Austin Cave Day – 12 April 2014

In 2013 my brain fell out.  I enjoyed going to Cave Day back in 2012, so I wanted to do it again the following year (also to see if the cute TCC lady in the pink shirt would be there again).  I’d previously put out feelers to become part of the Texas Cave Conservatory, but hadn’t gotten a response from them.  2013 would be another attempt to make a connection, and perhaps expand the activities I was involved in.  At some point, I missed what day it was.  I didn’t think to see when it was until either it was after the fact, or had already committed to a Planetarium event that day (it could be six of one or half-dozen of the other).

When 2014 rolled around, I wanted to make sure not to miss this again.  I checked TCC’s page for the date to put in my calendar, and read about some interesting (but sad) news.  2014 would be the last Cave Day for the foreseeable future due to funding issues, and the Avery Ranch Cave would be the only one open this time.  I doubted the cave would be any different from the last time I saw it, but it was a chance for me to draft another blog entry (which you’re reading now).  Since my volunteering with Austin Planetarium was very encompassing now, I didn’t have the time to add something else to the mix (considering the job hunting which is the priority on my plate).

I got there right at 10 am when it was due to open, and there were already a few dozen people waiting in line.  One difference I noticed this over the previous time was the way people were queued.  Last time people waiting on the sidewalk outside the fenced area, and were only allowed in when it was time to load more people into the cave.  This time, the line snaked around the opening, following some hastily-erected dividers.  That was a good idea, in the fact that it kept people out of the street.  But the volunteers didn’t maintain the line well, so it got out of whack as more people came along.  I’m spending time talking to the people in line around me (handing out cards for the blog to drive readership), and watched three separate lines form behind me.

The confusion was added when someone came up with the idea that those who didn’t want to stand out in the sun could put their name on a list, and wait under the shaded area.  Also a great idea, but when volunteers were forgetting to call the name of those waiters, that added to the confusion, and upset many who’d come to enjoy this.  I noted that not to be negative, but for future opportunity.

Those near me in line hadn’t seen the cave before, and their kids were unsure about going in to a potentially “dark and scary place.”  I described what the entryway was like, and how it opened up into a larger area, so there was nothing to be afraid of.  I did point out most of the fenced off section here was the footprint of the cave, which helped show a sense of scale.

The opening has a trap door which keeps the cave sealed during the year.  While the fence around the park is enough to deter all but the most-determined human, the trap door keeps out non-human critters whose presence would unintentionally disrupt the natural beauty of the cave.

There’s a ladder with a couple steps which bring you about six feet down to a passageway.  You have to crouch the first few steps, as the passageway is about three feet in height, but that’s when the stairs begin.  Going forward about ten feet, the stairs descend to a depth of roughly over double that, which comes into the actual cave.  The passageway is a man-made access point.

This cave was discovered back in May 2001 when Avery Ranch was digging a new sewer line.  Seeing what they had, the developer redesigned the placement of the sewer line to avoid the cave, and even gave up three of the housing lots which would’ve been placed directly over this natural wonder.

An interesting aside which we talked about while waiting to go in was a recent cave discovery much like the Avery Ranch Cave.  An extension from McNeil Road is being built which will allow access to the IH-45 Tollway (west of LaFrontera), and is supposed to connect to Route 620 (from my understanding).  During the construction to place a ramp, a cave was discovered (much in the same manner InnerSpace was found the 1960s).  It took a couple months for this to be studied to see how essential it was to the Edwards Aquifer, and what was the most-cost effective way (read: cheapest) to resolve this.  In the same of InnerSpace, the engineers were able to adjust the placement of the overpass in order to preserve the cave.  Would that be feasible here?

