Texploration

 

Texas is so big, it's really hard to make a weekend trip many places from Laredo. San Antonio and Corpus Christi are the two closest spots, so during Emily's holiday break, we decided to make trips to both places. Once the semester began, as well as during break, we also spent some time exploring Laredo.

San Antonio

We had decided on a 4 night trip to explore San Antonio and the nearby wine country. Unfortunately, due to problems with our Airbnb (primarily that it had no heat, aside from two space heaters, when the lows were in the 20s and 30s), we had to cut our trip short. Disappointingly, we missed out on our plans to see friend Nancy in Fredericksburg and to explore the wine country. However, we did get to do a few things on our bucket list.

After arriving and grabbing some lunch, Emily and John headed out to see Mission San Antonio de Valero, aka the Alamo, the first mission of those established on the San Antonio River in the 1700s. 

Alamo Facade

The Alamo is right in the city center, and there are places to explore there, but it was high Omicron times during our visit, so they stuck to just the Alamo. On the downside, with a lot of the tourist spots all in close proximity, there is a bit of price gouging, particularly in terms of parking.

Alamo Courtyard 

While they were at the Alamo, I took the opportunity to spend a couple of hours doing some genealogy research. I was able to visit the San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society, which was a pretty cool place, and the volunteer host that day was a very kind and interesting person. This group had a lot of physical holdings, and I was able to see a cool series of books, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes. I often use this collection for my French-Canadian heritage, but I have never seen the actual books!

The Tanguay Collection. Example of a page from this collection. Simon Campeau and Veronique Bourdeau are my 6th great-grandparents.

Why was I spending time doing genealogy research? Well, San Antonio is the closest place with Family History Centers or Affiliate libraries where I can access restricted records.  One of my current smaller projects is trying to solve a DNA match with a Barbarino cousin, Umberto (this is in the line of John's paternal grandfather's mother). 

When Umberto saw John's picture, he said, "You look like my grandpa." 

And look how much Umberto's uncle looks like John's grandfather Giuseppe Ciacchella!

This DNA match was the result of uploading John's raw DNA data to myheritage.com. For a one-time fee of $29, we now have access to DNA matches from people who took their DNA tests via myheritage. For some reason I don't understand, Italians are not able to access Ancestry DNA testing directly, so many choose 23andMe or myheritage. We've already been in touch with two of John's Italian cousins! What a bargain!

I made some progress in figuring out how Umberto is related to John, but I am still missing 1 or 2 links in the chain. I need more time with the restricted records. Another day!

Awakening to these temperatures inside the house, we all agreed that there was no way we could stay our 3 additional nights. Since I was pretty sure we would not get a refund (this was a "Superhost" mind you), and our budget couldn't afford to take the hit of paying for a hotel too, we decided to pick the most important things we wanted to do in San Antonio that we could accomplish this day before driving home. All agreed: the Puffy Taco and the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. 

By the time we packed everything back up, including the groceries we had purchased for cooking, it was almost, but not quite lunch time, so we made a quick trip to Trader Joe's for some special groceries, and then off to get our Puffy Taco!

A bit of background on the puffy taco ... We really enjoy watching the Netflix series Taco Chronicles, which, well, chronicles the history of a particular type of taco in each episode. The episodes also cover something about the area the taco developed in, as well as how the taco has been adapted in locations outside of Mexico. The most fun part is that the taco is the narrator! 

Before our trip to San Antonio, we had seen episode 2.4 American Taco. One of the spots shown was San Antonio, featuring two different restaurants that specialize in the "puffy taco." Of course, both claim to have invented it! John and I were very excited when we saw this taco, because it is the kind of taco that was made at our favorite Mexican restaurant in metro Detroit, El Charro! At El Charro, it is called the soft-shell taco; I have no idea why, because the taco shell is more crunchy than soft. 

The El Charro shredded beef taco

Oh, nix that! I just went to look at El Charro website, and they are now calling that taco a puffy taco; they even have "home of the puffy taco" as a tagline. LOL, they have jumped on the puffy taco bandwagon! Well, our Michigan friends will recall that it was previously called the soft-shell taco. 

John and I haven't had this taco in years, so we were all about checking out the one in San Antonio. The show featured Ray's Drive Inn and Teka Molino, and we decided to sample the puffy taco at the latter. 

OMG, so delicious!

I wasn't confident I could eat two, so I tried another specialty, the picadillo roll. This was equally delicious. We also really liked their guacamole. 

