USA – TEXAS

TEXAS NORTHEAST (Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin)

There was a big change in weather as I approached Dallas – from -8°C  2 nights previously to +20°C. Leaves were on trees and wild flowers were growing in the ditches.
Dallas major roads are tolled by a tag system. It is an impressive variety of extreme freeways – three tiers, amazing webs of roads converging on some areas.

PLANO (pop 360,000). Located approximately 20 miles (32.2 km) north of downtown Dallas, the city of Plano is a part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. The city is a hub for many corporate headquarters. Plano was also considered to be the safest city in the nation by Forbes in 2011.
Cockroach Hall of Fame. In the NM “Bizzarium” series, until 2012, Plano was home to a unique attraction: the Cockroach Hall of Fame Museum.
“It is not the Smithsonian,” as owner Michael Bohdan liked to say – but it was an interesting enough oddity to merit appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “The View,” as well as mentions on websites like Atlas Obscura and Roadside America. You had to know where to look for it. The museum was part of the Pest Shop, a small do-it-yourself shop that sold extermination products for getting rid of pests in your home – ants, mice, roaches, rats and more. (The shop is still located at the corner of Custer and 15th Street, under new ownership.)
When the museum was open, visitors were treated to exhibits like the Bates Roach Motel office, which featured a roach dressed in a housecoat and wig that moved along a track from the office to Room 1 with a tiny knife in its hand, and a collection of “celebrity” roaches with names like Elvis, David Letterroach, Elvis, Marilyn Monroach and Liberoachi.
Michael is an expert on cockroaches and other critters. He earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. When the museum was open, Michael enjoyed greeting thousands of visitors each year and answering questions, always sporting his green felt fedora dotted with the carcasses of 14 cockroaches. He still calls himself “Cockroach Dundee.” The Cockroach Museum was a hidden treasure that many Plano residents didn’t know about. The Pest Shop is still open and still helping customers who want to get rid of bugs in their homes. But alas, the Cockroach Hall of Fame Museum is no more. Michael Bohdan moved to Phoenix to retire but returned to Dallas a few years ago. He still has his cockroaches and hopes one day he can find a new home to display them. “Most of the dressed-up cockroaches are still in their cases, stored in boxes,” he said. “It’s a shame that we had to close. I always thought my museum would have legs. It helped educate a lot of people and changed their perceptions about cockroaches.”

