The Explore All 50 States Project
Let's Go!
As another spring break approached I knew my kids did not want to sit home bored, so I thought what the heck—let’s take another short road trip. Since we knew Texas was too big to combine with another state, and the thought of Texas in the summer sun didn’t sound too appealing, I figured why not—let’s explore the Lone Star state. Although we did miss some of north Texas near Amarillo, I think we got to … [Read more...]
Did you know that the The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin is the spring and summer home to some 750,000 bats with up to 1.5 million bats at the peak of the bat-watching season? It's the largest urban bat colony in North America! Each evening around sunset, the Congress Avenue bats emerge like a black cloud from the crevices of the bridge. Covering the countryside in search of food, it … [Read more...]
Though my kids and I missed The Bullock Texas State History Museum on our Texas road trip, I got the opportunity to visit while I was in Austin attending a friend's wedding. I thought it was such an incredible museum I wanted to include it here. I so wish I had done this with my kids as this museum traces the history of the state from it's ancient beginnings, through it's period as Mexican territory, it's … [Read more...]
So some of you are probably shaking your head wondering what kind of mother I am letting my kids ride Segways, but I thought this would be a totally unique way to see and experience the city of Austin, and our Segway Tour did not disappoint. There are several outfits now, but when we went they only outfit operating was Segway Nation. This activity was another great example where anything goes in Texas since there … [Read more...]
Texas is a state that is big and bold in character and so it comes as no surprise that the Texas State Capitol Building is also bold in design and stature. It has a beautiful rotunda with a dome with one big star in the middle and the letters of Texas surrounding it. The lone star was on display everywhere and my kids and I had a great time finding them even on the fence surrounding the building. After checking … [Read more...]
After the long drive down from Houston we were starving. Heading down toward the beach near our hotel we found Blackbeards, a seafood restaurant that was mighty tasty . Argh matey’s…the Fish and chips were pretty darn good according to Joel, our resident Fish and Chips expert! At dinner we laughed at the fact that we almost drove all the way down to Padre Island at the very bottom of Texas. I had punched in … [Read more...]
Before hitting the road out of Corpus Christie we decided to check out the Texas State Aquarium. While it's kind of on the small side compared to some other aquariums we've seen we all had a great time experiencing the touch tanks learning about some of the local marine life. One particularly interesting exhibit that we hadn't seen before was a stingray touch tank. The kids all stuck their hands in-me I wasn't so … [Read more...]
If you’re like us and have never been on an aircraft carrier, then you’ll find The USS Lexington Museum On The Bay really interesting just like we did. This ship was enormous, in fact the kids and I felt like it was a floating city. This ship was used in World War II and we got to see what life was like for the sailors on board, where they ate and slept, how they manned the battle stations and where they got … [Read more...]
After an intensely serious activity learning all about the Kennedy assassination, the kids and I needed some fun and a bit of a break from the Texas heat. We headed to Adventure Landing, another family fun center in one of the Dallas suburbs. The kids hopped in the bumper boats as soon as I paid the price of admission and set off soaking each other in no short order. Next we headed to the air conditioned … [Read more...]
While Dallas is known as a gleaming glamorous city home to some of the country's wealthiest oil barons, sadly, it is also known for is the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The kids and I made our way to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza where literally in the road two x's mark the spot where the two shots ended the life of our 35th president. It’s hard to imagine what happened that day, but after … [Read more...]