Bellies full, we headed on over to the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, the only one in Texas. Having been conducting our Mission Mission the past five years while Emily was living in California, we were interested in comparing the Texas missions to the California ones. The National Park protects and oversees four missions, which are connected by a lovely trail. They can easily be visited and enjoyed by bike, following this trail, but I think it would be too much for most people to walk. You can also visit by car, which is what we did. 

Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguay was founded in 1720, with the current church's construction spanning from 1758-1782. It is a very large complex. 

The Mission, background, had walls to discourage attacks. You can see the tower in the middle of the photo. Emily peeking out from one of the living quarters. 

A closer view of the church. The rose window is an important architectural feature.

I loved these beautiful arches, as well as the small gardens.

This mission is nicknamed, like Mission Santa Barbara, "Queen of the Missions." The church is still a functioning parish and, like all those we visited this day, was still nicely decorated for the holiday season - an extra bonus! 

Church Interior Details

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción was founded in 1716 and moved to its present location in 1731. The church, completed in 1755, is in its original condition, leading some to consider it the oldest unrestored church in the U.S. The interior also contains original paintings!

This mission holds masses on Sundays and holidays. The wall decorations here reminded me of the style of many of California missions we visited.

Some of the paintings. A view from the living quarters.

This was my favorite - an outdoor Mary Chapel. So simple, yet beautiful.

Mission San José de los Nazonis was founded in 1716 and relocated in 1731 to its current location, where it was renamed Mission San Juan Capistrano (also sharing a name with a famous California mission). 

It had the familiar bells and white facade of some other missions we've seen, very pretty. 

The church interior is simple and understated. Mass is held on Sundays. This mission also has a small museum with informational displays and artifacts.

Mission San Francisco de la Espada was my favorite. It had so many interesting details to photograph. Also an active parish, this mission was established in 1690 and moved to its current location in 1731.

While The Alamo was the first mission established on the San Antonio River, Mission Espada was the first mission in Texas, later moved to the San Antonio River area.

Look at that gorgeous door and arch! A beautiful St. Francis statue.

I liked how the fountain mirrored design elements of the chapel.

Corpus Christi

We had a lot of fun on our trip to Corpus Christi. It's about a 2.5 hour drive from Laredo, depending on where exactly you are headed. Being a coastal area, it can take longer if you're headed to the edge. 

The drive goes through the brush country and some smallish towns. Per usual, heading out of Laredo, we had to stop at the border patrol check and let the dog sniff our car. I'd like to make its picture, but I think the guards might find that annoying. The town Alice, en route, is called The Hub City. It reminded me a lot of Waycross, Georgia, for our south Georgia friends. 

Alice is also proud to be the birthplace of two Nobel prize winners (1996 and 2018), with billboards claiming such going into and out of town. That's impressive! 

In my research, I learned that Alice has a museum of Tejano music. On the drive home we stopped in Alice for gas and potty break at the H.E.B. It was pretty bougie, so maybe there's more to Alice than initially meets the eye!

Since our driving day was the worst in terms of weather, we decided to check out the Texas State Aquarium on our arrival afternoon. 

It was overcast and in the upper 50s our first day.

We'd normally be hesitant to do an indoor activity in this Omicron spike (especially since Nueces County rates were really high), but attendance was low on a Wednesday afternoon, making social distancing easy, and many of the exhibits are open air. We were not impressed with the mask usage among visitors, maybe about 20%; however, the staff were 100% compliant.

Wearing our penguin masks for the occasion.

Since our Santa Barbara Zoo membership is still active, we were able to use the reciprocal agreement for 50% off of two of our tickets, saving $39.95. Compared to previous aquariums and zoos we've visited, the price is not outrageous, even without the discount, and the parking fee is a reasonable $5. Now, we're a bit spoiled, having lived near and regularly visited the largest aquarium in the U.S. in Atlanta, Georgia. As well, we've visited some other well-known aquariums, including the National Aquarium in Baltimore and Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. Even though smaller, we found this aquarium to have some equally impressive features (according to this article, this aquarium is the 10th largest in the U.S.). 

There are 2 primary exhibits, Gulf of Mexico and the 2-level Caribbean Journey. There is also an outdoor area with gardens and animal exhibits, as well as a large underwater dolphin viewing area.

Dolphin viewing area

In the H.E.B. Caribbean Sea display you can walk around the entire tank, as well as under a tube that the animals are swimming through.

Seahorse and Amelius Vanchellus, two of my favorite species.