DALLAS/ FORT WORTH
Dallas is the largest inland metropolitan area in the U.S. that lacks any navigable link to the sea. It is the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country at 7.5 million people, the largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States.Dallas and nearby Fort Worth were initially developed due to the construction of major railroad lines through the area allowing access to cotton, cattle and later oil in North and East Texas. The construction of the Interstate Highway System reinforced Dallas’s prominence as a transportation hub, with four major interstate highways converging in the city and a fifth interstate loop around it. The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is one of the largest and busiest airports in the world
DALLAS (pop 1,345,076) is the ninth most-populous city in the U.S. and third in Texas after Houston and San Antonio.
Dominant sectors of its diverse economy include defense, financial services, information technology, telecommunications, and transportation. Dallas is home to 9 Fortune 500 companies within the city limits. The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex hosts additional Fortune 500 companies, including American Airlines (Fort Worth) and ExxonMobil (Irving). Over 41 colleges and universities are located within its metropolitan area, which is the most of any metropolitan area in Texas. The city has a population from a myriad of ethnic and religious backgrounds and one of the largest LGBT communities in the U.S. WalletHub named Dallas the fifth most-diverse city in the U.S. in 2018.
Chapel of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Square is a private park and public facility anchoring the Thanksgiving Commercial Center district of downtown Dallas. Dedicated in 1976, the complex consists of three components: a landscaped garden and non-denominational chapel building, a major section of the underground pedestrian network, and the Bullington Truck Terminal. It welcomes people of all cultures and religions are welcome to celebrate values, thoughts, and spirituality in a contemplative setting.
The Square is set fifteen feet below ground level with a four-foot wall blocking the sight of automobiles to create a serene, green island. Water plays a prominent role in the landscape, with active fountains masking city noise. Overt Religious symbolism is intentionally absent from the decoration with quotes and messages as delineated by Hindu, Jewish, Christian and Muslim authorities. Mosaic, stained glass, engraving, and graphic art adorn the walls and windows throughout Thanks-Giving Square.
Chapel of Thanksgiving is the spiritual center open to visitors of all faiths. The spiraling shape rises 90 feet (27.5 m) above street level, suggesting the infinite upward reach of the human spirit. The Chapel’s design takes its inspiration from the Great Mosque in Samarra, Iraq. The entrance to the chapel is at the end of a 125-foot (38 m) bridge that runs over a cascading waterfall. The chapel ceiling contains the stained glass “Glory Window”, one of largest horizontally mounted stained-glass pieces in the world.  The 73 panels of faceted glass were designed by Gabriel Loire of Chartres, France featuring warmer and brighter colors as the spiral reaches its apex in the center. Above the entry door is the etched glass window “The Spirit of Thanksgiving,” designed by glass engraver John Hutton.
The Adolphus Hotel. In both the NM “Hospitality Legends” and  “Modern Architecture Buildings” series, it is an upscale hotel and Dallas Landmark in the Main Street District. It was for several years the tallest building in the state. Today, the hotel is part of Marriott Hotel’s Autograph Collection.
It opened on October 5, 1912, built by the founder of the Anheuser-Busch company, Adolphus Busch in a Beaux Arts style. From 1922–1946, the hotel grew to national prominence. With 22 floors standing a total of 312 feet (95 m), the building was the tallest building in Texas until it was dwarfed by the Magnolia Petroleum Building (now the Magnolia Hotel) just down the street in August 1922. The building underwent a series of expansions, first in 1916, then 1926 and finally in 1950, at the time giving the hotel a total of 1,200 rooms.
The Adolphus Hotel was featured in Victor H. Green’s Negro Motorist Green Book in 1936. Green published his Green Book, as it is commonly known, as a guide for blacks seeking recreation, and as a road map for black travelers to avoid fatal encounters with whites during the Jim Crow era. Effectively, the Green Book informed blacks not only where they should visit ― which hotels and restaurants and hair salons ― but quite literally where they should not go if they valued their lives. In the early 20th century, the Adolphus Hotel was a resting place for the Ku Klux Klan, which routinely terrorized blacks in the area. The hotel also enforced segregation through the 1950s.
The Adolphus has been the host of many respected leaders of business, government and entertainment, including presidents, from Warren G. Harding to George H. W. Bush. Elizabeth II and Prince Philip also stayed at the hotel in 1991. Acclaimed British Milliner Nick Smith resided at the hotel for several months in 2007 to write his début novel “Rock Royalty: Diary of a Supermodel”. This hotel was a Dallas hub for entertainment and provided a platform that helped developing careers, such as Bob Hope, Jack Benny and others. North American Aviation (P-51 Mustangs, World War II) and others benefitted from its position as a Texas business hub. During the 1980s, the Adolphus underwent a US$80 million renovation, enlarging and modernizing the already-luxurious guest rooms, shrinking the total number to 428 to make the rooms more spacious. The Hotel has been named one of the top ten in the United States by Condé Nast Traveler and also receives high ratings from Zagat, Fodor’s and Frommer’s.
The hotel is reportedly haunted by the ghost of a jilted bride, who has been seen wandering the 19th floor. She was due to be married one day during the 1930s, but her fiancé didn’t show, leaving the bride-to-be embarrassed and broken-hearted. Later that day her body was found, hanging a few feet from the spot where she was due to say her vows.

John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza is a monument to President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA) erected in 1970. The architect called it “a place of quiet refuge, an enclosed place of thought and contemplation separated from the city around, but near the sky and earth.” The simple concrete memorial lies approximately 200 yards (180 m) east of Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy was assassinated.
Philip Johnson’s design is a cenotaph, or empty tomb, that symbolizes the freedom of Kennedy’s spirit. The memorial is a square, roofless room, 30 feet (9.1 m) tall and 50 by 50 feet (15 by 15 m) square with two narrow openings facing north and south. The walls consist of 72 white precast concrete columns, most of which end 29 inches (740 mm) above the earth. Eight columns (two in each corner) extend to the ground, acting as legs that support the monument. Each column ends in a light fixture. At night, the lights create the illusion that the structure is supported by the light itself. The corners and “doors” of this roofless room are decorated with rows of concrete circles.
Inside is a low block of dark granite, 8 feet (2.4 m) square, set into a larger shallow depression. On its north and south faces is “John Fitzgerald Kennedy” carved in gold letters. It is too empty to be a base, too short to be a table, but too square to be a tomb.
Two dark granite squares are set in the plaza surrounding the memorial, each approximately 50 feet (15 m) from the narrow entrances to the cenotaph.[9] They are each inscribed with an epitaph that reads:
The joy and excitement of
John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s life belonged to all men.
So did the pain and sorrow of his death.
When he died on November 22, 1963, shock and
agony touched human conscience throughout the world.
In Dallas, Texas, there was a special sorrow.
The young President died in Dallas. The death
bullets were fired 200 yards west of this site.
This memorial, designed by Philip Johnson,
was erected by the people of Dallas. Thousands of
citizens contributed support, money and effort.
It is not a memorial to the pain and sorrow
of death, but stands as a permanent tribute to the joy
and excitement of one man’s life.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s life.
Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge is a pedestrian footbridge over the Trinity River in Dallas that connects Downtown Dallas and West Dallas, paralleling the 2012 Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge for vehicles, and the 1930 Texas and Pacific Railway Trinity River Bridge
Constructed as the Lamar-McKinney Viaduct in 1933, the original road bridge was built to carry vehicles across the periodically swelling Trinity River to West Dallas. It was completed 27 years after the river’s 1908 flood that submerged most of the area.
The bridge was renamed the Ronald Kirk Bridge in 2016 from its former name, the Continental Avenue Bridge in honoudr of the first African-American mayor of Dallas, Ronald Kirk.
During the reconstruction of the bridge in 2010, it was decided that there was no need for it to carry vehicular traffic, since the nearby Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge was completed in 2012 to do so. The design as a footbridge complemented the nearby open park plan for Klyde Warren Park, as a recreation amenity. It reopened in 2014 with a playground, a splash park, lounge chairs, human-sized chess boards, and a ceiling of cloth to shade the area, along with many trails surrounding the bridge in the Trinity River Basin and on the levees.

