After our stay in New Orleans we travelled towards Texas. However not without passing by some of the old plantations of Louisiana. The one we visited was the Laura Plantatation, a creole plantation typical for the early 1800s area. It was owned by French immigrants and the story of the family who owned this property before the civil war was full of murder, romance, greed and intrigue. Both sides of the story were told and we also learned how the slaves lived and how they were treated.
We also visited the tiny River Road African American Museum in Donalsonville, which tells the whole story from an African American perspective.
Our next stop was Houston where we visited the Space Museum. This is the actual room where the mission to the moon landing was controlled. Remember it from the film Apollo 13? (“Houston we have a problem”). You get a great sense of history here. This particular room is no longer in use and a more modern space is now functional one story down.
Here is an actual Saturn 5 rocket from the Apollo Space programme. They are HUGE! It’s almost impossible to imagine that they can launch this into the air.
They also have actual samples from the moon which you can touch (although it is tiny) and exhibits on what the moon looks like.
Our next stop was Austin. Texas’ capital and the capital of the US for Live Music. Below is an example of that claim where a band was playing during the day and many were dancing. I experienced more live music in New Orleans though.
We visited the Texan History museum which gave us a good overview of the state’s history.
We love learning about history and often engulf ourselves completely. This time me and my husband have both read the biographies of Truman by historian David McCullough (great read, highly recommended) and are now reading about Eisenhower. So naturally we took the opportunity to visit the L.B. Johnson Museum and Library. A very well-setup museum, although it felt a bit like Johnson’s family’s main purpose was to justify all LBJ’s decisions (in particular his decision to go to Vietman). The subtitle of the museum says it all: see LBJ in a whole new way.
We also had the opportunity to go to a rodeo. These are still very common in Texas and it turned out to be a fantastic family event. Cowboys and cowgirls galore and we were pretty much the only tourists there.
Shorts and cowboy boots with cowboy hats was one of the hip styles at the rodeo.
My outfit does not quite fit the bill. Where are the cowboy boots when you need them!
At least I wore a hat although is was not nearly as good as the hats of the other models below….
The rodeo starts of with the cowgirls who gallop on their horses with the flags of the communities they represent.
The rodeo features a lot of the traditional cowboy activities like catching a cow with a lasso, taming a horse, but of course also the popular bull riding.
My son tried it out too….
Even the kids get involved. They have to try and catch the flags which are attached to running cows.
Back in Austin I enjoyed my lunch with style blogger and artist Stephanie and we explored the city a little further.
One of the prettiest places is Lady Bird Lake where many enjoy boating across.
Dogs take part too!
The Barton Springs are nearby where lots of families were taking a dip in the cold water.
We absolutely loved Texas.
They say that everything is bigger in Texas and it certainly is. The roads are big, the countryside is vast, the food portions are huge and the people’s hearts are big. The cowboys and girls of Texas may look tough with their cowboy hats and tattoos but they turned out to be some of the nicest people we met. We even loved their slogan that discourages people to leave their trash behind: Don’t Mess With Texas!
Next stop: New Mexico!
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