Go Know!

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.  Continue reading “From the hills to the plains”

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 say – chauvinistic, is that it was once actually a separate country, the Republic of Texas.  Continue 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.Continue reading “All the way with LBJ”

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 of several German restaurants, washed down by an infinite variety of beers. Here are some hints of the origin of the founding fathers…Continue 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 the Alamo.  But what we didn’t expect was to see such an overwhelmingly large German representation.  Continue 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, and extended far across the street. You go through the church and enter into a large compound, which has some of the original interior structures.  It is very evocative and it was a privilege to see what still remains.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 and the one-way streets, history might have taken another turn, so to say.Continue 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.Continue reading “Trick and Treat”

Well, we ran out of Houston.  And we ran south till we ran out of land, which means we are now in Galveston.  Our hotel is right on the beach and while it was an overcast day, the air and water are warm and the sun peeked through occasionally.Continue reading “Galveston, oh Galveston”