Arlington.

WACO
ALICO Building Modern Architecture Buildings: 
Waco Suspension Bridge. Pedestrian Bridges:

AUSTIN/ROUND ROCK

Festivals

SXSW (Mar 13-22, 2020)

Entertainment/Things to do: Austin Bouldering Project

Pedestrian Bridges:  Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge
Bizzarium: Museum of the Weird

Tejano Monument is a memorial commemorating the impact of Tejanos on Texas culture and history, installed on the Texas State Capitol grounds in Austin, Texas, United States. The monument was sculpted by Armando Hinojosa and erected by Tejano Monument, Inc. in 2012. It features nine life-size bronze statues on a 275-ton Texas Sunset Red Granite base, and five plaques describing Tejano history.

NOMAD MANIA Texas Northeast (Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin)
XL: Texarkana (Texas/Arkansas border)
House Museums/Plantations
Bonham: Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site
Denton: Bayless Selby House Museum
Nacogdoches: Nacogdoches Sterne-Hoya Museum
Theme Parks: Florida/Texas/Kentucky: Dinosaur World
Monuments: Las Colinas: Mustangs Statue
Religious Monuments: Ballinger: Ballinger Cross
Railway Museums: Frisco: Museum of the American Railroad

Villages and Small Towns
FREDERICKSBURG
JEFFERSON
SALADO 
WIMBERLEY
Museums: Fredericksburg: National Museum of the Pacific War 

Cities of the Americas
ABILENE
KILLEEN
LONGVIEW
TYLER
WACO
House Museums/Plantations: Mc Culloch House Museum 
Modern Architecture Buildings: ALICO Building
Pedestrian Bridges: Waco Suspension Bridge

ARLINGTON
Museums: International Bowling Museum
House Museums/Plantations: Fielder House Museum

AUSTIN/ROUND ROCK World Cities and Popular Towns
Airports: Austin (AUS)
Museums
Blanton Museum of Art
Bullock Texas State History Museum
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Texas Memorial Museum
Thinkery
House Museums/Plantations: Neill-Cochran House Museum
Festivals
Austin City Limits (Oct 2-20, 2020)
Fun Fun Fun Fest
SXSW (Mar 13-22, 2020)
Cine Las Americas International Film Festival
Entertainment/Things to do: Austin Bouldering Project
Monuments: Tejano Monument
Pedestrian Bridges:  Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge
Bizzarium: Museum of the Weird

DALLAS/ FORT WORTH  World Cities and Popular Towns
Airports
Dallas – Love Field (DAL)
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Museums
Dallas Museum of Art
George W. Bush Presidential Library
Nasher Sculpture Center
Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Kimbell Art Museum
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Religious Temples: Chapel of Thanksgiving
Modern Architecture Buildings
Dallas: Adolphus Hotel
Fort Worth: Bass Performance Hall
Festivals: Dallas: North Texas Irish Festival
Zoos
Dallas: Dallas Zoo
Fort Worth: Fort Worth Zoo
Botanical Gardens: Arboretum and Botanical Gardens
Aquariums: Dallas: The Dallas World Aquarium
Hospitality Legends: The Adolphus Hotel
Monuments: John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza
Pedestrian Bridges: Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge
Aviation Museums
CAF Airpower Museum
Frontiers of Flight Museum
The Dark Side
Holocaust and Human Rights Museum (opens Sep 19)
Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

