Houston, Texas
and
Surrounding Area
Our guide said little as we drove north through the flat land towards the city. One thing she said did stick in memory, “You usually hear the phrase 'its a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live here' about some cities. In the case of Houston it is a great place to live but it is difficult to visit.” I would need to think about that for a few days but I do believe I now know what she meant.
Houston has a population of 2 million people and the metro figures raise that to 4 million. It is the largest city in the state and the fourth largest in the country. “According to the United States Census Bureau, the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area has a total area of 10062 square miles.” While driving through just one of the major areas, the Texas Medical Center, our guide said it is the largest in the country with over 55,000 employees and over 6,000 beds.
As we entered Houston we immediately noticed the skyline features several nodes of tall buildings. These islands are miles apart and seemingly are unique: consisting of banking, business, hospital, museum, shopping, sport centers and theater districts. These are all connected by a series of freeways and toll roads which form several high speed rings around the city with crossing links running the main compass directions. Along these highways are feeder roads (frontage roads) which are two or three lane one-way roads that parallel the main road on either side. Every dozen blocks or so you may enter the major road or make a u-turn under an overpass to travel back on the other side of the highway depending on where you need to go.
It seems confusing at first and I must admit I have had to go a series of turns beyond where I needed to be just to double back and find the correct one. But as we got a bit better at figuring out the highways it seems fairly efficient. Once you know the city I suspect it is fairly easy to move about quickly. And Houstonians really fly along the roads. It would be intimidating to people who are just visiting. Now, one also has to know that our guide preceded her assessment with the phrase, “But for the heat...” That must be a considerable issue. The official site says the average temperature is 67.9° but that figure must include the averages of high months of June (80.4°), July (82.6°), and August (82.3°).
Unfortunately, the guide continued through the different islands while saying things like, “We normally would include the Galleria District in our tour but we do not have time for that today.” One shouldn't highlight disappointment or shortcomings. It only intensifies the fact that there might be more to see of the city but it is not important enough. Instead we drove to the airport and offloaded the passengers by one o'clock.
I had reserved a van from Avis so the six of us could see this part of Texas together. That little van could not possibly take us and also carry a minimum of four large bags per couple. The ladies and Herbert grabbed the hotel shuttle and took all the bags with them. Roger and I signed for the rental car and followed to the hotel. When we arrived the staff had changed all our rooms to the first floor because they knew they didn't want all that luggage hauled up to the second floor.
We quickly refreshed and then all of us jumped into the van to go to the Greenspoint Mall to find the multiple options available in a food court. We each selected a lunch and when finished we drove to Food World to get picnic supplies for dinner that evening. The Mercado clientele belied the housing of the neighborhood and one of us wondered what the store aroma was. The butcher was cleaving a side of pork on the block and some had forgotten the smells of an active butcher shop. We weren't having open food packages... just recognized brand names for cheese, sausage, and crackers. Add a few drinks and we would be ready to party in a few hours.
As we met for snacks, we discussed our plans for the next day. We knew we all wanted to go to NASA for the day. We backed off an hour travel time from the ten o'clock opening and all planned to meet for a Continental Breakfast.
Liz did a map recon and we took off toward the Johnson Space Center Houston. We thought we should later continue on to Seabrook after our tour. The traffic was heavy and drivers seemed to weave and change lanes frequently without wasting energy by turning on turn signals. With at least three people watching traffic signs and road hazards we easily got to the Space Center as they opened the ticket windows. We signed up for the NASA Tram Tour.
Space Center Houston is a multimedia visitors center filled with exhibits, interaction stations, demonstration stages, IMAX theater, and souvenir shops. We decided to go on to the NASA Tour train station first. The tour leaves every half hour and is a ninety minute trip.
With this behind-the-scenes journey through NASA's Johnson Space Center, you may visit the Historic Mission Control Center, the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility or the current Mission Control Center. Before returning to Space Center Houston, you can visit the "all new" Saturn V Complex at Rocket Park. Occasionally, the tour may visit other facilities, such as the Sonny Carter Training Facility or Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. You may even get to see astronauts training for upcoming missions.
