Dad had some boy scout business that brought him to Texas. We were so glad that he and mom were able to give us a few days to play around Houston with them. They got to be part of our everyday madness, and we pulled the kids out of school one day to do some site seeing. Cypress had just seen record rain fall and many areas of Houston were flooded and impassable. But we managed to get to and from the airport, around town, and out to see some history without any trouble. In fact, traffic was remarkably light which was incredible!
In all my mother's years of being a Texan, she had never been out to see the San Jacinto monument. I had not heard of it myself. The monument is a stone obelisk, that towers higher than the Washington monument, topped with the star of Texas. It commemorates the Battle of San Jacinto (built on the grounds of the battle field) which was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution where in the Texas colonists gained independence from Mexico. It is a beautiful site with a nicely curated museum and theatre. The video presentation kept everyone entertained but Jeffery. In between my attempts to keep him from being too disruptive, I was happy to learn all about Sam Houston and why he is such a big deal around here.
Up at the top of the monument, we had a bird's eye view of the USS Texas which is permanently docked nearby. The grounds were swollen with water, muddy and flooded. The USS Texas was our next stop that afternoon. It is full of history as it saw action in both WWI and WWII. There are cabins throughout that are outfitted with items from those time periods to help show how life aboard had been.
We stopped for a late Mexican food lunch before heading home. The rain was just starting to fall again when we hit the road.