PLANO
Museums: Heritage Farmstead Museum
Bizzarium: Cockroach Hall of Fame

WICHITA FALLS
House Museums/Plantations: Kell House Museum
Railway Museums: Wichita Falls Railroad Museum

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Texas Southeast (Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi)

SAN ANTONIO (pop 1.5 million, metropolitan 2,550,960)
San Antonio, from Spanish, “Saint Anthony,” is the seventh-most populous city in the United States, and the second-most populous city in both Texas and the Southern United States, with more than 1.5 million residents. Founded as a Spanish mission and colonial outpost in 1718, the city became the first chartered civil settlement in present-day Texas in 1731. The area was still part of the Spanish Empire, and later the Mexican Republic. It is the state’s oldest municipality, having celebrated its 300th anniversary on May 1, 2018.
The city’s deep history is contrasted with its rapid growth over the past few decades. It was the fastest-growing of the top ten largest cities in the United States from 2000 to 2010, and the second from 1990 to 2000. Straddling the regional divide between South and Central Texas, San Antonio anchors the southwestern corner of an urban megaregion colloquially known as the “Texas Triangle”. The Greater San Antonio and Greater Austin areas are separated from each other by 80 miles along Interstate 35 between which lie the city of New Braunfels.
San Antonio was named by a 1691 Spanish expedition for Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is June 13. The city contains five 18th-century Spanish frontier missions, including The Alamo and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, which together were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2015. Other notable attractions include the River Walk, the Tower of the Americas, SeaWorld, the Alamo Bowl, and Marriage Island. Commercial entertainment includes Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Morgan’s Wonderland amusement parks. According to the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city is visited by about 32 million tourists a year. It is home to the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, and hosts the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, one of the largest such events in the U.S.
The U.S. Armed Forces have numerous facilities in and around San Antonio; Fort Sam Houston is the only one within the city limits. Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base, Lackland AFB/Kelly Field Annex, Camp Bullis, and Camp Stanley are outside the city limits. Kelly Air Force Base operated out of San Antonio until 2001, when the airfield was transferred to Lackland AFB. The remaining parts of the base were developed as Port San Antonio, an industrial/business park and aerospace complex. San Antonio is home to six Fortune 500 companies and the South Texas Medical Center, the only medical research and care provider in the South Texas region.
SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS   
This World Heritage site encompasses a group of five frontier mission complexes situated along a stretch of the San Antonio River basin in southern Texas, as well as a ranch located 37 kilometres to the south. It includes architectural and archaeological structures, farmlands, residencies, churches and granaries, as well as water distribution systems. The complexes were built by Franciscan missionaries in the 18^th century and illustrate the Spanish Crown’s efforts to colonize and defend the northern frontier of New Spain, in addition to evangelizing the area’s indigenous population into converts loyal to the Catholic Church.
The missions also included all the components required to establish self-sustaining, socio-economic communities loyal to the Spanish Crown.. The San Antonio Missions are also an example of the interweaving of Spanish and Coahuiltecan cultures, illustrated by a variety of features, including the decorative elements of churches, which combine Catholic symbols with indigenous designs inspired by nature. The Coahuiltecans and other indigenous hunter-gatherers who, in a matter of one generation, became successful settled agriculturists.
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísma Concepción de Acuña (Mission Concepción) is located approximately three miles south of downtown San Antonio. The mission was relocated from East Texas to San Antonio in 1731 with the express purpose of converting local Native Americans to Christianity and assimilating them into Spanish society. The location was selected based on its proximity to the San Antonio River, which allowed for irrigated agriculture, and for its location near the presidio at San Antonio, which offered military protection to the mission occupants.
Upon the mission’s foundation, approximately 300 Native Americans were settled on its grant. The Native American settlers were primarily responsible for the construction of structures on the property as well as for improvements to the surrounding agricultural lands, including construction of acequias (irrigation ditches) and initiation of cultivated agriculture. In essence, the mission was a self-sufficient, self-contained village surrounded by irrigated agricultural lands.
The mission faced challenges from its establishment. Many of the converts died of disease, and the facility was regularly threatened with attack by hostile Native American groups unaffiliated with the mission. Church officials had baptized 792 Native Americans and buried 596 in the same year. Twenty years later, there were only 77 Native Americans residing at the mission. Due to the church’s lack of success in achieving their mission and other political factors, the mission was secularized in 1794 with only 38 Native Americans residing there, and the Spanish government divided the mission’s agricultural land between them. The mission compound was abandoned and quickly fell into a state of disrepair.
Restorations occurred in 1861, 1913, in the mid 20th century and in 1978, the mission became part of the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park.
Mission Espada (San Francisco de la Espada) was established in 1731 being relocated from East Texas, where it had originally been established in 1690, to serve members of various Coahuiltican groups residing in the area. Priority was given to establishing an irrigation system and clearing fields for cultivation. The Espada Aqueduct and Acequia were constructed between 1731 and 1745 and are significant for their engineering qualities as portions of the system are still operational today. Permanent building construction followed, including a stone granary and sections of the church building with the Native American residents as the primary labor source.
The first decade was difficult due to the constant threat of Apache raids as well as the rampant disease spreading through the population. In 1737, all the approximately 230 Native American residents abandoned the facility due to the high potential for Apache raids. Some eventually returned only to be further decimated by a smallpox epidemic in 1739. The population of the mission began to stabilize in the 1740s and at its peak period of development in the 1770s, the complex included a church, priests’ quarters, workshops, storage facilities, a friary, and Indian quarters all oriented toward a central plaza.
The period also saw the transition of the mission complex from an open pueblo design to a fortified, walled compound.
The mission was partially secularized in 1794 when most of its agricultural land was subdivided between remaining Indian residents and the growing number of Spanish homesteaders. Full secularization in 1824 marked an extended period of decline. Currently, the complex remains partially in ruins with some reconstructed and restored elements.
The Alamo (Mission San Antonio de Valero) was founded in 1718 and relocated twice to its current and final location. Work on a third church, the one that exists today, began around 1756 but was still not completed before the mission closed in 1793. The complex was subsequently occupied as a military outpost for nearly three quarters of the nineteenth century and they gave the complex its current name.
From 1821-35, soldiers at the Alamo swore allegiance to the new government of Mexico to the start of the Texas Revolution. In early December, rebel forces defeated General Martin Perfecto de Cos, who then withdrew from Texas. By late February 1836, Mexico’s president—General Anontio López de Santa Anna—returned to San Antonio and besieged the small rebel garrison. The Alamo finally fell on the morning of March 6, 1836. The desperate thirteen-day long struggle created the famous Texas battle cry: “Remember the Alamo!”
After the fall of the Alamo, most of the compound was in ruins.
Mission San José (Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo)
Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo was founded in 1720 with the primary goal of converting local Native American groups (Pampopa, Pastia, and Sulujam), to Christianity. It was relocated three times, the last in 1730. A deadly epidemic dramatically reduced the Indian population to 41 by 1739, it was secularized in 1794.and closed in 1824 and neglected.
Due to its reconstruction during the 1930s, Mission San José has been described as the most complete of the five mission complexes remaining in San Antonio. Though reconstructed, a significant portion of the original church remains intact and represents an outstanding example of Spanish Baroque architecture that was at its height in Mexico during the 1760s. The building’s ornate façade, which was carefully restored during the 1940s, is one of the most significant examples of carved mission stonework in the Southwestern United States especially the intricately carved “Rose Window” on the south side of the sacristy.
Mission San Juan (Mission San Juan Capistrano) was never as successful as its counterparts due to insufficient lands, repeated Apache raids and was abandoned in 1824. Today the complex includes the ruins of the second church (1756 and 1763).
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park was established in 1978 to include missions as well as associated dams, acequias and other irrigation resources, agricultural fields or labores: Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísma Concepción de Acuña, Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, Mission San Juan Capistrano, and Mission San Francisco de la Espada. Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo) was specifically excluded from the park boundaries as it is owned by the State of Texas.