As you leave the center you cross under the highway and enter the main campus. “A complex of some 100 buildings dot the Johnson site of 1,620 acres near Clear Lake. The center has management responsibility for the Space Shuttle program, as well as a major accountability for the development of the International Space Station (ISS). The center is responsible for the interfaces between the ISS and the Space Shuttle and flight operations of both, and maintains excellence in the fields of space systems, engineering, life sciences, and lunar and planetary geosciences.
Additional Johnson facilities are located at nearby Ellington Field, with the center also responsible for direction of operations at the White Sands Test Facility. These facilities are situated on the western edge of the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range at Las Cruces, New Mexico, supporting the spacecraft propulsion check-out, power system evaluations and materials testing. ”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958, partially in response to the Soviet Union's launch of the first artificial satellite. NASA grew out of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, which had been researching flight technology for more than 40 years.
President John F. Kennedy focused NASA and the nation on sending astronauts to the moon by the end of the 1960s. Through the Mercury and Gemini projects, NASA developed the technology and skills it needed for the journey. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first of 12 men to walk on the moon, meeting Kennedy's challenge.
In the meantime, NASA was continuing the aeronautics research pioneered by NACA. It also conducted purely scientific research and worked on developing applications for space technology, combining both pursuits in developing the first weather and communications satellites.
After Apollo, NASA focused on developing America's ready access to space: the space shuttle. First launched in 1981, the Space Shuttle has had 112 successful flights, though two crews have been lost. In 2000, the United States and Russia established permanent human presence in space aboard the international space station, a multinational project representing the work of 16 nations.
NASA has also continued its scientific research. In 1997, Mars Pathfinder became the first in a fleet of spacecraft that will explore Mars in the next decade, as we try to determine if life ever existed there. The Terra and Aqua satellites are flagships of a different fleet, this one in Earth orbit, which is designed to help us understand how our home world changes. NASA's aeronautics teams are focused on improved aircraft travel and making it safer and less polluting.
Throughout its history, NASA has conducted or funded research that has led to numerous improvements to life here on Earth.
We were enthralled with the tour. Going up the 87 steps into Building 30N - Historic Mission Control Center we saw photographs of much of the history of NASA accomplishment. Sitting in the same booth shared by VIPs, kings and queens, presidents, and congressmen seemed appropriate too. I enjoyed seeing all the equipment and monitors. I chuckled when the briefing officer told us of the huge computer complex below the control room. It occupied acres of space and yet produced only a 400 K memory. IBM card driven, it was augmented by slide rule and sheer brain power. Yet, it launched programs and put people on the moon.
We re-boarded our tram and drove to Building 9NE - Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility (Observation Catwalk). Here technicians and astronauts can perform hands on training with actual, working models of the equipment that is also in space. We could better observe the actual size of the spacecraft because we could see real people working on and in the craft.
Then we moved on to another facility which had a full sized space rocket laid on it's side. We could see the engine components of the booster rocket; where it connects to and would separate from the next component; and ultimately up to the actual space capsule on the top of the rocket. It filled you with wonder trying to imagine how anyone would have the courage to ride such a machine into the void!
Returning to the Visitor's Center we had time to shop or tour the exhibits. Liz, Herbert, and I chose to watch the IMAX movie. This film showed an astronaut class go through training from the time of acceptance notification to their march to the spacecraft preparing for launch. They showed how much schooling they needed and how difficult it was to learn the skills they would need in a space mission. They spent considerable time showing how the scientists placed them in a simulator and then threw more problems and scenario changes than would ever actually happen in a real launch. It was a great deal of fun to place ourselves into their shoes... but without the danger. All of agreed that the tour was a major event of our entire vacation.
Seabrook turned out to be more of a bedroom community for the Space Center. We didn't stop but proceeded with our secondary plan to visit the San Jacinto Battlefield Monument and the Battleship Texas site. That took us by way of La Porte.
La Porte, Texas, the oldest incorporated town in east Harris County, was incorporated on August 10, 1892. It had its beginning as a real estate venture by a group of developers and colonizers from Denver, Colorado. Although the group advertised the areas as being suited for agriculture, it was soon obvious that the temperature was too cold during the winters for citrus orchards and that the black gumbo soil was unsuited for truck farming. The town soon gained recognition as the home of Sylvan Beach Park and remained primarily a resort town until WW II and a series of hurricanes brought about the demise of Sylvan Beach as a resort. WW II and the coming of NASA and the Bayport Channel eventually changed La Porte into a bedroom community for industry.
