Brackettville, Texas

This was a VERY interesting day.  You'll never guess what happened.  We knew the Alamo Village Movie Location was closed but decided to take a ride there anyway, "just in case".  When we drove in the yard, a border patrol drove in.

All he wanted to do was tell us it was closed, but Don just had to get out of the car and assume "the position" just to be funny.  Paul was there with his camera.  So we spent quite a few minutes talking to the officer, he's from New York City and has been stationed here for 2 years.  I guess they get quite a few drug runners, so it's not as boring as we thought.  Just as we were getting back into the Jeep and the officer was driving out, a lady pulled up from the other side of the gate.  She let us through, told us Rich, the tour guide, was bored and would love to give a tour, she would call him ahead to let him know we were coming.  What a deal, a private tour. 

I took 150 pictures of the Alamo and the village where movies were filmed from 1959 up until 2007.  Many documentaries, music videos & commercials.  It was tough deciding which pictures to post, but here goes.  This was the gate into the Alamo.

This was the front of the mission.  I didn't realize it, but the real Alamo mission did not have a roof until some time after the battle.

One of the buildings within the walls.

I climbed up a gravel ramp where the soldiers must have had their "look outs" and got a shot of the village.  note the prickly pear cactus growing at the top of the perimiter wall.

This is the marshall's office.

This is the Cantina.  When this village was open for tours, they actually had a restaurant in here.

We were in a building where many original wagons were stored, this is Don talking with Rich.  Not only is he the tour guide, he worked there for many years and was involved in the movie making from 1967 on.  He was very interesting.

A room in one of the houses.

The church.

Some houses.

Inside the saloon.

Not only did we get a private tour, it was 3 hours long.  I was so facinated with all of this, I went right on Amazon.com and ordered "The Alamo" with John Wayne and "Bandolero" filmed in 1967 with Jimmy Stewart.

Mexican Border

When we left Kingsville, we went to Harlingen, on the southern tip of Texas, and met up with our friends again.  (Paul & Joyce)  Jack rabbits were all over the place, they'd crawl under the fence and eat on the lawns.  On this walk, when I got to this lawn there were about a dozen of them sleeping.  I had to wake a few up to see their ears pop up.

When we left there we drove along the edge of the Rio Grande to Laredo.  I was amazed at how much trash there was everywhere, along the road sides, in towns, everywhere.  Bags, cups, paper, etc.  And Texas has a $1,000 fine for littering.  I don't think it's working.  This was a road side picnic area, look at the pile of trash, and paper scattered everywhere.

We came to Fort Clark in Brackettville. 

Our main reason for being here was to see The Alamo Village Movie Location where the original Alamo movie with John Wayne was filmed in 1959.  When we registered we found that it closed about 5 month ago.

King Ranch, Kingville, Texas

Kingsville, Texas is the home of King Ranch, founded in 1853 and sprawls accross 825,000 acres of Southern Texas.

They breed their own quarter horses for cattle herding.

See the 2 of them over on the left, they're young ones starting to play.

These are cattle that they breed.

This is the building now used as offices.

This is the home that was built in the late 1800's.  It's still used by family.  It is huge.

This was the carriage house.

Corpus Christi, Texas

The USS Lexington was an aircraft carrier during WWII the Japanese called it "the blue ghost".

It was an interesting tour.  Like I said, Don likes boats (and airplanes).

He went all the way to the top.  I could never live on a ship.

The acquarium was more my speed.

See the 3 dolphins introducing themselves to us?

This one jumped all the way up to a red ball at the end of that tube.

We could also see them play under water. They are absolutely fun to watch. They have so much personality.

We saw a beautiful eagle.

I had never seen a sea horse.

And this bird was beautiful.

And of course, we found another beach for Bruno to run on.

All in all, it was a very interesting day.

Galveston, Texas

Our first stop in Texas was Galveston, and there's lots to see.  This was the Bishop's Palace.  There are no photographs allowed on the inside, but it is absolutely beautiful.  Yes, that's Don at the top of the steps with his winter jacket.  We've been gone a whole month and have only seen 2 partial days in the 70's.

This castle was originally built by a rich family and was bought during the depresion for next to nothing by the Catholic diocese for the Bishop.

Our next stop was the Elissa.  That was very interesting.  I'm not a huge boat fan, but Don is.

I loved these posters, there were 3 of them, all on the origin of words and statements.  Double click on it so you can read it.

And here is Don in his Glory.

I spotted these houses as we were driving, thought it was a good shot.

Our last stop was at the Loan Star Flight Museum.  This sign got me wondering why Texas is the Lone Star state.  I can understand many of the state nicknames, but why "lone star".  For those of you who know me, you know that I couldn't just "wonder", I had to find out.  Check out this Lone Star link.

Like the Pensacola Museum, the old planes were very interesting.

Next stop, Corpus Christi, Texas.

A word from Bruno

This has been pretty cool so far.  When we're on the road I sleep on my bed between Mama and Daddy.

The trip to Texas was pretty long so I found a more comfortable place.

Oooops, Mama caught me.

I've got my daddy well trained, he found a blanket for the couch so I could sleep on it.  I'm so spoiled.

Finally, we're in Texas. I hope we find a beach to run on.

We found one in Galveston.  I love running on the beach.

Lafayette, Louisianna

Time for a little history lesson.  The French settled in Acadia, what is now Nova Scotia, in 1604.  France and England were often at war with each other, their respective flags frequently alternating above Port Royal in Acadia.  Finally, in 1713, France ceded Acadia to England who tried from time to time to get the Acadians to renounce all allegiances to France, which would also mean loosing their freedom of religion.  Because they refused, finally in 1755 England evicted the Acadians and placed them on transports and scattered them among English colonies along the Atlantic seaboard.  Some settled along both sides of the St.John River, which seperates Canada and Maine in the most northern part of Maine.  Other French had settled there having come from Quebec.  This is my ancestry. 

 A large number of Acadians, after 10 years of hardship, reached a French colony in New Orleans by way of the Mississippi.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote "Evangeline", a tale depicting their journey.  The name Acadian eventually turned to Cajun.  Lafayette is the center of Acadian history, therefore I needed to visit it.  I found that people speak English just like people in the St.John Valley.  Its not an accent as much as an inflection.  The names are also the same, like Cyr, Daigle, Thibodeau, Gilbeau, Landry, Vincent. etc.  The only difference is that names in Maine that end in "eau" or "eault" end in "eaux" in Louisianna.

We saw an old colony of houses, containing furniture, tools, etc., but guess what I did......forgot my camera!

Next stop....Texas