Space Center

Space Center Houston, an excellent day out and only a 40 minute drive away. The visitor center is run alongside Nasa's Johnson Space Center and a tram ride takes you round and into the buildings including mission control. Here are a few of the exhibits and as you can see Sarah and Gordon enjoyed the hands on exhibits

San Antonio Riverwalk & The Alamo

The first weekend of Rose's visit we took her to the San Antonio River Walk (also known as Paseo del Río). The Riverwalk is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath downtown San Antonio. Lined by bars, shops and restaurants, the River Walk is an important part of the city's urban fabric and a tourist attraction in its own right.

The Alamo, originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero, is a former Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound, now a museum, in San Antonio. The compound, was built by the Spanish in the 18th century for the education of local Native Americans. It became a fortress housing the Mexican Army group the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras, who likely gave the mission the name "Alamo".
Mexican soldiers held the mission until December 1835. A relatively small number of Texan soldiers then occupied the compound. On February 23, Mexican General Santa Anna led a large force of Mexican soldiers into San Antonio and promptly initiated a seige. The siege ended on March 6, when the Mexican army attacked the Alamo; by the end of the Battle of The Alamo all or almost all of the defenders were killed.
For the next five years, the Alamo was periodically used to garrison soldiers, both Texan and Mexican, but was ultimately abandoned. In 1849, the US Army began renting the facility for use as a quartermaster's depot. The US Army abandoned the mission in 1876. The Alamo chapel was sold to the state of Texas, which conducted occasional tours but made no effort to restore it. The remaining buildings were sold to a mercantile company which operated them as a wholesale grocery store. It is now restored and open as a Museum.

Natural Bridge Caverns

In March of 1960, Orion Knox Jr., Preston Knodell, Al Brandt and Joe Cantu, four college students from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, obtained permission to explore the area that is now Natural Bridge Caverns. The students were convinced that large underground passages existed under the amazing 60-foot limestone bridge. On their fourth expedition, Orion felt a cool draft from a rubble-filled crawlway. Such air currents often indicate the presence of additional rooms or passages. The explorers made their way carefully climbing and crawling through two miles of vast cavern passage. After making this amazing discovery, they returned to the surface to tell the landowners. The discoverers knew immediately what an astonishing find they had made and the land owners decided to develop the first 1/2 mile, the most spectacular part of the caverns, for the enjoyment of guests from around the world.

These caverns can be found in San Antonio and we went to visit them on the Sunday. Our photo's do not give the caverns any justice so I've added a link for you to check them out for yourselves.

www.naturalbridgecaverns.com/mediaPhotos.aspx

Corpus Christi for Spring Break

The USS LEXINGTON, CV-16, is a World War II-vintage aircraft carrier. Commissioned in 1943, she served the United States longer and set more records than any other carrier in the history of naval aviation.The ship was the oldest working carrier in the United States Navy when decommissioned in 1991. Lexington, an Essex-class carrier, was originally named the USS CABOT. During World War II, the final work on it was being completed at Massachusetts' Fore River Shipyard when word was received that the original carrier named USS LEXINGTON, CV-2, had been sunk in the Coral Sea. A campaign was launched to change the new carrier's name to Lexington. The USS LEXINGTON, CV-16, was commissioned on February 17, 1943.

Next stop was the Aquarium.

The dolphins were in a playful mood

and played to the crowd of spectators.

After a busy Sunday we decided to

take a look around the Botanical Gardens

on Monday morning.

Plenty of fruit on this orange tree.

A variety of Cacti.

Does this butterfly look familiar ?

After the gardens we went to Padre Island

and had a picnic on the beach.

Padre Island National Seashore is the longest section of undeveloped barrier island in the world, protecting rare coastal prairie; and the Laguna Madre. The National Seashore and surrounding waters provide important habitat for marine and terrestrial plants and animals, including a number of rare, threatened, and endangered species. Situated along the Central Flyway, Padre Island is a globally important area for over 350 migratory, overwintering, and resident bird species. The National Seashore's remote location also makes it one of the few places where you can observe the night sky with minimal interference from light pollution. The National Seashore is also one of the few places the public can go to see sea turtle hatchlings being released into the wild.

The 'scurries' enjoying our leftovers.