The shipyards and chemical industry of WWII brought La Porte out of the depression. After World War II, industry continued to flourish. In 1945, Du Pont built a plant in La Porte. NASA, the Bayport Channel, and the opening of the Barbour’s Cut terminal in recent years have supported the growth of La Porte. In 1980, the town of Lomax consolidated with La Porte and in 1987 Bayshore Municipal Utility district was annexed. In the 1990 census, two years before it’s centennial year of 1992, La Porte had a population of over 27,000.
It was time for lunch and we all were hungry. Passing by the usual fast food chains, we were looking for an interesting place to eat. We stumbled on a nice looking place with an encouraging busy parking lot filled with local cars. We went in and found a bright, shiny penny of a place. The Mile 101 had a small bar and a dinning room of 30 tables. There were some modern paintings on the wall which escaped my understanding but still fascinated me.
The service was excellent and while our contact was primarily with Michael, our waiter, we also were visited by the owner and I later spoke with the chef to tell him how pleased we were with the food. The restaurant reminded us of the great place we discovered when we drove down to the gulf when we sailed out of New Orleans a couple of years ago.
Roger had an oyster poor boy and Herbert had a Greek salad to match his Greek chicken. The rest of had fish. All of it was excellent and we felt lucky to have found the place. The owner and waiter gave us some good guidance on how best to drive to the state park to see the two monuments.
Here too was another surprise. Punctuated by the park, we discovered a huge petro-chemical infrastructure that must extend twenty miles. We have never seen so many refineries and chemical plants in one area. Many we signed with names we recognized, like BASF, Mobile, Shell etc. But there were hundreds of huge facilities with names we didn't recognize. As soon as we reached another small rise in the road we would again see tank farms forever.
San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site
The San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site holds a significant responsibility to preserve the proud history of the State of Texas and the United States. The famous Battle of San Jacinto that brought TEXAS its independence was fought on this site. Because of the great importance of the Battle to the course of history, the Battleground is of state, national and international significance, a fact that is attested to by the site's National Historic Landmark status.
The primary purpose of the 1,200-acre site is to commemorate the Battle and to preserve the Battleground on which Texian troops under General Sam Houston achieved the independence of Texas by defeating a Mexican Army led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna on April 21, 1836.
In March of 1836, the war for Texas' independence from Mexico was not going well for General Sam Houston and his Texan troops. On March 11, Houston abandoned Gonzales and retreated eastward in advance of the numerically superior forces of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the President of Mexico. Houston's poorly trained troops were restless, eager for revenge after the Goliad massacre and the fall of the Alamo. Houston realized, however, that the Texans had little chance of winning over Santa Anna's much larger army without some sort of advantage.
On April 18, Houston arrived at Buffalo Bayou and found that Santa Anna had already sacked the small town of Harrisburg. Through a captured Mexican courier, he learned that Santa Anna had isolated himself from the bulk of his troops and had a force of about 750 men, slightly smaller than Houston's force of 820 men. Houston realized that his chance had come. On April 19, Houston and his men crossed to the south bank of Buffalo Bayou and marched east, setting up camp near Lynch's Ferry on April 20. An advance guard of the Texans captured a boatload of the Mexican Army's provisions at the ferry, providing food for the famished Texan soldiers.
On April 21, dawn came with no attack and Santa Anna relaxed. At about 9 AM about 500 more Mexican troops arrived, to the chagrin of Houston and his men. Houston sent a small detail to destroy Vince's Bridge to delay additional Mexican reinforcements.
The Texas had advanced to within 200-300 yards of the Mexican position before they were discovered and the alarm sounded. The main group of Texans charged the camp, screaming, "Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!"" A pitched battle quickly ensued, much of it hand-to-hand at the Mexican fortifications. The two other groups of Texans attacked the flanks, quickly overwhelming the Mexican camp. Houston was wounded, but fought on with his men. In less than twenty minutes, organized resistance ended and many Mexicans were killed by revenge-driven Texans even as they tried to surrender. As the sun sets to the west, the battle ended, the marshes stained scarlet with blood. Nine Texans and 630 Mexicans lay dead or mortally wounded, a tremendous defeat for the Mexican Army.