Alamo Cenotaph Monument commemorates the Battle of the Alamo of the Texas Revolution fought at the adjacent Alamo Mission. It was erected in celebration of the centenary of the battle, and bears the names of those known to have fought there on the Texas side.
The grey Georgia marble and pink Texas granite shaft rises sixty feet from its 40×12 foot base  in. It was entitled The Spirit of Sacrifice and incorporates images of the Alamo garrison leaders and 187 names of known Alamo defenders. The marker on the cenotaph reads: Erected in memory of the heroes who sacrificed their lives at the Alamo, March 6, 1836, in the defence of Texas. They chose never to surrender nor retreat; these brave hearts, with flag still proudly waving, perished in the flames of immortality that their high sacrifice might lead to the founding of this Texas. Battle of the Alamo. After putting down resistance in other regions of Mexico, in the spring of 1836 Santa Anna led a Mexican army back into Texas and marched on San Antonio, intending to avenge the humiliating defeat of Cos and end the Texian rebellion. Texian leader Sam Houston, believing that San Antonio could not be defended against a determined effort by the regular Mexican army, called for the Texian forces to abandon the city. A volunteer force under the joint command of William Barrett Travis, newly arrived in Texas, and James Bowie, and including Davy Crockett and his company of Tennesseans, and Juan Seguin’s company of Hispanic Texan volunteers occupied and fortified the deserted mission and determined to hold San Antonio against all opposition. The defenders of the Alamo thus included both Anglo and Hispanic Texans who fought side by side under a banner that was the flag of Mexico with the numerals “1824” superimposed. This was meant to indicate that the defenders were fighting for their rights to democratic government under the Mexican constitution of that year. It was only during the siege that the Texas Congress declared an independent Republic of Texas.
The Battle of the Alamo took place from February 23 to March 6, 1836. At first the battle was primarily a siege marked by artillery duels and small skirmishes. After twelve days Santa Anna, tired of waiting for his heavy artillery and eager for a glorious victory to enhance his reputation, determined to take the Alamo by storm. Before dawn on March 6, he launched his troops against the walls of the Alamo in three separate attacks. The third attack overwhelmed the defences of the weak north wall. The defenders retreated to the now famous Long Barracks and the Chapel and fought to the last man. Most historians agree that a few of the defenders were captured but were executed as rebels on the specific orders of Santa Anna. The deaths of these “Martyrs to Texas Independence” inspired greater resistance to Santa Anna’s regime, and the cry “Remember the Alamo” became the rallying point of the Texas Revolution.
Ozzy Osbourne incident. In 1982, Ozzy Osbourne, while wearing his future wife’s dress because she had hidden his clothes, drunkenly urinated on the Alamo Cenotaph, which is across the street from the actual building. A police officer arrested him, and Osbourne was subsequently banned from performing in San Antonio for a decade.

