Texas - The Lone Star State
Archers Holidays, June 2014
Today we had 7.30am bags, 8.30am departure for our two hundred mile drive to Austin. We headed down to the lobby at about 7.15am for our included breakfast. It was a pretty good spread, with sausage, bacon, two kinds of eggs and breakfast potatoes (for the veggie assistant). They had really awful watery oatmeal, waffles, toast, bagels, fruit, cereals and probably more! Coffee and orange juice were served by the waitress. A pretty good start, keeping the hotel at a four Ted rating, though they did have a nice pool area. Unfortunately, the WiFi was a bit iffy and kept dropping the connection which was a bit annoying, but I managed to tweet a little and was too tired to do it for long. On our way out, a Manager asked if everything was okay so we mentioned the WiFi and he made a note, but he was very nice.
We climbed on the bus - go figure, ours was the only overhead TV screen NOT working, so Patrick decided to show us a film about Texas. We could see another screen so it wasn't the end of the world. It was a bit loud though!
It was interesting to see the Fort Worth Stockyards on the film and to see some of those people and activities we'd seen the day before, like the saddled Longhorn!
We had a break at a truckstop for about half an hour - restrooms and snacks. They had McDonalds, Wendy's and Subway as well as pizza in the truckstop shop and a vast array of snacks and drinks - not bad! I even got a great phone signal here too, so was able to phone the Ancient Assistant and check in with her.
Our next stop was Austin and the Bullock Texas State History Museum.
What an imposing building. Check out the big star below right - see that little splodge by the right foot on the plinth? That splodge is ME!
As we entered into the vast open hallway things looked promising. A tall rotunda with a domed roof and tall windows. There were no instructions as to which way to go so we took the lift to the fourth floor so that we could work our way down. From above we saw the Terazzo floor below, describing The Story of Texas.
In hindsight we should have gone from the bottom up to do the museum chronologically. Would a sign have hurt? Once up there there was no going back. Nice view.
There was a Texas and Pacific Railroad Station waiting room up here. As we moved on there was an exhibit to celebrate the role of Texas in space with this 1960s Mission Control console, used at Johnson Space Center.
In 1961, the Manned Spacecraft Center was established in Houston. As the home of Mission Control and the astronaut training program, it became the voice and face of America's space program.
They have an example of the pressure suit used by the Apollo astronauts. This suit was worn by Edgar D Mitchell, the only man from Texas to walk on the moon, and the sixth person. He piloted the Apollo 14 Lunar Module.
The Aeroplane is a "Texan", an advanced training plane.
Texas is obviously known for its oil and its fuel derivatives. In the early Twentieth Century, Texas struck oil for the first time and for the next forty years, Texas became America's centre of oil production and exploration.
Obtaining water was also tricky, with windmills used to pump water up from underground aquifers and irrigation channels used in the fields for crops and for cattle.
Through dime novels, movies and later television, tales of the American West were told with iconic fancy costumes by the likes of Texans Gene Autry, Dale Evans and "Tex" Ritter. The pick-up truck became a Texas icon and workhorse.
In a modern Texas, helicopters work with cowboys on horseback on smaller, more efficient ranches. These are better designed to meet the world markets, but it all started with just the cowboys, their horses and their guns.
The Texas Longhorn were once the mainstay of Texas cattle, bred from Spanish stock and English cattle. Slow to mature, but resistant to disease, eventually these were crossbred to develop faster. The Longhorn was nearly bred out of existence by the 1920s. The Texas Forest Service set out to save the remaining Longhorns in the 1920s and by the 1960s, the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America was founded. By the 1990s, the survival of the Longhorn was assured.
The Colt Revolver and Bowie Knife were just some of the weapons used in the 1800s.
This is a Howe Scale (below left) used to weigh cotton from around 1897 to 1981 in a dry goods store in Austin.
Another icon of Texas was the Alamo, represented here (below right) but we'll talk about that more once we arrive at San Antonio.