I believe TCC had a hand in this study.  The end result was while the cave did filter down to the Aquifer, it appeared to be a minimal amount, so the overpass would get to remain in position.  Then the question of how to strengthen the area to provide support for the highway without disrupting the water flow.  A combination of crushed stone, cement, and other porous materials were used to permanently fill in the cave.  I know there were some pictures of this taken (which were published in the Community Impact), but I wonder how much of the natural wonder was documented before essentially being destroyed.

It brought up some interesting discussion among myself and other visitors here today about what would happen in the future.  This whole area is honeycombed with caves; many small, and easily avoided or filled in.  There are other larger ones which won’t be discovered until sections of land start to get developed.  What will happen with them?  Will some get fenced off yet remain accessible like this one at Avery Ranch, will one be of sufficient size which will allow for commercializing and visitors (like InnerSpace, or Natural Bridge, for example), or will they get filled in and their beauty forever changed?  Something to ponder.

Inside the cave, a guide was explaining to people what the differences between stalagmites and stalactites were, answering questions, and using his flashlight to point formations to people.  The space inside the cave had about as much square footage as a living room & kitchen an average-sized house (or the space of a studio apartment).  Okay, that was just my approximation, based on the size of the fenced off area, and that of the people inside.

None of the formations were given cute names like in commercial caves, but the guide explained how the limestone in the dripping water slowly creates these deposits, and how the oils secreted by animals (including humans) can damage that growth (hence the trap door to the cave).

There was some talk about what was flowstone, cave bacon, and such, but I think most of the people here this year had come out because it was a “free event” to do, not because they had any genuine interest in the cave, its preservation, or geology in general.  I have some hope that some of the younger members who had their interests piqued by this have it further encouraged by their parents.

I asked the TCC guide inside the cave about the lack of funding which forced the closing of this cave in the future, and if they’d looked at any association with the UT Geology Department for example for support.  The person was a volunteer, and he didn’t have that information.  He directed me to locate Mike, who was the only actual TCC employee here today, as he’d have those answers.  Being part of a non-profit organization (Austin Planetarium), I know about having volunteers on hand and the quest for grant money, donations, and other funds in order to keep solvent.  I had this idea of giving some suggestions to Mike, and seeing what he’s already investigated.  Mike also might be able give a presentation at AP’s Speaker Series on the cave geology of the area.

Back on the surface, I noticed the number of people waiting to go inside had tripled, and they were scattered about.  I couldn’t tell where the lines were.  I hunted around to see if I could find Mike.  There was a table with some information about Texas Cave Conservatory, yet no one was manning it.  In fact as I looked around, other than the single individual at the trap door, I didn’t see any volunteers present.  The person who’d been identified to me as Mike was out doing crowd control of who been on the “shade list” and when they could enter the cave.  There was no one at the gate to direct people as they came in.  It was pretty chaotic.

I waited at the booth for a bit hoping that Mike would get everything worked out and emerge from the crowd.  By the fact I stood where I was, many thought I was a volunteer and asked me questions.  If I could’ve told where the end of the line was, I would’ve directed people that way.  After about 30 minutes, it was clear Mike would be busy with the crowds for a bit, and he wasn’t going to have time to speak to anyone.  I still never saw any volunteer come over and try to assist.  In fact, I still saw no volunteers present.  That would’ve been something I could’ve assisted with (as I’ve learned about volunteer coordination with the Planetarium).  If I could’ve handed my card to Mike (or one of the volunteers) in order to talk with them later, I would’ve done so.

Since I’d been here previously, I knew exactly what I was going to see, but that didn’t change my experience.  Ignoring the issues with crowd control on the surface, I think the visit this time was a little more special.  Part of that comes from knowing this will probably be the last time I get to see this, and part of that comes from this cave could’ve easily been filled in by the housing developers of Avery Ranch.

It creates something very important to think about, no matter what area you live in.  Don’t take things for granted, and don’t wait to see them.  Situations might change and take you out of the area before you get the chance to visit something, or circumstances may result in those opportunities being no longer available.  Many people who I saw today never knew of the existence of the Avery Ranch Cave until this visit, and others will only learn of it from reading this blog.

