Okay, so Chris is gone for about the next 4 months, so I've decided to take the kiddos out and explore around the area as much as possible to keep away the "I miss daddy" blues. I was born in Texas (Austin), and went to elementary school in a town about an hour away (San Marcos). I remember learning all about the Alamo and the heros that fought there as a kid, so I decided to try to instill that love in Ethan. We went down to the Alamo with a friend who has a little boy that Ethan is friends with. He watched a little video about the Alamo and got to see guns shot by Davy Crocket and knives used by James Bowie. I think he had fun.
The Alamo. Many Texans still believe in their hearts that Texas should still be its own independent country. I'm not kidding! I see bumper stickers everywhere showing the Texas flag with the caption "Secede!" I'm not that fanatical, but I do think Texas has a history that is interesting. I mean where else do you find a group of about 200 poorly supplied men who refuse to surrender and instead decided to take a stance against a well armed army of 6000 soldiers from Mexico? While they didn't win, they did at least hold out for 13 days! Pretty impressive, I think!
In front of the Alamo.
While we were there, we looked across the street and saw the Menger Hotel. It doesn't look like much, but it's got quite a history. Teddy Roosevelt recruited his "Rough Riders" here and Babe Ruth and other famous people have stayed here. It's also supposedly home to the ghost of a rancher who owned The King Ranch, which was about 250 million acres. He died here and (for some reason I don't understand) they still have that bed in the room for guests to stay in! (I don't believe in ghosts, obviously, but it was fun to see a place that had been on TV!)



