Category Archives: Uncategorized

…in West Texas, which is why the McDonald Observatory is located there. This is one of the major astronomy centers in the country, and it contains some of our major research telescopes.

When Donald Judd came to Marfa in the early 70’s, he was an original.  He knew what kind of space he needed for his art, and he knew how the light and the terrain would work together with it. He founded the Chinati Foundation, which we now know is separate from the Judd Foundation.  TheContinue reading “Achingly hip Marfa”

I am no fan of cruise control.  In fact, the idea of letting my car drive my car is abhorrent to me.  However, when one is facing a 400-mile trip on an 80 mph interstate, the charms of taking the foot off the pedal become very clear. 

I think I finally have a handle on Texas – or at least as good a one as I am likely to get.  After touring the State Capitol today and seeing the Texas history museum yesterday, it now seems to me clear that the reason Texas is so different and so – shall we sayContinue reading “A separate country”

And today we really went the distance, from the bed in his family home where LBJ was born, to the bed in the Texas White House where he died – and lots in between.

Yep, we are in Texas hill country, and amazingly it wouldn’t hurt to speak German here.  Fredericksburg is very definitely a Texas town but one with a decided German accent.  You can buy your Lucchese boots in many of the chic shops and boutiques here, after you have had your schnitzel and wurst at one ofContinue reading “Hügel-Land von Texas”

A lot of things went into making Texas what it is.  You know about the Spanish and Mexican influence, of course.  And it can be no surprise that many new Americans headed here in the early days, fresh off the boats from many countries – an amazing number of which were represented at the Battle of theContinue reading “Texas Soup”

Not only are we across the street from the Alamo, but today we learn that our hotel stands on what was the northern wall of the actual fort.  That iconic building we all know was the church, the last refuge of the fort’s defenders, but the fort itself occupied what is now the Alamo plaza,Continue reading “Believe it or not”

Yes, it is possible to stay in San Antonio in a hotel room overlooking the Alamo and still have to work hard to find it.  Amazing that it doesn’t have parking underneath, but more on that later.  Suffice it to say that had the Mexicans under Santa Anna had to deal with the current multitudinous freeways andContinue reading “We misplaced the Alamo”

An interesting day in Galveston.  First of the all, the weather.  It seemed like other parts of the state were hit worse than us, with 14 inches of rain in San Antonio.  Here, we just had heavy periodic rain, which kept us off the beach.