If there’s a “Things To Do” section in your local paper, make time to do them.  Go and speak to people at your Chamber of Commerce or Visitor’s Bureau in order to find out what might be in your area, and see them.  You won’t be sorry, and who knows what you’ll experience.

Informational Links:

Cave Day:  http://www.texascaves.org/cave_day.html

As far as the cave system under RM 620 goes, I’ve placed the following links here which talk about its discovery, its ultimate fate, and some more information about how it was sealed.  The second link contains the only picture I could find of the interior, although I’m sure there are others.

Discovery:  http://impactnews.com/austin-metro/round-rock-pflugerville-hutto/cave-system-discovered-underneath-rm-620-construction-projec/

Fate:  http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/23569690/cave-discovered-on-rm-620-to-be-filled-in

Sealing the Cave:  http://www.jbgoodwin.com/news_articles/Cave_Under_RM_620_Sealed_120513.pdf

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Dick’s Classic Garage (San Marcos, TX -- September 2013)

14 SEPTEMBER 2013:

I’d been waiting to make a return trip to San Marcos ever since I discovered there was a Commemorative Air Force-affiliated flight museum there, as well as classic car museum.  I’d done research online to see the museum only had about four planes (which wouldn’t take me that long to see), and the car place didn’t sound like it was anywhere near as huge as the one in Rosanky (which was unfortunately now closed).  And there was a place I liked to eat near the Outlet Malls, so I grabbed route 80 to bring me directly to San Marcos.

Okay, because the traffic greatly increased in volume as I reached the city limits (and thus close to IH-35), I missed the road for the flight museum, where the CAF Central Texas Wing was located.  I would’ve needed to take the road towards the municipal airport, which wasn’t marked very well.  I figured I could catch it on the way out, if there was time.  It wasn’t open to many hours on the weekend.

I was a little hungry, and considering I hadn’t much to eat today, it made more sense to eat earlier than later.  I stopped at Centerpoint Station for a cheeseburger and a chocolate milkshake.  Because I don’t get down here very often, I consider this place a treat.  The milkshake was very thick, and it would have to thaw a bit before I could drink the vast portion of it.

It was only a short hop down the road to get to car museum.  Located off of the same road that the WonderWorld cave is, Dick’s Classic Garage was a smaller building than I expected.  Its literature touted that it had a Tucker, which I wonder if it obtained from when the Rosanky museum closed.  In addition to various cars, there were also murals and old advertisements on the wall.

The cars were lined up in nice neat rows, which made sense when you realized that each one of these are still drivable.  All were nicely washed, polished, and chrome.  Of course, working for GM, I liked to note the older styles of their vehicles.  In same manner, we’re used to brands like Oldsmobile which have been discontinued recently, GM had other brands which have fallen by the wayside.  An example of this is this 1940 LaSalle, which was meant to “bridge the gap” between Buick and Cadillac.  It was to be the “poor man’s Caddy,” and this one only cost about $1,500 when it was released.

It’s great to find things I wasn’t aware of, like there was an auto manufacturer in San Antonio back in the early 20^th Century.  This is the last known surviving 1919 Lone Star, made by the Lone Star Truck and Tractor Association.  Advertised as “being made in Texas,” these were all actually assembled in Virginia.

The majority of the cars here were from the post-WW2 period, plus some that book-ended the decade on either side.  Among the ones I found interesting was a 1936 Cord Convertible (like what western star Tom Mix died driving), the 1950 Nash Ambassador (with the split-back front bench seat, which gave it the dubious distinction of being the “make-out mobile” of the time), the 1954 Packard, and of course the 1948 Tucker Torpedo.

Ever since reading the Jon Sable, Freelance series, I’ve always thought the Studebaker was an interesting car.  Mum liked this brand because she spent a lot of time riding around with my Grandfather and his brother Ken (many times as a young teenager she said how she had to drive them home from the bar).  The 1951 convertible shown here has the “bullet nose” which went on to define the Studebaker brand.

