I'm really starting to think Texas is overcompensating for something. If you catch my drift. Ahem.

My brother had but one request when he came through Houston a little over a week ago. 

"PLEASE OUTSIDE PLEASE PLEASE.  SHINY YELLOW ORB SO PRETTY WHAT IS IT?"

Yeah, my brother lives in Chicago. 

So, while his lady M studied, we drove out of town towards the Armand Bayou, where there's a big interpretive center and a boardwalk and the chance to see a crocodile.  But we got there late, and no amount of charm oozing off my husband would entice the mean meanie interpretive lady to let us in (though they weren't actually closing for another 45 minutes).

This meant that we'd be heading to another nearby outdoor attraction, the San Jacinto Battlefield Monument in Laporte. 

After driving through lots of bustling industrial smokestacks and gawd knows what, we arrived at the tallest monument tower in the world, built in the 1930s to commemorate the Battle of San Jacinto, when Texas won its independence from Mexico.

Seriously, the thing is 15 feet taller than the Washington Monument, and it's sort of off by itself in a field.  The base houses a museum and interpretive center, which is free and full of tidbits like Santa Anna's glove and Stephen F. Austin's china service.

Austin's own sculptress Elisabet Ney, whose museum we went to a couple of weeks ago (not that you'd know it by looking at the blog, dammit) was represented.  Here's her bust of Sam Houston.

Plus, they've got fun stuff like a raisin pitter for making mincemeat and an old-fashioned waffle iron, that looks like an enormously impractical extravagance.  I felt it burning me through the plexiglass display cabinet.

But the fun fun thing to do is take the elevator up to the top for $4.  The operator didn't appreciate our joking about our limited stop options - say, letting us get off halfway.

The view was marginally interesting.  There was a reflecting pool, I guess to invite further comparison to DC's monument, which - did I mention - is 15 feet shorter.

There's also a view of the wetlands heading off towards the Gulf.

And then some of the industry the area's famous for, of course. 

Yeah, well.  You're in Texas, so there's none of that nonsense about being able to see other states, and you're in East Texas, so the topography is just flat and wet. 

One father beckoned his children over to a set of pay binoculars.  "Hey, you can see all the way to I-10 from here!" 

Wow - I-10!

Next stop - outside!  Bro was thrilled.  There's a fairly short boardwalk that keeps you above the boggy ground.  Little minnows and guppies and something larger and floppy moved around under the surface of the water, and red-winged blackbirds and bluejays and grackles alit on the trees and bushes.

It was actually a nice little walk, with only a couple of other people around.  Here are a couple of the important men in my life, who don't look quite this much like each other in real life.

There were cool views of the monument from the trail, but unfortunately that was facing just about due west.  Oh well.

There's a little bit of Texas history for y'all.  If you'd like to learn more about the battle or the monument, go here, to the memorial's site.  They're having a big party there in a couple of weeks to mark the anniversary of the battle, so hey - go!

We took the long way back into town to fulfill another request of my urban planning geography brother guy.  The Fred Hartman Bridge is an over-engineered cable bridge spanning the shipping channel. 

It's another thing you can see from the top of the Battlefield Monument - hey, it's not all I-10 around here, baybee!

We got one picture of it in all its glory through my filthy windshield, highlighting the eyelash or something that's found its way into the inner sanctum of my tiny Canon.

And, if you're wondering, this is what it looks like when a $117.5 million dollar bridge decides it wants you for a tasty snack.

After a nice afternoon of unabashedly dorky fun, we regathered Lady M and went to a rotating bar.  Where it's hard to take pictures, but I tried.  Laters.

Comments

[Paolo]

(insert comment here, neither obsequious nor patronizing, about how good you and the Mr. always look despite apparently eating rich food ALL THE TIME)

[Maria of ugg australia boots]

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