John liked the shark exhibits, and who doesn't love an otter?

We also saw some very beautiful birds. The camera really doesn't capture how vibrant they were.

American Flamingos and Scarlet Macaw

Scarlet Ibis and Redhead

One aspect I really enjoyed is how much they focus on animal rehabilitation at this facility. 

In the past three years, the aquarium has rescued, rehabilitated, and released more than 2,500 sea turtles! In extremely cold weather in February 2021, over 1,000 green sea turtles had hypothermic reactions and needed rescuing. The aquarium has rehabilitated and released over 950 of these.

These beauties were the type John and I snorkeled with on our recent trip to Curaçao. I recognized the shell pattern immediately. I'm so glad the aquarium was able to help them.

Being on the Gulf of Mexico, I also enjoyed the exhibits that showed all the connections between this region and the Mexican Yucatán peninsula, which we have recently visited on cruises. 

Many of the fish in this exhibit were familiar. Visiting here made me want to go snorkeling! There were a number of types of stingrays, including this Southern Stingray.

Emily and I were excited to visit, as we both had exactly zero fish observations in our Seek apps. I'm happy to report that we went from zero to the Gold Fish Badge in this visit. As well, we both finished up some challenges and earned additional badges for these. We're nerds and proud. 

I completed the Vertebrate Water Predator and the Flight Challenges.

After our fun aquarium trip, we unexpectedly found an excellent Middle Eastern restaurant (and market) right near our hotel and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

Bridge to nowhere! Reminded me of the film Speed. Yummy dinner!

Weather much improved, we spent our second day exploring Padre Island National Seashore. This is the longest stretch of protected and undeveloped barrier island in the world, a real treasure for Texas. Some people confuse the national seashore with South Padre Island, the popular resort and spring break destination. Although they are part of the same island, they are not connected, as an artificial waterway cuts through the island at the park's southern point, separating the two parts of the island. They are very part apart, literally and figuratively. The entrance fee is a very reasonable $10 per vehicle for 1 day or $25 for 7 days. There is RV, tent, and primitive beach camping.

This park is huge! After the entrance, you drive several miles through grassland prairie. This portion reminded me a lot of Jekyll Island, but without the Golden Isles glow.

Our first stop was the visitor's center in order to decide where we'd like to explore. At the visitor's center, we learned that this area (as well as Laredo) is part of the Central Flyway migratory path. The seashore's environment, with 130,000 acres of undeveloped land, provides an attractive spot for migratory birds, and around half of all North American bird species have been spotted in this park. Needless to say, it is very popular with birdwatchers. The visitor center also had this beautiful art work, titled One, by Amanda J. Sisk, on display. It is a mixed media piece featuring fresco paintings on repurposed bottle caps and lids, as well as other found objects. 

Very symbolic and beautiful. A link to better photo here.

We decided to visit three areas of the park. First off, South Beach, to have a picnic lunch, sit by the water, and have a beach walk. South Beach is 60 miles long, along which one can drive their vehicle, and is one of the areas for primitive camping. A non FWD vehicle, like Marina, can only drive within about the first five miles. 

Marina got to go to the beach too!

Emily has a halo! Heron enjoying a stroll.

Next we were off to Bird Island Basin, which is on the bay side of the island. This area is popular for windsurfing, fishing and kayaking. It is similar to the Intracoastal in Florida, but much smaller, thus only accommodating very small craft. There is RV and tent camping here, and we had a nice long chat with the friendly camp host. She and her husband are full-time RVers, so we had lots to discuss!

We saw people fishing and kayaking. It was so peaceful and calm there. Emily found this treasure. Shelling is allowed as long as the shell is no one's current home.

Our final stop was Malequite Beach for beach sitting, reading and walking. I really enjoyed getting my Vitamin Sea!

Dunes view and ocean view. This beach reminded me a lot of Jekyll Island's beach by the Great Dunes Pavilion. 

We had asked the camp host for a recommendation for a fish and chips place and decided on her suggestion of Snoopy's Pier (because the name, of course). Great choice!

Delicious dinner and drinks with a gorgeous view!

On our way home, we couldn't resist stopping at this roadside attraction in the small town of Freer (Emily had joint enrollment students from here last semester). They have a Rattlesnake Round-Up, just like south Georgia! And, look what was waiting in the mail when we got home. Yay!