BB 35, USS Texas
The TEXAS is the last of the battleships, patterned after HMS Dreadnought, that participated in World War (WW) I and II. She was launched on May 18, 1912 from Newport News, Virginia. When the USS TEXAS was commissioned on March 12,1914, she was the most powerful weapon in the world, the most complex product of an industrial nation just beginning to become a force in global events.
In 1916, TEXAS became the first U.S. battleship to mount antiaircraft guns and the first to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers, analog forerunners of today's computers. In 1919, TEXAS became the first U.S. battleship to launch an aircraft.
After being commissioned the TEXAS proceeded almost immediately to Mexican waters where she joined the Special Service Squadron following the "Vera Cruz Incident." She returned to the Atlantic Fleet operations in the fall of 1914, after the Mexican crisis was resolved.
After the US entered WW I, she spent the year 1917 training gun crews for merchant ships that were often attacked by gunfire from surfaced submarines. TEXAS joined the 6th Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet early in 1918. Operating out of Scapa Flow and the Firth of Forth, TEXAS protected forces laying a North Sea mine barrage, responded to German High Seas Fleet
sorties, fired at submarine periscopes observed by multiple ships and helped prevent enemy naval forces from interrupting the supply of Allied forces in Europe. Late in 1918 she escorted the German Fleet en route to its surrender anchorage and escorted President Wilson to peace talks in France.
In 1941 while on "Neutrality Patrol" in the Atlantic, TEXAS was stalked unsuccessfully by the German submarine U-203. TEXAS escorted Atlantic convoys against potential attack by German warships after America entered into WW II in December, 1941. In 1942, TEXAS transmitted General Eisenhower's first "Voice of Freedom" broadcast, asking the French not to oppose Allied landings on North Africa. The appeal went unheeded and the TEXAS provided gunfire support for the amphibious assault on Morocco, putting Walter Cronkite ashore to begin his career as a war correspondent. After further convoy duty, the TEXAS fired on Nazi defenses at Normandy on "D-Day," June 6, 1944. Shortly afterwards, she was hit twice in a duel with German coastal defense artillery near Cherbourg, suffering one fatality and 13 wounded. Quickly repaired, she shelled Nazi positions in Southern France before transferring to the Pacific where she lent gunfire support and antiaircraft fire to the landings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
It was a short drive from the state park to our hotel on the north side address of our hotel on Highway 8 but the traffic around Houston always takes a long time to negotiate, especially during the evening rush hour. No matter, our plans again called for an evening picnic in the Hampton. We would have a full day tomorrow.
After yesterday's long drives to San Antonio, we decided to stay relatively close to our base of operations. Liz had read some of the travel guides and we decided to go north on I-45 for a half hour. The town of Spring boasted of “a unique shopping experience with over 150 shops, restaurants, museums, and galleries” and seemed an appropriate way to spend a leisurely afternoon.
When we arrived we discovered the town consisted of two parallel streets, each three blocks long. They seemed to butt up to a railroad siding and I created a mental image of this old frontier town, aptly named “Spring”, providing a stop for travelers to Houston. Here they could rest while the locomotive was filled with water and the firebox was restocked with firewood. That sounds romantic and colorful doesn't it?
Spring is off Interstate Highway 45 twenty miles north of Houston in north Harris County. The area was originally inhabited by the Orcoquiza Indians, who were first visited by Spaniards in 1746. In the 1820s some of Stephen F. Austin's colonists settled nearby. In 1836 the General Council of the Provisional Government included the area in the municipality of Harrisburg. William Pierpont established a trading post on nearby Spring Creek in 1838, and by 1840 Spring had a population of 153. In the mid-1840s German immigrants, most notably Carl Wunsche, settled in the area and began farming the land. Immigrants from Louisiana and the
postbellum South later moved into the farming community. Sugar cane and cotton were the main cash crops, but vegetables were also raised. The town had a sugar mill for syrup making and two cotton gins. After the Houston and Great Northern Railroad built through Spring in 1871, the town grew considerably. A post office was established in 1873. By 1884 Spring had two steam saw and grist mills, two cotton gins, three churches, several schools, and a population of 150. In 1901-03 the International-Great Northern Railroad connected Spring with Fort Worth. A roundhouse was built, and Spring became a major switch yard with fourteen track yards and 200 rail workers. A sawmill was built near the tracks, and lumbering became an important business for a time.
