Texas - part 1

Big Thicket National Preserve

In our last post we didn't get round to explaining that we had to exchange our rental car in Baton Rouge - it turned out that the car we were assigned had been sold ! Although inconvenient we ended up getting a nicer car and with a full tank of gas too, so we did alright out of it, but there were more car troubles ahead...

Anyway, as we crossed the state line in Texas in the new car, we stopped at Big Thicket National Preserve, a heavily forested area that has been preserved as a county park. Multiple habitats converge here in South East Texas, providing an incredible diversity of wildlife, and we did a lovely five mile hike through some of the nine different ecosystems that thrive here. Driving south, the Gulf Coast drew within sight and as we passed through Port Arthur we started to see oil rigs and support vessels lining the waterways. On the coast, Sea Rim State Park remains undeveloped and serves as a wildlife sanctuary, in stark contrast to the developments of beach houses that became more prevalent as we drew closer to the Boliva peninsula. Its still a nice area though, no supermarkets, chain stores or fast food joints, just lots of houses on stilts that look like they are holiday homes. Though there is little else here, just a twenty minute free car ferry ride to nearby Galveston can get you to everything you need, which is where we based ourselves for a few days.

Historic Mission Control at the
NASA space centre Houston

From Galveston we drove up to Houston to visit the NASA Space center, doing a tour of the campus by mini road train to view the historic mission control room that served NASA for many years. It was here that either some or all of the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle missions were controlled and managed from, and therefore the place where those famous words "One small step for Man" and also "Houston, we have a problem" were first heard, which makes it a pretty special place. The room is now decommissioned and serves as a museum, and the new mission control is just one floor directly below.

Boeing 747 Jumbo with a
Space Shuttle on its back 

Flight operations were in progress when we visited so we were unable to see that room but they did put a live feed on the tv screens for us to see what was going on. We also saw the Space Vehicle Mock Up Facility, another full scale Apollo rocket, plus there was plenty of space history on display in the visitor centre, and a jumbo jet with a Space Shuttle on its back in the entrance to the car park, so it really was a full day out.

The San Jacinto Memorial.
At 567 feet tall it is the worlds tallest masonry column.
The Star on the top weighs 220 tons !
Everything is bigger in Texas.

Texas has in interesting history, as we learnt at the San Jacinto battle monument and museum. Originally colonized by the Spanish in the late 1600's, the land that is now Texas was claimed as one of New Spain's provinces, becoming part of the original Mexico. In the early 1800's Mexico rebelled against Spanish rule in the Mexican War of Independence, and subsequently became its own nation, encouraging immigration from the fledgling Union by offering land very cheaply. Colonists came in their droves, and in fifteen years immigrants outnumbered Mexicans by five to one. Mexico subsequently stopped immigration and imposed central goverment control, but unsurprisingly the settlers didn't like this, and in the early 1830's they rebelled against Mexican rule. The battles between Colonists and Mexicans culminated in the decisive battle at San Jacinto in 1836, led by General Sam Houston, after which Texas declared its independence from Mexico. It then briefly became a Republic until 1845, when it was admitted to the Union and became the 28th state. The monument at San Jacinto is a grand memorial to all those who died at that bloody battle, the tower standing 567 foot tall and with a small observation platform at the top giving commanding views over the area, including the nearby WW1 battleship "Texas" memorial museum.

Batttleship "Texas", taken in panorama.

On our way back to our base at Galveston, the car flashed up a "Change oil soon" message on the dashboard. It had only done just over 7000 miles but America changes oil at much shorter intervals than Europe does - often every 3000 miles. So, another call to the rental company, who suggested driving it up to Houston to swap cars again. "No way" we said, partly the traffic, partly because we've only had this one for a few days and partly because its a nice car and we weren't keen to risk getting another crappy one in return. To cut a long story short the company agreed for us to get a drive thru oil change done on the car at a nearby Firestone garage, and despite a little hitch getting payment on account we were done within the hour, so fingers crossed for no further problems as we have plenty mileage coming up.

Greeting from Austin !

With the car sorted, we headed off to the city of Austin, which is the the capital of Texas. We stayed outside the city and took a 30 minute bus ride in each day, doing an organised tour on the first morning to get our bearings. Its a big and diverse city, and the tour took us to the Capitol building, around the huge University of Texas campus which is the fifth largest in the nation,  Hope Outdoor Gallery which is basically a legal graffiti park, the site of the first Whole Foods Market and nearby the current Whole Foods flagship store and offices, plus various music and art districts, and the best places for food trucks.

We spent a few days here exploring on our own after the tour, plenty of walking around and a few trips out in the car too. The city reminded us of Portland, Oregon, in that it has a young population, quite arty, new age and alternative, healthy and fit, and full of street art such as the famous "Greetings from Austin" postcard painted on the wall.

Gruene Hall

Leaving Austin we headed for the city of San Antonio, stopping in Lockhart for lunch at Blacks BBQ which is the oldest BBQ pit in Texas, established in 1932 and continuously owned and run by the same family. We also stopped at the historic village of Gruene, to see Gruene Hall which is the oldest music hall in Texas, built in 1878. The tables were all engraved with names, date and slogans, and we reckon the place could tell some tales.

The Alamo on the right, with the Long Barracks to the left.

And so here we are in San Antonio, which has a very Spanish feel to it.  We've been all round the Downtown area, and along the Riverwalk both by boat and walking, which is just such a great place with its waterways winding along beside a plethora of restaurants, bars and cafe's. Nearby is a stark contrast with what remains of The Alamo - the site of the famous battle where the Mexican Army laid siege and subsequently slaughtered the defending Texans. Again we've learnt a lot of history here, far too much to put into this blog this time but you can read about the Battle of the Alamo by clicking here.

Here's the latest selection of photos on Facebook too, and we'll post again soon.