Sights: River Walk, San Antonio

Rosita’s Bridge. This is one of many small arched pedestrian bridges crossing the  

Castles, Palaces, Forts: Spanish Governor’s Palace

Market Square

St Mary’s Catholic Church, High Hill. In a very rural area about half way between San Antonio and Houston, this is an imposing brick church with a central copper steeple. There are four sets of lovely stained glass windows per side.

HOUSTON (pop 2,325,502)
Houston is the most populous city in Texas, fourth most populous city in the United States, most populous city in the Southern United States, as well as the sixth most populous in North America. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The Greater Houston metropolitan area has a population of 6,997,384 in 2018.
The city of Houston was founded by land investors on August 30, 1836, at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou. The city is named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had won Texas’ independence from Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles east
The arrival of the 20th century saw a convergence of economic factors which fueled rapid growth in Houston, including a burgeoning port and railroad industry, the decline of Galveston as Texas’ primary port following a devastating 1900 hurricane, the subsequent construction of the Houston Ship Channel, and the Texas oil boom. In the mid-20th century, Houston’s economy diversified as it became home to the Texas Medical Center—the world’s largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located.
Houston’s economy since the late 19th century has a broad industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, and transportation. Leading in healthcare sectors and building oilfield equipment, Houston has the second most Fortune 500 headquarters of any U.S. municipality within its city limits (after New York City). The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled.
Nicknamed the “Bayou City” “Space City”, “H-Town”, and “the 713”, Houston has become a global city, with strengths in culture, medicine, and research. The city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse metropolitan area in Texas and has been described as the most racially and ethnically diverse major metropolis in the U.S. It is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District and offers year-round resident companies in all major performing arts.
Spring Skatepark. Entertainment/Things to do North Houston Skate Park is the largest skate park in North America. It has an incredible variety of objects. Free
Bank of America Center. In the NM “Modern Architecture Buildings” series, it was built in 1983 and is known as TC Energy Center since 2019 and serves as the company’s US headquarters. At 56 stories the TC Energy Center is the 55th tallest building in the United States and is the seventh tallest building in Texas. It is one of the first significant examples of postmodern architecture construction in downtown Houston, Texas. It has three segmented tower setbacks, each with “a steeply pitched gabled roofline that is topped off with spires. The banking center is housed in a separate building, due to construction problems, and has a three-story lobby. There are 32 passenger elevators each finished with wood panels. The building contains an art gallery in the lobby and plans to host curated exhibitions.
Houston Galleria. This upscale shopping mall in the Uptown District consists of a retail complex, as well as the Galleria Office Towers complex, two Westin hotels, and a private health club.
With 3 million square feet and 339 stores, the Galleria is the largest mall in Texas and seventh-largest in the United States.It is currently anchored by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Macy’s.
Williams Tower. In the NM “Modern Architecture Buildings” series, Williams Tower is a 64-story (909 feet, 277 m), 1.4 million square feet office tower in the Uptown District. Completed in 1982. it is among Houston’s most visible buildings as the 4th-tallest in Texas, and the 44th-tallest in the United States
In December 2002, Ryan John Hartley climbed the tower and jumped from about halfway up, resulting in his death, which was ruled a suicide.
On the morning of September 13, 2008, during Hurricane Ike, the top of the tower was damaged near the rotating beacon, many windows were blown out and suffered over $3.5 million in wind damages. Twelve of the 49 elevators were damaged, most by water damage due to roof failures and others due to extreme building sway. Major tenants: Williams Corporation, Quanta Services, Valaris plc, Cadence Bank, the Consulate General of Denmark and the headquarters for the Hines companies.
The building was built to function as two separate towers stacked directly on top of one another, one comprising the first forty floors and the other the forty-first to sixty-fourth. The building has separate banks of elevators and lobbies for each of the two building sections. There is no public observation deck. The tower was “designed to be energy efficient”.
The building became an “instant classic” when it opened. During the night-time hours, the building is defined by a 7,000 watt beacon that sweeps across the sky and can be seen up to 40 miles (65 km) away on a clear night, a Houston landmark that identifies the Uptown Houston district.
The building is connected to a 10 level, 3,208 car parking garage by a sky bridge. The bridge also connects the building to retail outlets, like The Galleria, and two Federal Aviation Administration-licensed helipads.