In the 1970s Houston suburbs expanded northwestward; an increasing number of subdivisions and residential areas grew up around Spring. Some of the old houses in Spring were restored and opened as shops. In 1980 the Old Town Spring Association was formed to promote this unique shopping village. By 1989 Old Town Spring had become a tourist attraction with over eighty unique specialty shops.
We walked through the streets and side streets and entered shops while speculating about the history of the town. After a couple of hours Tina was feeling the time since breakfast and wondered if we might stop for a late lunch. We had seen a Cracker Barrel Restaurant on the way. We wanted to stop there because it was the first time we had seen this restaurant in several years. Based in Lebanon, Tennessee, Liz's mom worked in a Nashville Cracker Barrel Restaurant Gift Shop until 3 months before she died... at 90 years old!
Here we could find Tennessee barbecue and other southern food such as their famous bowl-of-beans, chicken fried steak, pork slices with a side of okra, and other treats. The restaurant was busy, and somewhat noisy but the giggles and wonder of children wandering through all the Christmas items in the gift shop was well worth the visit.
Traude and Herbert were returning to Vienna and Tina and Roger were returning to Tacoma tomorrow morning so we returned to the hotel to let them pack their bags and relax. Later we gathered off the lobby of the hotel and had snacks while enjoying some Sicilian wine. Later Roger opened a bottle of champagne in celebration of their 37th Anniversary.
Roger and Tina's flight was scheduled for later in the afternoon but Traude and Herbert were scheduled to depart around noon for Vienna by way of Washington, DC. They wanted to be with them to offer any assistance they might need getting through the airport. Bush International Airport is a fragmented terminal facility and each flight would be going out of a different terminal. Roger came up with a plan to drop off their bags and then go on to the terminal with the Schrenks.
As we drove up we learned that the Thanksgiving Holiday traffic would have an impact. Normally Continental flies domestic flights out of Terminal C but as we drove the loop we saw that traffic was being routed to Terminal E (Continental International flights). We drove up to a Red Cap who took The Gresses luggage out of the van and into the ticket counter. In less than two minutes they had checked in and received boarding passes for later that afternoon. Now they could accompany Traude and Herbert without having to drag luggage with them.
I returned to the hotel and picked up Liz. We had decided we would return to Spring and finish that visit for what remained of the afternoon. On the way we stopped for lunch. “Pappasito’s Cantina, a Tex-Mex favorite, has been voted 'Number One Mexican Restaurant' repeatedly in publications across Texas. The look of a border town cantina, the feel of a fiesta and sizzling platters of the tastiest fajitas and margaritas this side of the Rio Grande bring our Guests back again and again.” The place must have had seventy tables and all were full. Still, the service was excellent and the food was great. We ordered and exchanged the chicken and the steak fajitas. Both platters sizzled as they arrived at our table and the tortillas were hot and too plentiful. Our waiter had warned us not to have too many chips and salsa as the portions are large... and they were, we couldn't finish all that was on the plates.
The Old Town of Spring was less than ten minutes away from the restaurant and we returned to the second street of shops that we had missed the day before. It turned out to be most fortuitous because I was able to solve a problem that had vexed me since our cruise from the Canary Islands.
During that part of the trip I noticed that a screw had fallen out of the loop that guards the stem of my pocket watch. I thought I would have to try and find a watchmaker, no mean trick these days, and possibly have to leave my watch for weeks or months while it was being repaired. But as we turned the corner I saw this elegant clock shop. Mr. Moore, the owner, had grandfather clocks, wall clocks, regulators, and... a nice collection of pocket watches. He looked at my watch and said he thought he might just have the right type of screw to fix it. He did! And for only $5.00. For me that was worth the whole point of returning to Spring.
We returned to the hotel and relaxed before driving back north for a pleasant, final dinner at a Texas restaurant. We had seen signs for the Saltgrass Steakhouse and were set for a good cut of Texas beef, a salad, and a baked potato.
