It was not the ideal time of year to be visiting these sites, so my time in Texas was limited.
From Houston, I drove down to Palo Alto Battlefield NHP in Brownsville, right on the border. As you can see, it was just a lot of wide open spaces. There was a path to walk with interpretive signs, but did I mention it was July in Texas?
At this site, I learned that there was a dispute over the border, and Mexico had a better military and more troops, but the U.S. had more money and more weapons. So we acted like assholes and won this fight.
More memorable than the battlefield was this little restaurant called 3 Marias, where I tried something called guisos. The flavors I tried were elotes, cactus, and three cheese. Oh. My. Delicious. Word. It's my new favorite Mexican food, but I've never seen them anywhere else. They're kind of like quesadillas, except it's some kind of fried batter that I loved because it was crispy.
The next day I went to Padre Island National Seashore. I tried to get excited about a day at the beach. I really did. I told myself that I'd been running around so much, I could just sit and relax and read a book. But it was miserable. It was 95 degrees. I felt like my skin was just burning, despite the sunscreen. Unless I went for a full on swim, that water wasn't going to do much to cool me off. There was no breeze, or cooler temps since I was on the water... it was just HOT. And it's not even a pretty beach! I'm spoiled; I love the beaches of the Pacific Northwest. This beach was just boring. I forced myself to stay for 30 minutes, then got an oil change and stopped at Hobby Lobby for some craft supplies. This is how I know I'm getting ready to be done with my trip; I start thinking about crafts I want to make.
Since my beach visit was so short, I had time to visit San Antonio Missions NHP that day. There are multiple historic missions around the city, but I was lazy and just went to one.
It was pretty, but sad. After operating for 10 years, more than 70% of the nearby Native American population had died of disease. They were killing the people they'd come to "save."
The next morning was my last park site on this trip- the Lyndon B. Johnson NHS. I really enjoyed the drive through Texas hill country to get to this park. When you get there, you can choose between two experiences and either focus on Lady Bird or LBJ. (Or both, I guess, if you're not in a hurry.) I watched a film about her, then looked around the museum. I am now a Lady Bird fangirl! She was a naturalist who fought for conservation. She was a believer in civil rights which meant that people from her hometown in Texas pretty much disowned her and thought she was traitor. I love how ladylike and badass she was all at the same time. It has been speculated that many national disasters were adverted from her saying, "Now, Lyndon..." I also learned that her real name was Claudia!
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