In 1835, the first shots of the Texan Revolution were heard. The Mexicans returned to retrieve a small cannon, loaned to settlers to protect settlers from Indians but they refused to give it back, even firing on a larger force of Mexicans later in the year. The following month, they moved the cannon to San Antonio to serve the "army of the people." Below centre is a c.1750 Spanish signal cannon that shows no trace of being fired and it rests on a reproduction carriage.
There were a lot of artefacts from the shipwreck of La Belle, including this skeleton (below right) but again, it is a replica. The anchor rope appears to be original - it was found under the skeleton, but no anchor was found at the site.
The brass candlesticks and drumsticks date to around 1684 and were also on the shipwreck of La Belle. The bronze four-pound cannon was from the same shipwreck but dates to the slightly earlier 1679.
In the 1700s, the Spanish used flintlock pistols along with broadswords and daggers such as these (below right).
They had a dog-trot cabin set up. It was a typical East or Central Texas home which was built when settlers arrived. If successful, they might expand their property over time or make it more substantial. The spinning wheel (below centre) was inside.
Land was set aside for the Indians though settlers would still make claims there, and the Native Americans would hunt off reservation land. In 1859, the Indian bands were removed to Indian territory, now Oklahoma.
The early settlers included conquistadores, who rode horses they brought over to the Americas from Spain.
This horsey chap (below right) was in the gift shop. This was pretty extensive, catering for a range of customers with the usual tourist tat of t-shirts, magnets, pens and the like, alongside a quite large book shelf of historical and political information. They had quite a lot of presumably (how would I know?) classier (maybe just more expensive) items such as handbags and jewellery. I got a couple of magnets and a pen. We didn't buy much, although - as my friends later found out - I got a great deal on some fridge magnets!
Apparently there was controversy about spending public funds on something as frivolous as a musuem about the State's history but it's something I strongly support. However, I don't think the execution here is that great - yet anyway. Hopefully, it's a work in progress. We were done in ninety minutes with a two hour allocation, in hindsight, there were better things we could have been doing... With the time we had left, we went outside and grabbed some more photos - the sun was out now, which made the place a little brighter.
Sadly, we could only give the Museum three Teds - I was going to say two but the rest of the folks on our bus said it was good so I'll have to take their word for it. There were a lot of mock ups of historical things, or replicas and a huge number of boards with photographs on the wall, but we felt the actual artifacts were a little lacking. There were some, sure, but the place seemed so empty with a little exhibit here or there. Very disappointing, compared with other museums we've been to, where we've barely had enough time. That said, the staff were friendly and a Security Guard even offered to help me out with a picture.
We headed for the State Capitol building. I do love this about the Unites States. With just a little airport-style security you can head into the seat of State Government power. Isn't that amazing? Well, it is, so shut up.
We only had forty-five minutes here and I could've stayed another thirty, maybe more. We didn't have time for one of their free tours (shame!) so just had to show ourselves around. As it wasn't far from the museum, we should've headed over here early, letting Patrick know we'd gone on ahead.
We arrived at the Texas State Capitol Building.
It's pretty imposing eh? Have to say many of the State Capitol's I have been to have been pretty similar. This one has the domed roof - pretty nice eh? There are a few monuments here - below centre is a memorial to John B Hood's Texas Brigade Army of Northern Virginia, which fought in the Civil War. We went through security, picked up a leaflet and headed inside.
Below is the Dome (well, technically it's above, but the pictures are below!) - they have the word TEXAS spelt out on the roof. There are several floors going up!
Like at the Museum, we decided to start our own self-guided tour at the fourth (top) floor and work our way down. Okay so I went back down a little informally - I do like to slide down a bannister!
We went into the House of Representatives (below left) and again, this is a fairly standard layout of desks, with the Speaker in the centre at the back. We spotted the Governor's public reception office was on the second floor - we took some pictures but didn't like to go inside! We crossed the building over to the Senate gallery, but it was a little disappointing as it was under refurbishment. There's nothing much to see in here - the furniture has been removed and the carpet's been taken up. I thought you should see it anyway.