Having lived through the period when these were new, Mum & Dad would’ve probably to have liked this.  Some of these here would’ve cars they rode in before getting their own licenses.  Seeing some of the early muscle cars, like the 1957 Ford Thunderbird, and the 1958 Packard Hawk pictured here, these must’ve been on the “want list” to be able to drive.

It was a nice visit, and I’m glad I checked it out, but it lacked a lot of the early 20^th Century models which made the Central Texas Museum of Automotive History (in Rosanky) so interesting.  This is still worth checking out if you’re in the area.

A quick check of the time and map was done to see easily I could slide over to Wimberley for a visit to the Pie Company.  I’d be rushing to get there before it closed, and that would put me on the opposite side of town than I wanted to be on.  I like to drive, and unlimited miles on the rental aside, but I wanted to spend more time outside of the car today than I was in it.  I knew where the second-run theatres were, and there were a couple other social stops I could do which would round out my vacation.

It was a great week of exploring unfamiliar areas, and seeing new sites.  I was able to cross “NASA” off my bucket list, although that is a place I would go back to.  The city of Webster was a very accommodating location, and a good base of operations.  As there were a few things in Galveston I didn’t get to this time, and the Museum District of Houston is still something I want to check out, I plan on coming back this way again.  The principle of having my parents fly into a different city, and me driving out to meet them, worked out very well, so we’ll have to look at what other cities we can do that with.  Depending on what’s available that we want to see, perhaps we’ll try this with Dallas next time.

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

            Commemorative Air Force:  http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/

            CAF Central Texas Wing:  http://www.cafcentex.com/

            Centerpoint Station:  http://www.centerpointstation.com/

            Dick’s Classic Garage:  http://www.dicksclassicgarage.com/

            Central Texas Museum of Automotive History:  http://ctmah.org/

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Houston Museum of Natural Science (Sugar Land, TX -- September 2013)

DAY SEVEN – 14 SEPTEMBER 2013:

We checked out of the hotel, and had our last breakfast at “The Egg and I.”  Again, this is a chain based out of Colorado (and I like to frequent local or regional places), I can’t beat finding a place with good food and atmosphere.  That makes it worthwhile.  Thank you very to General Manager Athena Huff for having such a nice location, and friendly staff!  Hobby Airport was about fifteen minutes or so up the road, and it was easy to get to (and that was more than just following my directions in reverse order).  I pulled up to the terminal, unloaded their bags, gave my parents a hug good-bye, and departed.

When I came this way last week, it was difficult to tell if this section of the Sam Houston Tollway would be closed on the westbound side.  Today it was.  Yeah, it took some extra time, but that didn’t bother me, because it would bring me closer to when the doors would open at my first destination of the day.  I didn’t really want to drive in the center of Houston (as I wanted to relax on vacation), so there were things in their Museum District I wanted to see which would skip this trip.  I’ll hit those on a return visit, when someone else does the driving or has to worry about parking.

I swung westward (on Highway 59) long before I’d even gotten near IH-10 (at Katy) and headed towards the city of Sugar Land.  My destination out there was an extension of the Houston Museum of Science.  I wasn’t sure how long this would take me, but if I could fill enough time here (and be returning to Austin around dusk), that would be pretty good.  Sugar Land was a very nice residential section, and it was hard to tell what was here first, the museum or the neighborhoods.  Although only a couple of stories high, the building was decent sized, so I figured a good chunk of the day could be spent here.

When I came in to pay for my admission, I was asked if I was part of the “seminar” going on today.  Uh, no, I’m just visiting as a representative of the Austin Planetarium.  Hey, I’m not looking for any discounts or anything, but I’ll take any opportunity to spread the word.