Around Laredo

After being cooped up from Christmas to New Year's with a chest cold, I was ready to get out for some fresh air and explore one of the area parks. North Central Park is about 3 miles from Emily's place and has a nice walking trail with a small pond, lots of benches, and glimpses of wildlife (some of which you may not want to encounter!). As Laredo doesn't have a lot of choices for places to walk, we have returned to this nice park several times.

This Chinese Pastiche tree's color was brilliant. The white-tailed deer was well-camouflaged. Turtles taking some sun on the pond.

This park also has something unusual, a disc golf course. Watch out for flying discs!

Any friends out there play disc golf? I don't know much about this sport.

We also took some time to check out the state park that is located in Laredo, Lake Casa Blanca. We went for a picnic and explored several different areas of the park. The picnic / playground area is spacious and right near the water. 

Swinging for some exercise!

Picnic and a walk. It was a little breezy, but very sunny.

Sweet acacia: pretty but very thorny! I ended up with thorns in my tennies multiple times. One time it went all the way through to my foot. Ouch!

Next, on to check out the "old museum." There wasn't much information about this building. It looks like it could have been a home or small school or mission. Emily and I hiked the small Osprey Hill Loop here, which seemed to be the highest point in the park, perhaps even in Laredo. Nice vistas!

The Old Museum

Nice view of the lake and Laredo in the background. Here was another type of acacia, blackbrush, which we learned can be used to flavor meat when added to an open fire for cooking.

Top of the World. You can see Texas A&M International University, where Emily works, in the background.

We wrapped up our day with a couple of hours reading, watching the wildlife, and enjoying the sun. Emily and I also took a little hike around the water's edge, near the restoration area.

American White Pelicans. I wish the photos were sharper, as they were magnificent.

A hike and a sittin' spot.

Evening brought a most gorgeous sunset! Mother Nature at her best.

We've also had some fun activities at home and around campus:

We celebrated John's 62nd birthday - social security eligible! He requested Parrilladas from Taco Pallenque, seriously delicious (have I mentioned how tasty the beef is here?) and margarita pie (recipe at end of post).

Puzzling! Emily loves her Laredo tacos, but she misses her Santa Barbara ramen. When friend Lori was offering to send friends her puzzles, I requested the ramen puzzle for Emily. John and I checked out the TAMIU planetarium and enjoyed a psychedelic show to accompany Dark Side of the Moon.

I wanted to give a shout out to Laredo massage therapist Yvette Morales who has taken care of my massage needs during my extended Laredo stay. Aside from being a great therapist, she has the cutest, most relaxing studio!

I love that the 'client' looks like an average woman. 

Texas Pride (aka Obsession)

We continue to find more examples of Texas Pride. I forgot to tell the story before of when I called Progressive to change over the auto insurance. I started off, "I just moved to Texas..." and before I could get another word out the rep said, "Oh, congratulations!" This was followed by a telling of the glories of the state, before I could get to changing my auto policy. She was so enthusiastic. 

Now we have found pasta, aka Texaroni, pecan and toffee cake, and the Texas waffle...

I wonder if Texas is the only state with its own waffle maker shape? This was at a hotel, but don't despair, you can get your own personal mini Texas waffle-maker at H.E.B.

I knew that Dr. Pepper and Whataburger are Texas inventions, but I know that Dairy Queen is not, so I was surprised when a saw this notation on the sign. Apparently, Texas has decided to lay claim in its own Texas way!

This state cracks me up! 

Well, that's about it for Texploration. We will be leaving soon and will have more on that in another blog post. For now, I'll wrap up with the trip mascot for this portion of our journey. I had a tough time choosing this time, because there were two contenders, so I'm naming two mascots:

Javelinas

We've seen this many times at campus, but now a squadron has taken to visiting Emily's apartment complex! 

Firepaw, Emily's semi-adopted outdoor kitty.

Margarita (Key Lime) Pie

1 ¼ c. crushed pretzels

½ c. melted butter

¼ c. sugar

Mix above ingredients together and press into pie plate to form crust.

Zest of 1 lime

2/3 c. lime juice (we like the Key West lime juice)

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 pint softened vanilla ice cream

In large bowl, with whisk, stir condensed milk, zest from the lime, and lime juice until blended.

Whisk ice cream into condensed milk mixture until blended (mixture will be the consistency of sour cream).

Pour mixture into piecrust. Cover with plastic wrap. Freeze at least 6 hours or until firm. In not serving pie the same day, wrap and freeze up to 1 week.

To serve, uncover pie and let stand at room temperature 10 minutes to soften for slicing. Can garnish with whipped cream and sprinkle with lime-peel slivers.