I've made several trips to Texas, with my most recent one in December 2009 and will return again in January 2010. When it comes to traveling, I think Texas is a pretty underestimated state. It actually has many of the largest cities in the US, hundreds of miles of coastline, and some very interesting history. For starters, many people are surprised to know that Texas rebelled against Mexico and became an independent country for 9 years! Also, as the biggest state in the continental US, Texas is bigger than France so I'll need to visit several more times before I am able to see all of Texas. So far I have visited the capital of Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and a short trip to Houston. Next on the list is Big Bend National park and somewhere along the gulf coast such as Corpus Christi or Galveston Island.

Austin is the capital of Texas, and doesn't seem to be well known outside of the country or even outside of Texas to most other Americans. I think Austin is one of America's best cities and probably the second best in Texas after San Antonio. Above on the left is the capitol building in the downtown, on the right is the infamous tower of UT of Austin

Above are some memorials outside the capitol building in Austin. The one of the left recognizes the confederate sacrifices against USA during the civil war. The memorial on the right is dedicated to the heroes of the Alamo battle in 1836, back when Texas was part of and rebelled against Mexico leading to its independence.

Since Texas was once part of Mexico, it still carries on Mexican culture even though most of the state is Americanized. Above on the left is a party store that also sells piñatas, something you'll never casually find on the east coast. An interesting fact about Austin is that one of its bridges is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. Under the Congress Avenue bridge live over 750,000 bats! Each day at dusk they all fly out at once, eating anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects in a single night. Here you can see them streaming across the Colorado river, almost appearing as smoke in the sky.

Most of Austin is nice and clean with bran new looking buildings and is fun to explore. I didn't get any photos but I did find a lot of homeless people waiting by intersections holding signs for donations. That was the one downside to Austin, other than that its a very nice city that isn't too big or too small and has plenty to do to keep you entertained, even on the weekdays..

 

By far Austin's most popular attraction is 6th street located in the middle of the city. Austin is known as the capital of live music in the US and almost every bar or club on 6th street will have a live band playing. The strip is pretty long with plenty of places to choose from and all types of music. I did go out to 6th street at night but left the camera at home so can only show day shots. For a Wednesday night there were still a decent amount of people out and it wasn't a ghost town like I expected. Above are two photos of 6th street itself showing some of the bars and billiards and on the upper right a trolley used to take people around. The shirts on the right can give you an idea of people's attitude from Texas and what the night life is like, especially the shirt that says "I was drunk on 6th street when I bought this shirt".

Another benefit about Austin or Texas in general is the cheap real estate. I couldn't believe this sign I saw above, homes for sale from the $40,000s. Good luck trying to find a small condo for $240,000 in DC! Even though Austin is a large modern city stores on the right remind you you're still in Texas and uphold the ranch and cowboy image that made Texas part of the wild wild west.

I don't think these houses will be anywhere in the $40s, but are no longer privately owned anyway. These homes are part of a historic neighborhood founded by one of Austin's first business man who got rich off of his banking business.

Just outside of Austin is one Lake Travis, one of three in the surrounding area. You'll find some huge mansions out there and some amazing scenery. The statue to the left and palm trees were actually just the gate around one of the nicest houses I've ever seen. On the right shows another large house over looking the lake.

South of Austin, you'll come across the oldest European settlements in Texas. Several missions were built by the Spanish empire as early as 1716 in order to help convert the local Indian population to Christianity. Above is a large one known was Mission San Jose. It has a huge courtyard with a large church in the north end.

The surrounding four photos are all from Mission San Jose. Above are photos of old rooms throughout the site, some of which are now small museums with more details about the history of the compound. Below are some photos of the interesting architecture of San Jose.

The upper left photo shows another Mission called Mission Concepcion located only a few miles north of Mission San Jose. On the upper right is a large cactus that is bearing fruit at the end of the summer, one of the few plants that have successfully adapted to the harsh Texas summers. There are 7 major missions built in the area, which was an impressive feat considering the sweltering heat and difficulty of life.

The small building above is called the Governor's Palace, and was built in the 1720s. National geographic goes as far as to say that this is the most beautiful building in San Antonio! The building has the coat-of-arms of Spanish King Ferdinand VI, and was originally built so that the Spanish empire could protect the nearby Alamo and their growing colonies in the area.

Some of the rooms and furniture are so old they look haunted. The crooked bed to the left was probably the most eerie room in the small palace. But to make up for it, like almost all of the ruins left behind by the Spanish Empire, the Governors Palace had a nice garden built within the walls behind the main structure.

The most famous of all the missions in Texas is the Alamo, built by the Spanish Empire in 1744. Nearly a hundred years later, when this area was part of the country of Mexico, Texians began to rebel against their increasingly dictatorship president. The president of Mexico, Santa Anna reacted by sending an invading army to the region. Rebel fighters had garrisoned the Alamo and changed it into a strategic fort for the first battle of the Texas Revolution. Though greatly outnumbered, the Mexican army was repelled twice, and on their third attempt all the Texians fought to the death and the few that were captured were immediately executed. Instead of crushing the spirit of Texas, news of the defeat at the Alamo spread through the region and fueled support for the rebels. Eventually the Mexican army met their defeat in the battle of San Jacinto in eastern Texas. From 1836 to 1845 Texas was actually an independent country recognized by Mexico and USA.

Inside the Alamo compound, you'll find several other buildings and nice gardens and fountains. When first built, the Alamo must have been an oasis in the middle of a desert.