Down on the lower floor of the House, we took a closer look. They have a photo of how it used to be - not changed much, has it?
The chairs (below left) are pretty old (well, for America!) There is an original 1889 oak swivel chair, though it has been restored. More chairs were bought around 1892 and 1923 when membership of Congress increased. I thought I better not try them! The chairs now look a lot more comfy and have the Texas Seal on them.
Next door was the Speaker's Committee Room. Smaller meetings occur here with a smaller group of Representatives for different areas of government. No doubt they have a few press conferences from here too. I thought I'd give it a go!
They have a big seal of Texas on the floor under the rotunda. It was hard to get a photograph as people did insist on standing on it! I had to wait a while to get these pictures with just me.
After thirty-five minutes of exploring we passed a just-starting guided tour that I would have liked to undertake. Can't do everything on a bus tour, I guess.
Running out of time, we headed outside to get some pictures of the buildings and the memorials. There are some lovely walkways with benches were anyone can sit and relax, eat lunch or watch the squirrels.
This monument (below left and centre) has one of Terry's Texas Rangers astride a horse. They participated in defence of the Southern Confederacy during the Civil War. The monument below right commemorates the Cavalry Corps.
The monument below left is called Texas Cowboy and is a portrayal of a typical Texas cowboy, riding the range. Below centre is the monument to the heroes of the Alamo, erected in 1891. The grounds are seen below right.
Sadly, there was no time to visit the gift shop - it was in a separate building across the grounds. I had hoped they'd have a magnet or two inside the building but no, so we didn't get to buy anything. Shame!
We set off through the city, past Saint Mary Cathedral and City Hall (below right).
We made a brief stop - just half an hour - at Sixth Street. There were some cafes along here, including some gaming places (apparently Austin is big with gamers - whatever they might be, folks who play Space Invaders and Pacman I imagine!) Some of the buildings looked pretty old. This is the music area of Austin, but too far from our hotel to get back here easily in the evening. Nice to at least take a bit of a look, though it wasn't very exciting.
We parked by the Driskill Hotel, built in the 1880s. We popped inside for a quick look around.
They had a nice car parked outside - a 1934 Ford Panel Delivery Truck. It had the same type of V8-Flathead engine as was in Bonnie and Clyde's car.
Soon it was time to head to the hotel, the Drury's Austin. It was a lovely room with ceiling fans, two beds, an armchair, television, microwave, refrigerator. Okay, so the bathroom had no lock - why do they do that? - but there were plenty of towels and toiletries in a dispenser on the wall. It was nicely decorated too.
As part of the deal with The Drury's Hotels offer Kickbacks, which is great. Basically it's included food and drinks for a limited time in the evening. We'd be staying at a few Drury's hotels, but this was our first so we had to check out the buffet. They had hot dogs, cheddar and broccoli soup, baked potatoes, nachos, salad, crudities, crisps (potato chips) and penne pasta. I had a bit of everything just to try it all and it was great. Okay, so this is not gourmet dining but it's included in the price and fairly unlimited in quantity. We didn't need to go find dinner.
Oh yeah, they also give you an allowance of three alcoholic drinks, wine and beer yes, but also a limited range of spirits and a choice of five cocktails (margarita, tequila sunrise, screwdriver, martini and bloody Mary), as well as unlimited soft drinks and coffee. Well, we made full use of our quota but some of the others on our bus weren't exactly heavy drinkers, so they very kindly donated some of theirs to TeamTGT. Woohoo! At one stage I was really stacking them up! (I did share a couple with the assistants.) Gotta say though, I'll never become a spy bear - the vodka martini was REVOLTING!.
What a great deal! I'm looking for Drury's Hotels next time I need one. The food changes a little night after night, but as part of your package you can certainly just crash at the hotel of an evening and not bother looking for dinner. Unless you really want to. They had popcorn available until 10pm so I took a pack back to my room for later. In case I got peckish, which - of course - I did!