The first floor contained the gift shop (obviously), a large section on various types of gem stones, and an area which could be rented out for birthday parties.  Okay, that’s one way to bring people into the museum, although I’m not sure how much learning actually goes on then.  There was also a T. Rex skeleton dominating the floor.

I liked looking at all the stones, as it reminded me of when I went to Nature’s Treasures (in Austin).  I placed a museum brochure in the shots as I took them, only to be able to have something to gauge size.  This piece of copper was the size of a keyboard…

…and this piece of quartz would easily fill a knapsack.  Good luck at trying to carry it.

A lot of people had come into for a birthday party, as well as this mysterious “seminar” (which no one tell me what it was about), so I pretty much had the place to myself.  I could hear the birthday party in the other wing, but it wasn’t annoying in any way.

I worked my way up to the second floor, where the space science and paleontology exhibits were.  There were some hands-on displays, and large portraits of various locations within the universe (from the immense space of the Local Group of galaxies, down to our own Solar System).  The first thing I headed was their version of the Discovery Dome (like what Austin Planetarium uses), so I could enjoy a show before things got too potentially crazy.  The presentation was called “Ice Worlds,” and dealt with both the “snowball” period in Earth’s ancient past, and the cold moons of the gas giants.

Their dome sat higher than what we have, and had nice folding chairs set up.  There was a set schedule of a program every half-hour (and not the same one repeated).  There was no “interactive” portion to have the night sky described, or specific visible stars or planets pointed out (like what we do, or what Mayborn or Schenectady Planetariums had).  I thought that was a feature which should be a commonly-used fixture in any planetarium show.

While I probably could’ve sat there all day to see shows, I wanted to explore the rest of the museum first.  Perhaps I’ll catch another one before I go, as this place was smaller than I expected it to be (and obviously wouldn’t take me as long to go through it).

A couple items here which I found interesting was a sliver of an asteroid “older than Earth” (called the Allende Meteorite), and a rock which was said to have come from Mars.  Still being allowed to “touch” them was pretty neat.  And that was pretty much it for the space science section.  Keeping in mind this was an extension of a larger museum that was understandable.  I still would’ve liked some more items to check out.

I went over to the paleontology section.  This started off with some skeletons, which included the pretty recent giant ground sloth (called an eremotherium)…

…to a triceratops.  This wing was designed so you started in the last Ice Age, and the further down the hall you went, the further back in time you were taken.  After where the skeletons were (in the time line of the planet), it was now the epochs prior to the Age of Dinosaurs.

These sections had various fossils of plants, insects, and other critters.  Of course one the most frequently found critters are the trilobites, as they had a rather long reign in the geologic record.  Each of the fossils had an informational card, and the displays were broken up by specific ages all the way back to the Cambrian Explosion.  You get any further back than that, and it becomes tough to locate fossils because of the way the Earth’s surface has changed over billions of years.

Part of checking out the museum was also to see how they do things, lay out the exhibits, and such, as part of research and information gathering for when the Austin Planetarium opens its doors.  Anything which can be done to contribute to the creation of a “world class planetarium, museum & technology center” (part of our tagline) is useful.  A quick scope of the gift shop was included in that.  As part of the museum at Sugar Land is the George Observatory, but that didn’t even open until 3pm.  Unless I located something which would keep me in the area close to that time, I’d have to leave this for a later visit.  If we were staying another night in Webster, then this would’ve made a nice side trip for us before sending Mum & Dad back home.

Leaving the museum, I worked my way a little more to the west towards Fort Bend, as my map mentioned a “Fort Bend Museum.”  It was only a couple miles away, so an easy side trip, and I could quickly get back to IH-10 by taking Grand Parkway (route 99).  I drove around the area where I was marked to be, and saw no sign of it (or that it had been there).  I just figured that must’ve been like the “Forbidden Gardens” that was also marked on my map, but had been closed a couple years ago due to the expansion of the freeway.