The Alamo is now the heart of San Antonio, with the large city above being built around it. San Antonio is one of the largest and nicest cities in America. The best way to get a birds eye view is to take a trip up to the top of the Tower of Americas where you can see the entire city.

The Tower of the Americas has a bit of information at its top floor about its history beginning from the Spanish Empire to its independence and continues to the American civil war and modern times. On the left is one of the posts about how Texas became annexed into the USA after only 9 years of independence.

To my surprise, supposedly Market Square in San Antonio seen above is one of the city's biggest attractions. I'm not really one to go shopping and never buy souvenirs so I personally didn't have too much interest here and only took two photos. Others seem to praise it for its size, history and occasional festivals that happen throughout the year.

The touristy area of San Antonio is where you'll find lots of small rides and major theaters, and the aquarium. Above on the left is a small "tomb raider" ride located right on main street. The biggest attraction to San Antonio is the riverwalk which is a level below the city.

The riverwalk is an area of San Antonio lined with shops, restaurants and bars that extend for several miles along the river. Many people take boat tours as a way to explore the area and stop by at various points. I was amazed by how large the riverwalk was, I explored the area for several hours and probably only saw half of it. On the right you can see that some sections look almost like a rainforest since they are lined with palms and other tropical plants.

These two photos show some more areas of the riverwalk. Above is another entrance from the main street that descends to the river, on the left is a nice restaurant. The riverwalk at night is even more spectacular when all the lights and displays are on.

5 hours northeast of San Antonio and 3 and a half hours northeast of Austin is the city of Dallas. America's 8th largest city, Dallas is another concrete jungle with plenty of interesting places to visit. Above are two photos showing the city's large buildings and skyscrapers.

Right in the center of downtown Dallas is this humble cabin. From the pictures I posted before this showing the skyscrapers, you can see how much the city changed in a matter of 150 years. The cabin above was once Dallas' first post office and courthouse. On the right is the court house that succeeded the cabin on the left. Built in 1892, it has now been converted to a historical museum about Dallas' past.

One of America's greatest tragedies was the assassination of president John F Kennedy. On November 22nd 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald who fired multiple shots from the window of a nearby building as the president's motorcade passed by. These two photos are from the 6th floor museum, somehow I took many pictures before noticing that almost every 10 feet was a no photography sign. The photo on the left shows Kennedy in public with almost no security which was once the norm for political officials. On the upper right, is the room where Lee Harvey Oswald was believed to have taken the shots. The building at the time was called the school book depository building, and was packed with hundreds of boxes. The museum has many videos, artifacts, and other interesting info.

The photo on the upper left shows the building where the fatal shots where fired. The window on the upper right, second floor down from the top is where Lee Harvey Oswald took his position. Many consiparcy theories have emerged on the assassination. With Oswald frequently traveling to the Soviet Union at a time where no Americans were trusted, and with acoustic evidence suggesting other shots were fired, many people believe he was simply a puppet sent to take the blame. He was murdered soon after he was arrested by Jack Ruby, so the possibility of closure ended and will forever remain in mystery and debate. On the upper right is the Kennedy Memorial found near Dealy Plaza.

My favorite place to visit in the Dallas Forth Worth area are the stockyards. This large area is a preserved historic district back from the Wild West days of America. Above shows the entrance to the stock yards, and on the right is a saloon that serves beer and packed with bikers.

The stockyards originally opened in 1866 and once railroads connected the area to the rest of the country in the 1870s they became one of the most important in the country. Today, they are still run with a few cattle for entertainment purposes, and are the last remaining stockyards in the United States. Below is a photo of a guy riding a longhorn bull, and on the lower right some bulls being run through the historic district.

Here are some more photos of the Stockyards in Fort Worth. Much of the area has been converted to shops, restaurants, bars and nightclubs. On the upper right is a shop during the Christmas season selling souvenirs and gifts. You won't have a hard time finding any live music in the stockyards either. Below are several country singers I came across, and even a look alike of a cowboy that once lived in the area before being murdered. His name is Wild Billy Hickok, you should google his photo, the guy below is a pretty close look alike.

The upper left photo is a shot I took of the surrounding area in Dallas on a flight to Texas. You can tell that the area is very flat and the terrain doesn't seem to be too interesting. I assumed that there were no good places to hike in the area, but there are actually some decent places right outside of Dallas. The sign above was on a trail that went through terrain with thick vegetation. I didn't come across any snakes since it was winter, but you can get an idea of the local wildlife. On the left is another stink bug that I caught with the macro lens, not sure why I always see them.

These photos above and below are all from Houston. I visited Houston mostly to see a friend and other than the San Jacinto Battleground I didn't have my camera on me or visit any other tourist type places. If you read the quick story about the Alamo being the first major battle in the Texas Revolution above then that will preset the importance of the Battle of San Jacinto. At the time Texas was not part of the United States, so their victory here ended the Mexican invasion and earned their independence. The battleground themselves are mostly made up of a memorial and the USS Texas seen above. If you're coming from the northern part of Houston, you'll need to take a free Ferry to cross Crystal Bay and reach the battlefield. At 570 feet, the memorial dedicated to San Jacinto is the tallest memorial in the world.

Many people know Texas as a hot and dry state with desert like terrain. This is true for most of Texas, but with such a large area there aer always exceptions. The surrounding photos were taken not too far from Austin and show some small waterfalls and swampy areas. I've never seen the strange caterpillar below before; not sure what species it is.