Sagemont Church Cross. The Sagemont Church built a 170-foot (52 m) Christian cross at Beltway 8 at Interstate 45, the largest roadside cross in Houston. It was first established in 1966 as a mission of the Pasadena church First Baptist Church. Its current church building, 118,000 square feet (11,000 m2) large, opened in 2012. This building includes a 2,496-seat sanctuary, a wing for elderly people, a wing for young people, a café, a television studio, and a bookstore. The campus altogether is 55 acres (22 ha) large. In 2012 it had 17,700 members.

GALVESTON  (pop 48,000)
Galveston is a coastal resort city and port off the southeast coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island.
Galveston, or Galvez’ town, was named after the Spanish military and political leader in the 18th century: Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez (1746–1786). Galveston’s first European settlements on the Galveston Island were built around 1816 by French pirate Louis-Michel Aury to help the fledgling Republic of Mexico fight for independence from Spain, along with other colonies in the Western Hemisphere of the Americas in Central and South America in the 1810s and 1820s. The Port of Galveston was established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico following its independence from Spain. The city was the main port for the fledgling Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution of 1836, and later served temporarily as the new national capital of the Republic of Texas.
During the 19th century, Galveston became a major U.S. commercial center and one of the largest ports in the United States. It was for a time, Texas’ largest city, known as the “Queen City of the Gulf”. It was devastated by the unexpected Galveston Hurricane of 1900, whose effects included massive flooding and a storm surge which nearly wiped out the town. The natural disaster on the exposed barrier island is still ranked today as the deadliest in United States history, with an estimated death toll of 6,000 to 12,000 people. The city subsequently reemerged during the Prohibition era of 1919–1933 as a leading tourist hub and a center of illegal gambling, nicknamed the Free State of Galveston until this era ended in the 1950s with subsequent other economic and social development.
Much of Galveston’s economy is centered in the tourism, health care, shipping, and financial industries. The 84-acre (34 ha) University of Texas Medical Branch campus with an enrollment of more than 2,500 students is a major economic force of the city. Galveston is home to six historic districts containing one of the largest and historically significant collections of 19th-century buildings in the U.S., with over 60 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places, maintained by the National Park Service in the United States Department of the Interior.
Bishop’s Palace (Gresham Castle) is an ornate 19,082 square feet (1,772.8 m2) Victorian-style house, in the East End Historic District of Galvaston. The mansion was made all of stone, and was sturdy enough to withstand the great hurricane of 1900. The Greshams welcomed hundreds of survivors of the hurricane into their home.
The house was built between 1887 and 1893 for lawyer and politician Walter Gresham, his wife Josephine, and their nine children. In 1923 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston purchased the house, and, situated across the street from the Sacred Heart Church, it served as the residence for Bishop Christopher E. Byrne. After the diocesan offices were moved to Houston, the diocese opened the mansion to the public in 1963, with proceeds from tours being used to help fund the Newman Center, operating in the basement, serving Catholic students at the nearby University of Texas Medical Branch.
The home is estimated to have cost $250,000 at the time; today its value is estimated at over $5.5 million.
The house is owned by the Galveston Historical Foundation and self-guided tours are available daily. It has four floors with the raised basement  followed by three formal floors. This grand stone mansion has a dramatic skyline with several towers and spires.

