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frankboddn
Major
USA
Status: offline |
 Posted - May 10 2007 : 5:37:25 PM
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Hey. I just got back to California from visiting relatives in Texas for a month. My wife felt sorry for me, since they're all her relatives, and told me to take a hike. So I did. I grew up in TExas and have visited many times since leaving home at 19, and I never got to visit many places except the Alamo and San Jacinto, which is a lot, I guess.
SO I left Beaumont and drove south the length of Galveston Island and found my way to Goliad. This is one place I'd always wanted to visit. I first visited the site of Fannin's battle at Coleto Creek, where he surrendered under certain terms. The battlefield, in April, was a peaceful beautiful field of yellow wildflowers. If I knew how to post pictures, I'd share them with y'all. It's a beautiful place. It has picnic areas, but don't detract from the solemnity of the field. There is a white building with pictures depicting the battle, maps. It's a small battlefield, so the signage is sufficient to let people know what happened there.
I then drove west a few miles to Goliad where I went to the Mission de la Bahia, I think it's called, where Fannin and most of his 300+ men were murdered. While the mission and its walls are beautifully reconstructed, the lack of signs or rangers or anything to help visitors figure out what happened where was very disappointing. You could walk to the courtyard in front of the chapel where Fannin was executed and stand within 20 feet or less of where it happened, but where the other men were killed is left up to your imagination. KIt's a huge walled-in mission, at least the size of the original Alamo.
You then walk or drive about 400 yards away to the large monument where the TExian dead are buried in a mass grave. Again, te whole area, in April, is covered in wildflowers and very pretty.
From there I drove to Bracektville west of Uvalde on Highway 90. Okay, Bracketville's Alamo village is only John Wayne's reproduction made for his 1960 movie, but being a huge John Wayne-Richard Widmark fan, it was worth the visit. To walk in the footsteps of John Wayne, to stand in the very spot of his on film death as Davy Crockett, well, it was inspiring. Yeah, I'm a geek. So what? I had the entire compound to myself and a map of what happened where. It was easy to let one's imagination flow and see where Crockett and Travis fell, etc. Loved it.
After that I drove to San Antonio. I'd been there several times, but I was taking some pictures for my LBH friends, and I only stayed half an hour or so.
From there I drove to San Jacinto. I walked around the Battleship Texas and visited the location of the Texan camp under the huge trees. There's markers and memorials there with a view of the reflecting pool and the San Jacinto Monument.
I went to the monument and watched the film there and toured the museum. I picked up a self-guided tour pamphlet and took my time touring the battlefield. Pretty well marked and easy to follow with the pamphlet.
It was a great trip, and it only took me 45 years to finally make the entire trip. Meaning I've been wanting to make it for 45 years and finally did it.
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Texas Independence tour.
