Texas! Galveston, Houston, San Antonio

Galveston - its on the Gulf Coast, and compared to us environmentally conscious types in New England, has a completely different view. Oil derricks, pipelines, abandoned pieces of equipment everywhere. Air quality didn't seem bad. The Ocean Star, a one-time drilling platform out in the Gulf of Mexico, is now an offshore oil-drilling museum. Among those named there as important oilmen is George H.W. Bush (I believe he founded Zapata Offshore Drilling) - but not Dubya.




Sea birds






Then, Houston.


Here, a victim of Hurricane Katrina; this was 6 months later, and all up and down the coast a lot of stuff was not repaired. I mean, a lot.







Below, River Bend, the estate of Ima Hogg (her real name), a noted Texas socialite.














Note the Butterfly Garden.

















Now, if my daddy had left me a few oil wells, I could learn to live like this...
















San Antonio - anold Spanish Mission.


The Alamo - remember?




A frieze of the defenders.

Dave with an early Spanish governor. A chest in the gov's house.

The Riverwalk. Goes for a couple of miles along the San Antonio River. Wonderfully peaceful.

O. Henry lived here for a couple of years, working for a newspaper. Later on, he lived a bit higher on the hog.

market place in San Antoinio