Since there was nothing to see there, I shot back towards 99, and got a few speedy miles under my belt … before I run into some construction zones.  This section was currently being expanded to make it a four-lane highway, and it slowed my journey, but not significantly so.  They do need to have a nice ramp to be able to go west on the Katy Freeway (like they do to go east), as waiting through a stop light for that was annoying.  I cruised along IH-10, and now knew if I was going to go directly to Austin, I’d need to pick up 71 at Columbus (which would take me through Bastrop).  Because I had a lot of the day left, I opted for my “Plan B.”

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

            Houston Museum of Science at Sugar Land:  http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=13

            Allende Meteorite:  http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/featured_objects/AllendeMeteorite.html

            George Observatory:  http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107&Itemid=115

            Fort Bend Museum:  http://www.fortbendmuseum.org/

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Texas City Museum (Texas City, TX; September 2013 -- Part B)

13 SEPTEMBER 2013: 

We back-tracked to the Convention Center, which had a lot of phoenix motifs around.  Every town has their symbols, which usually fits with the school mascot (for this area was a manta ray).  In addition to letting us know where to locate the Texas City Museum, the staff at the Center informed us about the various artwork and sculpture that was part of this building.

A local artist had drawn a series of murals, each one which focused on the highlights of each decade.  These were pretty kewl to look at.

The rest of the gallery in the Center had other displays of local businesses and such, which were nicely presented.  There was a wind sculpture out in the side yard that I found amusing because of how odd it sounds when you say “The city of Texas City.”

The Texas City Museum was a nice little find.  While there were things about local sports history and involvement in the oil industries, there were interesting displays on local pirate Jean Lafitte (who also operated out of Galveston during the Mexican War of Independence), and the Aero Squad.  It had some artifacts from the early 1900’s era and informational cards about the first “air force,” but it was roughly about the same as what we’d read in the park.  In comparison, it seemed to have less information as Whitehall had about the birth of the U.S. Navy (and even that was a small display).

The most interesting exhibit here was that of the Disaster of 1947.  One day in April, a French ship filled with ammonium nitrate fertilizer and sulfur exploded at the docks.  With the force between two-and-four kilotons of TNT, the explosion flattened everything for a blocks, tossed huge debris even farther, and caused the deaths of hundreds (most of whom were spectators who thought they were a safe distance away from what they thought was a simple “dock fire”).  All windows in a mile radius were shattered, and the blast was felt as far as Denver.  To a city that was resuming normal life after a destructive world war, this was their “hometown Hiroshima.”  This watch, hands stopped at the time of the blast, really drove that home.

The exhibit gave detailed information on the events leading up to the blast, some footage (taken by an amateur who was out on the dike), and what happened in the aftermath.  In a rare display of comradeship, the different oil companies in the city helped each other repair the damage done to their plants, as well as rebuild the destroyed sections of the city.  It also helped pave the way for new safety regulations for the oil industry.  As the city essentially “rose from the ashes,” the phoenix was adopted as the symbol of the city.  I considered this a fabulous historical find that we’d stumbled upon.

I checked online to see how powerful the blast was.  A few months ago in the Texas town of West, an explosion at a fertilizer plant had the nation’s attention, especially when the footage of that went viral.  On the list of man-made non-nuclear explosions, the one in West ranked at number seven.  The blast in Texas City came in at number two.  I won’t go into the specifics (as those details about energy released, destructive radius, and such) can be easily located online, but suffice to say even by today’s standards what happened in 1947 was devastating.

It was nearing lunch, and the host at the Museum didn’t give any details about places to eat, so we figured we’d just find something in Kemah.  Heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike, the Boardwalk was the summer place to go for many area people.  It contains amusement park rides, a boat marina, and many restaurants.  It was the middle part of the day when we got there, in what was known as the “Lighthouse District” (which didn’t have any lighthouses).  To me, Kemah really looked no different than the main drag in Lake George (NY), with a Coney Island-style carnival attached to it.  This was also similar to Pleasure Pier in Galveston.  Interesting to look at, but not stimulating enough to hold our attention.

