A Lone Star in the US (Texas)

Member Name: rosebud2001

Product:	Texas
Date:	10/06/09 (119 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to see, wonderful people, scenic, fun

Disadvantages: The sheer size of the place makes it tricky to do at once, you must be able to drive

I visited the state of Texas three years ago on a hurriedly arranged holiday which my husband planned.

We had been bumped by US Air on our return trip from the US a couple of months before, and my husband wanted to arrange a trip at Easter to use the vouchers the carrier had given us for switching flights.

My husband grew up on cowboy films and really wanted to see the Alamo, meaning San Antonio was always going to be on the itinerary. He was also interested in visiting Austin, the liberal state capital of Texas - and lastly Houston - as that's where the main airport for southeast Texas is.

So we devised a "triangle" of Houston-Austin-San Antonio and finally back to Houston, plotted the route and departed.

Texas is the second largest of the US states in size - it is bigger than the UK - and it views itself as an outsider in the union - hence the name "The Lone Star State".

It was April when we arrived and the first thing that struck me, through my jetlag, was the green. I have never seen vegetation the same shade of green as I saw in Texas. It is very difficult to describe to those who have never visited, but the green is vivid and to my old eyes anyway, seemed to reflect a lushness in the environment that was new to me.

The second thing, was the heat. We stayed 8 days and the lowest the temperature got was 80 degrees farenheit - and that was during a thunderstorm. Most days it was well over 95, and it was a dry, oppressive heat.

We stayed overnight near to George H Bush Airport in Houston upon arrival, and next day headed to Austin, 160 miles north.

Texas has a reputation of being full of gun toting rednecks, famous for the high number of criminals it executes and its mega churches. Austin is its capital and a university town, and is the antithesis of this reputation. In fact, Austin likes to portray itself as "weird" - and while I personally didn't find it particularly weird, in comparison to other cities in the US, it's certainly different.

The first thing we noticed upon arrival in downtown Austin was the lack of hotels - we could only find two - one of which was the one we were staying at. The second thing was the sheer number of bars - apparently the university students and locals like a drink and live music here! It's also incredibly cheap to visit bars in Austin - the only place I have visited in the US where it's cheaper is, unsurprisingly, Las Vegas. So if you want a pub crawl, 6th Street is the place to go.

The city is also famous for hosting the South by Southwest Music Festival every year and prides itself on its reputation for hosting live music events.

Downtown is very pretty - the capital building, like so many in the US, is modelled on Capital Hill and is set in beautiful grounds. We walked through these grounds several times, despite the blistering heat, to get to the main part of downtown from our hotel.

You can get around and about in Austin on the free "Armadillo" trolley - a bus service aimed at tourists. We used it once but they don't run every couple of minutes - and waiting 20 minutes in the searing heat is no fun! It is a useful way to get about as parking in downtown is nigh on impossible.

Austin sits on the Colorado River, and the famous Congress Bridge is home to a huge colony of bats which dramatically appears every day at dusk to head off in search of food. This is a sight to behold with over a million of the creatures emerging en masse.

Shopping in downtown is pretty basic - just the odd drugstore from the chains - but lots of independent stores selling a variety of souvenirs and music paraphernalia.

There are many other sights to see in the city and I am only sorry we didn't have enough time to investigate further. Locals, who are incredibly friendly, gave us recommendation after recommendation, including visiting the Lady Bird Lake and the Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library and Museum.

Leaving Austin behind, we drove a further 80 miles to San Antonio, stopping off en route to do some shopping at the two outlet malls just off the I-35 at San Marcos. The variety of stores available here was incredible - as were the prices - but sadly everything in both malls is outdoors and in the heat we experienced during our visit it made shopping hard going!

San Antonio is a very different city to Austin. The first thing that hits you is how Mexican it is. The sounds, smells and food of that country are highly evident here and while I am no fan of Mexican food, a visit to the Mi Tierra Restaurant & Bakery is an absolute must if you visit the city.

Located in the Market Square area, you can pay the performers a couple of dollars and they will sing for you - my daughter, who sadly was rather disinterested, had a wonderful rendition of "La Bamba" sung just for her, to the delight of everyone else in the restaurant for instance. The interior of this restaurant is incredibly colourful, full of flowers and fairy lights all year round. The food is excellent too.

Most tourists however are here for the River Walk and what it leads you to - the Alamo.

The River Walk is lovely, I have to admit - and I have very fond memories of dining here at dusk, watching people and the world go by on the banks of the San Antonio River. It is, however, something of a tourist trap, and most of the restaurants and bars have hiked their prices because of the location.

