular and covered with glass, maybe a spire on top. The Woods have become the Downtown. They hide a good many Groovy Nooks of the modern variety. Probably they have terraced rooftops, some of them. Groovy Nooks for sure. I’ve never been up there. Except for the Pace Gallery. Then there’s Travis Park. Peacock Alley.
One time we organized a bike ride from Lion’s Park to downtown along Broadway. The purpose was to draw attention to the need for bike lanes so the bicyclists could ride safely among the cars. The mayor of San Antonio was there on his bike ready to demonstrate his support for bike lanes on Broadway. I went up to him before the ride started and said, “Hey Mayor Nirenberg, don’t worry if you hear yells and call outs along the way. It’s probly for me. This is my street!” We all laughed.
Today Broadway is the premier avenue of our fair city. It has museums, it has actual bookstores, it has restaurants and markets, the Pearl (many people would favor that as a groovy nook), motels, parks. It used to be all used car lots along here but it transformed. Before the used car lots it was the main north/south thoroughfare for the horses and carriages going in and out of the city. Before that it was a Path next to a beautiful Spring fed Stream. Before that, before any humans dwelt here, it was a Garden of Eden abounding with Groovy Nooks. It was once one giant Groovy Nook all along the way from Spring to Woods. Now it’s called Broadway.
the podcast soundtrack is from 00:00-7:15
thank you Tomoko and Koku
It's called Broadway