We weren't sure how admission worked and didn't have any cash on us, so the best part...the kind state park worker let us in free!
Here is the fam (SJ is asleep in the stroller) by the battleship
I'm sure Steven could tell you all about how it served in WWII and such. Glad we have at least one adult history buff in the family!
The USS Texas. Steven says they don't have battleships with cannons anymore, now that there are missile destroyers like the one my brother is currently deployed on.
fun photo op for the gals :)
The battleship is docked on the Houston Ship Channel. Here a giant barge is floating by!
After the battleship, we headed across the street to the San Jacinto Monument, the tallest war memorial in the world (even taller than the Washington Monument)!
Here you can see Steven and the girls heading up to the monument.
Again, hubby could recount this better, but the monument stands as a memorial of all those who fought for Texas' Independence. In the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, Texas gained its independence from Mexico in an unexpected defeat, surprising Mexican General Santa Anna while he and his army were taking a siesta! Read more about it all here.
Steven and the girls were brave enough to ride the elevator up to the top of the monument, 50 stories up! Yikes! Here are some photos he took from the top:
The museum inside was really neat too. There were a couple papal documents and priest's vestments (I think from missions in the 1600s) and a lot of war items from the 1800s. I also enjoyed seeing the household items like the raisin seeder, silverware, and sewing supplies.
Here they are looking down at the ground with the monument above them!
The San Jacinto Monument.
and Battleship Texas
I look forward to studying about these and visiting again as part of our Texas History homeschooling courses in the future! But the visit this weekend was a great little taste of it!
3 comments:
That was one of our favorite fireld trips when we lived there!! We even reenacted the battle on the actual grounds. We did this with Jessica Hulcy through THSC. Too cool!! Homeschooling can be soooo fun!
Loved the pics, BTW. How did you get the entire monument?!?
I've seen both, once, as a kid. I do want to go back--it's so far! But we'll do it sometime. This is the best time of year, for sure!
I have a memory of being at the top of the monument with my cousin Dana, and we were playing (swinging? pulling?) on the door push for the emergency staircase, and we set off the alarm by pushing the door open! :O I remember being scared that we would fall all the way down a single flight of stairs...still have that imagery in my mind. LOL We pulled the door quickly and securely shut and I think the alarm stopped. I'll have to ask her if she remembers that!
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