Texas

 We drove into Texas, past the cattle ranches into the Houston area.  We stopped for lunch and had the best chicken fried steak ever!  It was tender, crispy, and had delicious creamy gravy.  For dessert we had banana pudding.  What a treat!

We drove into Houston to see the Beer Can House.  Every inch of the house, and garage were covered in cut up beer cans, there were some streamers of cans hanging from the eaves, and even the fence was made of beer cans.

Then we spent several hours at the Health Museum.  It was full of displays of the human body and its workings.  There were lots of hands-on activities, which we loved. 



the spine and brain

into the mouth

what Rebekah might have
looked like with
different genes

 After a restful night, we headed into San Antonio and had breakfast.  I had a delicious plate of Bananas Foster pancakes with a side of smoked turkey hash.  Rebekah had a side of Magnolia Browns (hash browns with onions and garlic) and the Munchener Apfel Pfannekuchen, which was a Bavarian puffed pancake filled with apple slices and topped with European whipped cream.  A great way to start the day!

We went to the SAS shoe factory for a tour of how they hand-make every pair of shoes.  It was interesting to see the workers cut, sew, and polish the shoes. 

Since it was lunch time, we went to Dough, a pizza place and had a Margarita pizza with house made mozzarella, tomatoes and their fresh grown basil.  Delicious! 

We headed over to our cousin's and had a wonderful time with them at the Riverwalk.  We had dinner next to the river, then went for a cruise along the river.  It was so beautiful with all the Christmas lights. 

The next day we went to the Alamo and enjoyed reading all the historical information and browsing through the exhibits.  They have a beautiful garden there.

 

 

After all that walking around, it was time for some delicious Tex-Mex.  We had a crispy Chile relleno and a puffy beef taco,

 

Chicken Laredo,

and a sweet sopapilla for dessert.

The next day before we left San Antonio, we stopped for lunch at a Moroccan place.  It was really delicious!  We had the lamb tagine, rice, and Moroccan bread with mint tea.

On our way we stopped near Austin to get a famous Round Rock Texas size donut, and a kolache. 



 

For lunch we had some Texas BBQ brisket, with beans, cole slaw, and potato salad.

It was tender and very delicious.

 

 

 

In Dallas, we drove past the Old Red Museum, which was a courthouse once upon a time,

 

 

then headed over to Dealy Plaza to see the JFK museum on the 6th floor of the Book Depository, where the shots were fired.  It covered the shooting of the president, the window where it took place is preserved, the investigation of the Warren Commission, the controversies about the shooting, and information about Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby.

 

the Book Depository where Oswald was
at, the square window on the top corner,
next to the curved windows

X marks the spot where JFK was shot

Dealy Plaza, and the grassy knoll behind the trees

 

We stopped for lunch and had a cup of Texas Red chili.  It was hot, but tasty!

 

 

 

In Fort Worth, we stopped at the Water Gardens to see all the fountains.  We were really disappointed that the biggest one was off, but the others were going, and it was peaceful and beautiful.

 

this one was off

 

We said goodbye to Texas for now, and headed north into Oklahoma.