Texas

This has been an epic spring break for Christopher. His school normally has a two week spring break, but we added the week before to that vacation time and went down to visit Houston, Texas. Why, you ask? Our main purpose was to celebrate the centennial of the commissioning of the USS Texas, the battleship my grandfather served on during World War II. That was truly an amazing event but we also had lots of other fun…

When we got to Houston, we had a few hours before we could check into our hotel so we grabbed lunch at the always fabulous IHOP and visited the Kemah Boardwalk on Galveston Bay. The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed a lot of rides while we were there. Chris went on his first ferris wheel ride and we found a Hawaiian Shave Ice shop--not quite the same and Christopher, connoisseur of shave ice, could tell the difference. We enjoyed it just the same!

By the way, we did not go on the wooden roller coaster in that last picture. However, Chris did enjoy watching the people as they went down the first steep drop!

Our second day in Houston was the main purpose of our trip. It is almost too much to explain in a short blog entry but the final reunion of the Battleship Texas was an amazing event--well run, organized, and a perfect way to honor the veterans of the greatest generation. It started with our buses being escorted from the hotel to the ship by former veterans and police officers, who stopped traffic the whole way. Before we left, Chris made friends with some of the officers and they let him sit on a motorcycle and test the lights and siren…

When we arrived at the ship, the veterans and their families were welcomed onboard for a special ceremony commemorating the commissioning of the ship in 1914. This was followed by a nice lunch and then each veteran and/or family received a personalized tour of the ship from a Texas Parks Department person. We had a great time and got to sit in the 14 inch gun turrets, the engine room (where my grandfather had worked) and the helm, among other places. They were letting the veterans go basically anywhere they wanted because for most of them, this would be their last visit to the ship. here are some pictures of our tour…

These were only a few of the many pictures we took during this wonderful event. Christopher was the perfect age for this and loved "firing" the guns at cargo ships passing by. He also listened very carefully to the veterans as they told stories of their time serving on the ship. It was really cool to watch.

As if we didn't have enough fun at the Texas, we spent the next day at the Johnson Space Center where we saw a Saturn V rocket, mission control, and many other science related activities. It was really cool for Chris because he is into all things that fly or have to do with space…

Overall it was a very fun trip! Chris kept saying he did not want to leave Texas. That is, until our next trip a week later… More on that in a later post!