TEXAS: SAN ANGELO STATE PARK AND SAN ANGELO CONCHO RIVER WALK

 March 22, 2021

Bob wanted to get up early (definitely earlier than I wanted to get up) to visit the I-20 Wildlife Preserve. I decided to sleep in and let him go by himself, and I was glad I did because when he got there, the park was closed and he had to turn around and come back.

We ended up getting on the road at about 9:30, heading southeast towards San Angelo, a distances of about 112 miles. One of the things that makes a driving trip like this one so much fun is that running into quirky things is almost inevitable 

For example, we saw this huge metal thing being towed down the road that looked like an airplane wing. Bob figured out that it was a blade of a electricity-generating windmill. I read that the blades of a turbine windmill are 120 feet long. I can't imagine turning the corner with one of these in tow.

The signs in the fields were pretty quirky.

And how about the totem pole made of antlers? Pretty quirky, right?

Our first stop was outside of the city of San Angelo proper, the San Angelo State Park.

It was cold and windy and looked like rain, so I was fine staying in the car while Bob headed off down a trail to sit in a bird blind.  

I was fine, that is, until TWO HOURS LATER when Bob had not returned. I called him on his cell phone, but he did not answer. Finally, he did call me and said he was basically lost, but that at least he was on a road and not out in the brush somewhere. He had me honk the horn, but he couldn't hear it. He kept on walking, and about ten minutes later he had me honk again.  He thought he maybe could hear it and said he would walk in the the direction he thought I might be. About ten minutes later he popped out of the trees.  About two minutes after that, the rain began. Whew.

We drove aimlessly around the park for another half hour or so, and the biggest excitement was seeing  three turkey vultures sitting on the roof over a picnic table.

Oh wait, maybe it was more exciting seeing them fly away.

Actually, the best thing at the state park (for me, anyway) was the fact that they have a small library/book exchange. I didn't want to get out of the car to check out their collection because of the weather, but I was impressed, nevertheless.

By the time we finally got to San Angelo, we were hungry. Bob, as usual, had scouted out a restaurant with some good options, the Zero One Ale House (the #1 restaurant in San Angelo according to Trip Advisor). Bob had a portobello mushroom sandwich with mashed potatoes and asparagus, and I had salmon with garlic potatoes and asparagus. Both dishes were excellent.

After lunch, we made our way to the Concho River. In 1986, the city of San Angelo began a river beautification project along a four-mile stretch of the river. They created a walking/jogging trail, gardens, waterfalls, a playground, and more. The river walk was given a "Great Public Spaces in America" Award by the American Planning Association in 2017.

We began by walking through "The Bosque" [Forest] in an upriver direction.

Check out this picnic table, named "Dia de los Muertos" [Day of the Dead]. It is part of San Angelo's "Art in Uncommon Places" initiative.

This angle gives a better view of the table and benches in the bed of the truck. I like how native limestone slabs are used as stairs into the truck.

There is more "Art in Uncommon Places" on the supports for a bridge that crosses over part of the river walk.

Mother Nature also had some art on display. It's tough to outdo her work.

A variety of beautiful water features are incorporated into the river walk.

A really liked this tile "wall" with a window in it. I tried to convince Bob to pose in the window, but he wouldn't comply.

View from the other side.

Celebration Bridge crosses the river by the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts (closed when we were there). This bridge has been wonderfully personalized by the San Angelinos.

Personalized bricks and plaques, which I am guessing were part of the fundraising for the bridge, line the walkway. Here are a few of my favorites.

(Note: I'm not sure the brick honoring Polly & H.S. Guthrie is meant to be connected to the brick below it, but it does make me want to know more about the Guthries.)

There is even a checkerboard/chessboard and a tic-tac-toe board for those who want to stay and play a while.

On the far side of the bridge is San Angelo's own "Little Mermaid." The Texas version, installed in 1994, is named "Pearl of the Conchos." A concho is a shellfish, and this river was once known for its freshwater shellfish. This one is holding an open clam in her extended hand, offering it to visitors as a symbol of her city's hospitality.

On the other side of the bridge the river makes an abrupt drop. There were several birds standing on the edge of the drop, looking for food. It was a great place to take pictures, and we especially enjoyed the strutting great blue heron.

We started walking downriver, away from the developed area to another section that looked like it was under development. These two statues were already in place. One shows a Native American man carrying a large dead waterfowl. 

The other one is a lot less politically correct. It shows a nun sharing a cross with a little native girl. 

Once we crossed the highway, we could see the river in a more natural, undeveloped state.

There were still plenty of birds for Bob to photograph.

Walking upriver towards the parking lot, we came across a family of 2-D, rusty metal bison. Yeah, this is Texas's favorite art form. We saw 2-D metal bison everywhere.

Still, as we expected, waterfowl are definitely the dominant life form on the river.

They were all so cute--in a Jemima Puddleduck kind of a way.

Except this Muscovy duck, which looks like a duck from Dante's Seven Circles of Hell. Look at that beautiful body with its shiny metallic feathers. How did that horrific head get matched with that body?

We had one more wildlife sighting, a fat nutria emerging from the river. Nutria, an aquatic rodent native to South America, have become an invasive species in Texas. They cause erosion by burrowing into the banks of rivers and lakes. They also overindulge in aquatic vegetation, which creates problems for other species.

It did not seem particularly bothered by Bob's proximity.

This beast is no cute little river otter. It looks mean and powerful. Check out the barrel head and buck teeth.

The nutria (Is a single member of the species a nutrium?) eventually got tired of the paparazzi attention and swam away. This is definitely the closest I have ever been to one. In fact, I can only remember seeing a nutria one other time: in the River Jordan near what is purported to be the baptismal site of Christ. 

So, in no important order, San Angelo has this:

✔ Good food

✔ Beautiful scenery

✔  Wildlife

✔  Quirkiness

And one of my favorite parts of San Angelo is still to come.