New Orleans LA

We continued to enjoy Texas until last Friday. Each area we visited offered new wonders. After leaving the Harlingen area, we headed up the coast to the Corpus Christi area, staying in Aransas Pass. This area reminded us of Ft. Myers Beach. Lots of beautiful waterfront with a variety of boats, great restaurants on the water, and lots of waterbirds to enjoy. A free car and passenger ferry takes everyone from Aransas Pass to Port Aransas on a 24-7 basis. Port Aransas is a beautiful beach town that includes Mustang Island, another driving beach, the north section of Padre Island, and a protected beach to windsurf. It reminded us of our old friend,Ward who windsurfed into his late 70's.

The endangered whooping cranes migrate to this area of Texas each fall. We took a boat from Rockport-Fulton to see them. They migrate from Wood Buffalo Park in Alberta, Canada. They mate for life, fly in family units and are territorial. The cranes are five feet tall and have a 8 foot wing span. Their babies are brown for the first year. We watched them chase other cranes from their territory. The Aransas wildlife refuge is acquiring more land since the cranes are expanding as their numbers increase. They were down to only 22, but now there are over 500. We saw many water and shore birds from the boat also. A entire flock of roseate spoonbills flew up as we approached. We spent another day at the Aransas WLR on land. Lots of alligators and birds were seen from the trails and the overlooks. The gulf coast was rugged and wild. In Corpus Christi, we visited the Museum of Science and History that included a Smithsonian exhibit which showed the results of Columbus coming to America. The Santa Maria and the Pinta replicas were housed there after their US tour. It was amazing to stand on a boat that crossed the ocean with about 25 men on board, no bunks or galley. The deck had a huge slope, causing all the water that washes over to drain easily. It is amazing that they thought these boats could get to China. Lucky they ran into America. Another area of the museum featured a 16th century carved wood ceiling from Castille Spain.It was magnificent. The USS Lexington, a retired aircraft carrier from WWII, is now a museum and located here. We toured it in Key West many years ago.

We left the coast to visit San Antonio and its wonderful River Walk. It was our third visit to San Antonio and enjoyed a visit to the missions again. There is a beautiful parkway that conects the four missions and the Alamo. The missions date back to the early 1700's and several are active parishes today. The architecture of the missions reminded us of Europe. The interiors of the missions were very simple with altars made for the "day of the dead". It is their custom to remember their deceased loved ones with decorated altars. We then spent a beautiful evening walking thru River Walk and enjoying the party atmosphere.

Austin, the capital of Texas, is a great city. We were given a tour of the Capital building by a woman from Nigeria who immigrated to Texas many years ago. She gave a theatrical performance as she showed us the complex and recalled the history of Texas. A stop at the Bob Bullock Texas State History museum was next. It traced the history of Texas from the time of the Indians until present day. The University of Texas campus was unique. The area around San Antonio and Austin is called the "Hill Country". Indeed Texas does have hills and we took a great drive in the country to see them. One of our favorite stops was Johnson City and the ranch of LBJ. His Texas White house was located on a beautiful piece of land near the Pedernales River. It was interesting to review all the legislation that was passed during his presidency. Things like Medicare, Medicaid, public television and special education were all passed while he was in office. His mother was a college educated women, which was extremely rare in that time. In addition to school, she tutored he and his family at home. There was a huge live oak tree in the front yard of his home where he hosted his Texas BBQ parties. We enjoyed the German towns of New Braunfels and Fredericksburg with their German replica buildings. Authentic German menus delighted us as did the beautifully decorated rooms inside the restaurants. Another jewel of Fredericksburg was the Admiral Nimitz World War II museum. This was his home town and the museum traced WWII from beginning to end. Story after story about the war and its effect on Americans reminded us how difficult it was to be at war. As Grandma Eleanor used to say, we sold the car since you couldn't get gas to run it or tires to run on. All of those were needed for the war.

Our final stop in Texas was Port Arthur which was hit by Hurricane Isaac on Sept 13th of this year. Blue tarps were the standard roof with entire towns like Sabine Pass completely destroyed. We visited a boat harbor near the gulf and there was very little that was salvageable. A very sad sight to see. The Gulf Coast Museum was a treasure, containing memorabilia from many musical artists who grew up in the area of Port Arthur. One of the most famous is Janis Joplin. To see Janis pictures and hear her music again brought back many memories. The oil industry is vibrant in Port Arthur. Refinerys everywhere!

Leaving Texas after more than 3 weeks there, we headed east to Lafayette Louisiana, the home of one of our favorite cajun restaurants, Prejeans. Their etouffee and gumbos are incredibly delicious. We toured a museum and home which reviewed our Acadian history. Then on to New Orleans, we should have rested up for this one!!
The spirit of New Orleans is contagous. We were happy to see improved conditions after Hurricane Katrina. We were here 3 years ago, it was a nightmare. Rebuilding was evident everywhere. The streets of the French Quarter were alive with street performers, artists, and characters. The Green Bay fans were in town for Monday nite football, so they were partying in the bars. We found a great Zydeco band and enjoyed dancing and singing those old southern favorites. We stayed east of New Orleans in Slidell and viewed the wildlife refuges in the area. Bayous with cedar knees and birds were everywhere. I found myself kayaking with the alligators again.
As we head to Dauphine Island,AL for the Thanksgiving week, we wish everyone a very Happy and restful Thanksgiving!