We located a place with a pirate motif, called Skallywag, as that looked it might be good for lunch.  This turned out to be a bar, not a pub.  There was a limited menu of grilled and fried items, but not really the variety of what we were looking for.  Other than bar stools, there wasn’t any seating.  The bartender rolled a barrel out and pushed some chairs up to it in order to make a table.  (Mum said in fun way that she’s never eaten on a barrel before.)  That was really nice.  Since the menu wasn’t what we wanted, we didn’t stay.  I have to say the people who were hanging out for their noon-time drinks were extremely friendly and welcoming.  If we weren’t in “lunch priority” mode, we all agreed that hanging out there for a short time to have a drink and socialize with the patrons would’ve been very fun.  If you get to Kemah, you should stop by.

Just down the street a short distance was the Greek café, Bakkhaus, and that’s where we got lunch.  The menu had some light American fare too, and also had a friendly staff and good environment.  I ordered a grilled chicken gyro which ended up being freakin’ huge.  I had to pull some of the meat out on to my plate just to be able to refold the bread and eat it like a taco.  It was very good.

From our vantage point, the Boardwalk was pretty empty (it was still a work day after school had restarted for the year), but we could guarantee this place would go freakin’ crazy when the evening arrived (and heat broke).  There wasn’t much to see here, and no need to spend any more time.

Continuing up route 146, we came into Seabrook, which I’d read was supposed to be like Kemah (but less commercialized).  From what we could see, this was a more an area of permanent residents (wealthy beach front property and rental condos).  Nice to look at, but not much for the visitor.  After turning back onto NASA Parkway (to head back towards Webster), we could see one lighthouse off in the distance on Nassau Bay.  I’d seen that on the map, but I couldn’t figure out any to get in there, as there were any roads listed in this residential area.  Looked like it was within a gated community, as opposed to an actual park.  I did find a section of the road to pull off on to so Mum could get her shot of it.

The reason why we’d come back this way was to stop at the Bay Area Museum, which didn’t even open until the after noon in the later part of the week.  It was easy to locate, but the doors seemed to be locked.  The workers painting the side of the building had no idea if someone was inside or not.  We could look inside the door, but couldn’t tell if the lights were on (due to the natural light coming in the windows).  A couple which had pulled up behind us even tried calling in, and we could hear the guy leaving a message saying there’s no sign to say this was not open.  We waited for about ten minutes or so, as I figured that was reasonable enough for someone to come back from a pee.  Since we didn’t get inside, I can’t you what was inside any more than their brochure could.

Well, as is one of our usual procedures, we stopped and got ice cream.  All the Ben & Jerry’s locations had closed in the Austin area a couple years ago, and it was my understanding that all their stores had closed.  (All the Austin ones happened within the same week, so it made it appear it was a corporate directive, as opposed to something with the franchise.)  We’d seen the Ben & Jerry’s location across from our breakfast spot all week, and we knew we’d hit it sooner or later.  Ben & Jerry’s is one of the few ice cream places where I don’t get a milkshake, because I can enjoy some of my favorite flavors (like Phish Food) without having to resort to having a pint at home (which then begs to be consumed in a single sitting).

The afternoon swim was followed by a light dinner at Jason’s Deli, as we’d need to get up early the next day in order to get Mum & Dad back to the airport.  I still had other things in mind to fill the day (since I had the rental until noon on Sunday).