Dotted along here are restaurants, bars and shops. When we were in town, a fiesta was on, meaning there was a funfair nearby and vendors were selling fiesta goods, including a paper flower "crown" for little girls to wear. My daughter was taken by these and begged for one. It remained on her head for most of the holiday!

You can exit the River Walk close to the Alamo - scene of 1836's Battle of the Alamo.

Now I am no real fan of westerns, but my husband loved them. His mother had been a huge fan and if he went to the cinema with her as a child, it was invariably to see a western - so he knew far more about the history of the Alamo than I did.

If, like him, you are a fan of westerns and old American history, then the Alamo is unmissable - however for me I have to say I had been expecting a little more. The mission building itself is actually very small - and is particularly dwarfed by the city skyline. However this small building is treated as an almost sacred one by many Americans who flock to see it.

There is a small museum inside and the gardens are worth a look too, but I have to be honest here and say I took more pleasure from seeing my husband's delight at being there than in actually being there myself.

Our last stretch of driving was from San Antonio to Houston - which is almost 200 miles on the I-15.

The I-15 is one of the US' major freeways, linking California with Florida. As a result you will encounter trucks, and lots of them, on it.

Over here when I am driving on a motorway, I always try to overtake trucks - because here they generally have to stick to a lower speed limit than cars. Now whether this is the case or not in the US, I do not know - however one thing I do know is that it's a complete waste of time trying to overtake a truck on the freeway there - because they want to get ahead of you and will go over the speed limit to do so. So take my advice and let them past - especially given the fact that like most things in the US - they are much bigger than here!

Just as you hit the western suburbs of Houston on the I-15 there is a huge shopping mall called Katy Mills. We stopped off here to take advantage of the fact it was a mixture of outlet shopping and general chain stores, and the fact it was under cover - and therefore air conditioned - making shopping much less of a chore than it had been in San Marcos.

Driving in Houston has to be planned carefully - many of the ring roads are toll roads so you need to be sure you want to travel on them as you still have to pay, whether you are going the right way or not. On this holiday my husband navigated and I drove - and we had both planned and poured over the maps every night. In the entire holiday we only missed a turn-off once so the planning paid off.

When booking a hotel in Houston we had decided to eschew downtown - we felt it didn't really have enough to offer the tourist, so instead we decided to stay in the NASA area, which is close to the Lyndon B Johnson Space Center. There are many, many hotels in this neighbourhood, which is located to the southeast of Houston.

There are also lots of restaurants and shops to be found in this area, but walking is rather difficult due to the fact there are no sidewalks. For several years Houston was the "fat capital" of the US, and one wonders if the installation of somewhere for pedestrians to walk might not have helped prevent that.

The Space Center is an absolute must-see if you visit Houston. I have many childhood memories of moon landings, and the mission control rooms are etched into my mind - the bank of TV screens, knobs and many, many men communicating with the astronauts.

You cannot actually sit in the preserved mission control rooms - however you take a tour with a very knowledgeable guide - who will explain them to you as you view them through glass panels. You can also see on a video link the current mission control room which still has banks of TV screens but lacks the knobs of the 1960s and 1970s version. Also, women are to be found in mission control today - something I don't recall in my youth.

The tour of the Space Center is fascinating - there are rockets on display and while it is a tourist's must-see, it's worth remembering that this is a place of work for many who communicate with astronauts to this day.

Another place I would recommend if you are staying in this part of Houston is Kemah. Kemah is a short drive east from the NASA area, and takes you to a scenic coastal town.

The main attraction at Kemah is the Kemah Boardwalk, a leisure area with funfair rides, bars and restaurants. We went on a balmy Friday evening just before dusk, and had a ball - especially our daughter. This is good old fashioned family fun, and unlike so many funfairs I have visited with my daughter, this isn't tacky or trashy. My daughter went on the huge ferris wheel and the train that goes round the park but there are many other rides on offer too. It is free to stroll along the boardwalk - you just pay for rides as you go.

And so our trip sadly came to an end - and we wished we had been able to stay one more day to head down to the old coastal city of Galveston.

This trip was probably the most memorable one I ever took with my husband - and while it wasn't a relaxing holiday really due to the fact we had a lot to see and not much time to see it in - it was hugely enjoyable all the same.

The memories I have are of the friendliest, and most polite, people I have ever encountered in the US, of shades of green I have never seen before or since, and of the sense of having only being able to get a mere taster of this vast state.

If ever a US state had the wrong reputation, it would be this one and I would heartily recommend you visit if you can.

Summary: A taster of the second largest US state