Category: Gulf Coast

Battleship Texas

by John L, posted in Battleship Texas, General

Next to the San Jacinto Battleground in Houston is Battleship Texas. If you like history, ships, militaria, or all of the above you’ll easily spend a few hours checking out this jewel of the Admiral Nimitz Fleet.

battleship texas

Your parks pass gets you aboard for free. This is a great deal considering it’s normally $12 for an adult and $6 for the kids.

You can take a seat on the guns and get a feel for what it was like to aim these beasts.

view from guns on battleship texas

If you’re a photography nut, you’ll need to bring extra memory cards. One of my favorite shots was of the San Jacinto Monument from the bow of the ship.

view of monument from battleship texas

San Jacinto Battleground and Monument

by John L, posted in General, San Jacinto, TexasStateParks

Back in June we headed to Houston to see an Astros game and check out a couple of Houston area parks. Truly one of the highlights was the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site and Monument. This should be on every Texan’s bucket list. (summary of battle)

san jacinto monument

view from top of monument

The elevator ride to the top is $4 and is probably a “do it once just to say you did it” kind of thing. The views are nice though.

Sheldon Lake State Park

by John L, posted in General, Hiking, Sheldon Lake, TexasStateParks

Park #17 on our Texas State Parks adventures was Sheldon Lake State Park. This park is just East of Houston about 20 minutes from downtown.

We almost missed the turnoff to get into the park because the entrance was blocked by a passing train.

entrance to sheldon lake state park

The park office was closed because they don’t want to be open on the weekends when people may visit. Just kidding of course, but it did seem odd. There was no entrance fee so that was nice.

There were plenty of picture opportunities at this park. The front of the park has several ponds with lilies and other blooming flowers around.

pond at sheldon lake state park

Each pond had it’s own personality. Some looked calm.

sheldon lake state park
The detail in the full size is pretty decent for an iphone. Click the image to see the full-size image.

And others looked like “several things in there could kill me.”

pond at sheldon lake state park with many tree stumps
No distortion here by the way. That’s just an optical illusion from how the stumps and leaves are naturally arranged. Very interesting result from a quick point and shoot with the iPhone.

 

We saw some wildlife along the trail.

rabbit on trail

And were warned of some others.

A recent picture of an alligator spotted at Sheldon Lake State Park can be found at another blog. The picture there was taken by Sandy over at “What Shall I Make Today?” Click the image for her alligator pic.

Between the smaller ponds at the front and Sheldon Lake is a great observation tower. The elevator is powered by solar panels. (Elevator currently undergoing maintenance. Call ahead to check availability).

observation tower

sheldon lake

the bent pine tree

Be careful at the Bent Pine Tree. While standing and reading the sign we noticed our feet were quickly covered in ants. They weren’t fire ants, but still annoying.

Overall a nice park with much to offer for visitors of all ages.