 NOMAD MANIA Texas Southeast (Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi)

World Heritage Sites: San Antonio Missions

Borders

Mexico-United States

United States of America 48 states (sea border/port)

Airports: Harlingen/Valley (HRL)
Museums: Bandera: Frontier Times Museum

House Museums/Plantations: Orange: W H Stark House

Religious Temples: High Hill: St Mary’s Catholic Church

Festivals

Sandfest, Port Aransas

Texas – San Antonio: Texas Folklife Festival

Botanical Gardens: Orange: Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center

Theme Parks

Katy: Forbidden Gardens
Kemah: Kemah Boardwalk

New Braunfels: Schlitterbahn Waterpark
Lighthouses: Port Isabel: Port Isabel Lighthouse

??Windmills: Victoria: Victoria Mill

Caves

Bracken Cave Preserve

Natural Bridge Caverns

Maritime/Ship Museums: Rockport: Texas Maritime Museum

Railway Museums: Rosenberg: Rosenberg Railroad Museum

The Dark Side: Huntsville: Texas Prison Museum

Islands
PADRE

GALVESTON  

Castles, Palaces, Forts: Galveston: Bishop’s Palace (Gresham Castle)
Maritime/Ship Museums: Galveston: Texas Seaport Museum

Cities of the Americas

COLLEGE STATION/ BRYAN
McALLEN
Airports: McAllen (MFE)

LAREDO
Museums: Border Heritage Museum
 
BEAUMONT
House Museums/Plantations

Chambers House Museum
The McFaddin-Ward House Historic Museum

BROWNSVILLE
Museums: Historic Brownsville Museum 
House Museums/Plantations: Stillman House Museum

CORPUS CHRISTI
Airports: Corpus Cristi (CRP)
Museums:

Art Museum of South Texas
Texas Surf Museum
House Museums/Plantations: Selena Museum
Botanical Gardens: South Texas Botanical Gardens

Aquariums: Texas State Aquarium

Maritime/Ship Museums: USS Lexington

HOUSTON World Cities and Popular Towns

Airports:

Houston – George Bush (IAH)

Houston – Hobby (HOU)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Houston METRO Rail
Museums:

Buffalo Soldier Museum
Children’s Museum
Contemporary Art Museum of Houston
Menil Collection

Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Natural Science
Space Center Houston
Modern Architecture Buildings

Bank of America Center
Williams Tower

Entertainment/Things to do

Burke Baker Planetarium
Spring Skatepark

Zoos: Houston Zoo

Aviation Museums: 1940 Air Terminal Museum

Malls/Department Stores: Houston Galleria

Religious Monuments: Sagemont Church Cros
Maritime/Ship Museums: Houston Maritime Museum

The Dark Side:  Holocaust Museum Houston

SAN ANTONIO World Cities and Popular Towns
World Heritage Sites: San Antonio Missions

Sights: River Walk, San Antonio

Airports: San Antonio (SAT)

Museums:

Briscoe Western Art Museum
McNay Art Museum
San Antonio Museum of Art
Witte Museum
Castles, Palaces, Forts: Spanish Governor’s Palace

Modern Architecture Buildings: San Antonio Public Library

Entertainment/Things to do: Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio

Zoos: San Antonio Zoo

Theme Parks: Six Flags Fiesta

Hospitality Legends

Texas – San Antonio: Menger Hotel

Texas – San Antonio: The Emily Morgan Hotel

Markets: Market Square

Monuments: Alamo Cenotaph Monument

Pedestrian Bridges: Rosita’s Bridge

Bizzarium: Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum

Texas West (El Paso, Lubbock, Amarillo)

NOMAD MANIA Texas West (El Paso, Lubbock, Amarillo)

Tentative WHS: Big Bend National Park
Museums: Alpine: Museum of the Big Bend
World of Nature: Big Bend

Borders

Mexico-United States

United States of America 48 states (sea border/port)

Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Wyler Aerial Tramway

Modern Architecture Buildings: Ransom Canyon: Robert Bruno Steel House

Caves: Caverns of Sonora

Religious Monuments: Groom: Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Bizzarium

Odesa: Stonehenge Replica

Valentine: Prada in the Desert

Cities of the Americas
SAN ANGELO

AMARILLO
Airports: Amarillo (AMA)
Museums: Amarillo Museum of Art
Aviation Museums:  Air and Space Museum

EL PASO
Airports: El Paso (ELP)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: El Paso Streetcar (Heritage)

Museums:
Museum of Art

Museum of History
National Border Patrol Museum

 LUBBOCK
Airports: Lubbock (LBB)
Aviation Museums:  Silent Wings Museum

MIDLAND/ODESSA
Airports: Midland/Odessa (MAF)

Villages and Small Towns

MARFA
Museums: Chinati Foundation

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