Our story goes back to the mid 1800s, when millions of Longhorn roamed freely throughout Texas. With the taste of beef becoming a newfound favorite in the North, Texas ranchers prospered as never before. Each winter the Longhorn were driven to the Texas Gulf Coast to graze on the rich coastal saltgrass. And when they headed for market, they followed the legendary Salt Grass Trail, known far and wide for the best beef in the whole Lone Star State.
In 1952, this historic trail ride was revived by four riders to publicize the opening of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Today, the ride has become an annual celebration of that original Texas spirit. The first Saltgrass Steak House still stands along this historic trail.
Our meal was all we wished for. The steaks were rare and juicy, the baked potato was fluffy and had all the condiments one would want. The salad was crisp and fresh with a chunky bleu cheese dressing. If I had any complaint it was that we didn't really need the brownie sundae dessert. And even though we shared it, it was too much to expect to finish.
Heading back north we took a page from our Germany touring days. We decided to drive until we saw something that drew our attention and took us to a new place to explore. We saw a sign that said “Montgomery – the birthplace of the Texas flag” and we couldn't pass up the potential for a good story. “Despite its relatively small footprint of one square mile, more than 30,000 people in the surrounding communities consider themselves residents of the historic town of Montgomery.”
Montgomery traces its roots to 1823, when Andrew J. Montgomery established a trading post a few miles to the west of the current townsite. On December 14, 1837, the town named for Andrew Montgomery became the first county seat of Montgomery County, the third county formed under the Republic of Texas. The county originally extended from the Brazos River to the Trinity. A post office opened in Montgomery in 1846. The city was officially incorporated in 1848 with Judge Nathaniel Hart Davis as mayor. Montgomery was the first county seat of Montgomery County and was the third county formed under the Republic of Texas. It is also recognized as the birthplace of the Texas Lone Star Flag. In the era of antebellum Texas Montgomery had a newspaper and a telegraph line and was at the crossroads of two stage lines. It became a trading center especially in lumber and cotton. In the 1850s a yellow fever epidemic reduced the population. With the Civil War and Reconstruction, the political and economic power in Montgomery County shifted away from Montgomery. When the Houston and Great Northern Railroad laid track through the center of the county in 1870, Conroe was established. In 1889 it was chosen the new county seat.
The Lone Star Flag of Texas first rose in Montgomery - or at least the idea of it did. It was a product of the vision of Dr. Charles Bellinger Stewart, a Montgomery postmaster and pharmacist and the first Secretary of State for the Republic of Texas.
Dr. Stewart was appointed by Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar to a committee with Thomas Barnett and Richard Ellis to create an official flag for the Republic. Dr. Stewart sketched on vellum three rectangles of equal size, one vertical and the others horizontal. In the vertical rectangle he placed a lone star. The original drawing was not colored but Dr. Stewart labeled the rectangles blue, white and red. These colors signify loyalty, purity and bravery.
We toured the small town and went through the antique shops. We read about the history and spoke with the shopkeepers who believed that Sam Houston's family had a land grant here. I could not confirm that on line but while he may or may not have lived here, he certainly had men from the community that fought in his army at the defeat of Presidente Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836). And surely he must have spoken at the county courthouse when vying for political office as the first President of the Republic of Texas (1836-1838), U.S. Senator from the newly recognized State of Texas (1845-1856), and Governor of the State (1859-1861).
Leaving Montgomery we continued east a few miles to enter Conroe, the county seat since 1870, and checked out the city. We only drove through as we wanted to return to Houston by way of Highway 59 to see what was on that road. The road is a six-lane highway already scheduled to become I-65 in the future. Maybe that requires access limitation or bridge reinforcement to qualify but I think they are there now.
We topped off the gastank at Humble and then took the van to the airport to turn it in. There was a lot of traffic going in to Bush Intercontinental and most of the long term parking lots seemed full. We hoped we would avoid rental car turn-in delays tomorrow. Hampton Inn sent the shuttle and we returned to the hotel. We finished the last half bottle of the Spanish wine we had brought back from the Mediterranean. And we packed our bags. When combined with the cruise days we now have completed our 25 day trip and celebrated our 25th anniversary!
Galveston | San Antonio | Houston