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

            Jean Lafitte:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Lafitte

            Texas City Disaster of 1947:  http://www.local1259iaff.org/disaster.html

            Kemah Boardwalk:  http://www.kemahboardwalk.com/

            Skallywag Suds N Grub:  http://www.yelp.com/biz/skallywag-suds-n-grub-kemah-2

            Bakkhaus:  http://www.bakkhustaverna.com/

            Seabrook:  http://seabrooktx.gov/index.aspx?NID=9

            Bay Area Museum:  http://museumbayarea.org/museum.html

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Texas City Dike & Aero Force Park (Texas City, TX; September 2013 -- Part A)

DAY SIX – 13 SEPTEMBER 2013:  SURPRISES IN THE CITY OF TEXAS CITY

Mum thought we were going to see lighthouses yesterday, and she’d worn her lighthouse shirt appropriately.  (See, I’m not the only one who does shit like that.)  I thought we might’ve hit another section that day, but what we found took up (in a good way) sufficient amounts of time.  Looking on the road map, there seemed to be two lighthouses indicated in Texas City, so that seemed to be a good destination to start with.  There was also a rum distillery in nearby San Leon that I wanted to check out, called Railean Rum, but tours were only for specific times and could only be scheduled via email (and not something we could do at the last minute).  Something to know for later.

Considering there were refineries along Galveston Bay (where Texas City is located), and the La areas we were in yesterday looked pretty well, I figured this could be a nice area too.  A quick exit off the Gulf Freeway brought us to a pretty average looking small city.  We were headed directly for the park at the coast, but Mum noted a sign for a museum not far after we’d passed the convention center.  There were no museums noted on my road map nor in the AAA Tour Book, so it may not be there any more, be brand new, or not that big.  We’ll play that by ear, as after Texas City our plan was to head northward.

One of the lighthouses on the map wasn’t even present.  In the course of looking around, we took a drive along the Texas City Dike, a long narrow artificial strip of land that stretches a couple miles out into the bay.  When we looked off to the east, we could see Port Bolivar in the distance (and the lighthouse which was there).  Well, not the ones we were looking for, but there’s one.  To the south was the tip of Pelican Island (which was technically part of Galveston).

I’d seen what looked light the top of a lighthouse to our north right before going out on the dike, so I figured we could check that out.  Since it was short, I figured it was probably a pavilion or something.  Sure enough, it was a lighthouse.

Marked as Halfmoon Shoal Lighthouse, this was a replica of the original lighthouse that stood in the late 1800’s, and had a lot of information about the area.  The original lighthouse was destroyed in the 1900 Hurricane.  One thing I found neat was how the Bay looked before the dike was built, and the changes of the landmasses in order to protect the cargo ships.

While we were standing there, I looked back towards the city, and noticed in the nearby park was a Saber jet just sitting there.  Okay, that had my attention, as it seemed so out-of-place.  That’s worth a drive over to investigate.

As we drove around towards it, it looked like there was a WWI-era biplane next to the jet (and their position was set like the antique was chasing the modern plane).  Located in what is now Bay Street Park, and informational plaque let us know the significance of the area.  This used to be an Army base back prior to WWI (created in partially in response to the actions of Poncho Villa), and in 1913 was where the first “Aero Squadron” was formed (which later become known as the Army Air Corps).  Essentially, we stumbled upon the birthplace of the Air Force.  Wow!  What a find!

 The replica bi-plane was a representative of one of the original planes assigned to the U.S. Army, which were located here.  The idea was to use them as recon and communications.  The Sabre jet was there to remember those who flew missions over Vietnam.  The base remained here until a hurricane in 1915 showed that it was not practical to have a location so close to the coast (and subject to rather harsh weather affects).  It sounded like the museum would be something worthwhile hunting down now.

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

            Texas City:  http://www.texas-city-tx.org/

            Railean Rum:  http://www.railean.com/

            Texas City Dike:  http://www.texas-city-tx.org/RecTour/dike.html

            Halfmoon Shoal Lighthouse:  http://www.w5azn.com/half_moon_shoal.htm

            Bay Street Park:  http://www.texas-city-tx.org/RecTour/BayStPark.htm

            Aero Squadron:  http://www.texascity-library.org/TCH/TCHFirstAeroSquadron.html

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