Today it was sadly time to move on from San Antonio, which has to be our favourite place so far this holiday - sorry Houston and New Orleans. We were heading to Dallas today, but as Austin is on the route so we through we would stop there on the way.
Austin is the capital of Texas and is the site of the Texas State Capitol. We found it very easily and were also easily (and surprisingly) able to park on a street right by it. To make things even better, some kind soul had left two hours remaining on the parking meter, which was the perfect amount of time for us. Thank you whoever you are.
After a quick visit to the Visitors Center (well I suppose thats what its for), we walked across to the Capitol, went through security and were free to wander around anywhere we wanted to. I cant see that being allowed in the UK Palace of Westminster. We joined a tour though, which started every 15 minutes (no charge). The tour was amazing and covered a lot about Texas and the Capitol Building itself.
teyshas in the Native American Caddo language meaning very, very big. No to be honest, thats a lie, it means friends and actually friendly is still the Texan motto. I lie because the Texan State Capitol building is the biggest of all the state capitol buildings and the 382 foot high dome is actually higher than the US Capital in Washington DC. Apparently the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge (which we skipped past but did not have time to visit) has a tower that is higher, but as thats just a tower, it doesnt count.
I think the actual Texas motto, according to the Texans, is Dont mess with Texas as we do see that I quite a lot of places, along with the Come and take it reference from The Alamo (see Texan History Day) .
Inevitably, the Alamo cropped up and, in fact, there is a huge painting of the battle that ended the 12 day siege on the wall of the Senate Chamber. There was also a similar painting of the Battle of San Jacinto. This is the battle that followed The Alamo and is when the Texans, whilst shouting Remember the Alamo, defeated the Mexicans
Icons of the six countries whose flags have flown in Texas - France, Spain, Mexico, the Texan Republic, The Confederacy and The United States.
in 18 minutes to finally achieve Texan Independence. Apparently, they attacked whilst the Mexican forces were sleeping, which really isnt very friendly.
The painting shows the Mexican President Santa Anna running way in humiliation. Apparently, he was later captured disguised as a Private, but was given away by his own men who recognised him and gave him away by saluting him.
Despite Texas now being part of the US, they definitely seem to have a stronger sense of self identity than most other states, or at least they do to our limited observations. We have noticed just how often you see the Texan flag flying all around, definitely more than you see the state flag in other US states that we have been to.
Anyway, back to the tour. We were taken into the Senate Chamber, but we could not go to the House Chamber as part of the tour, as, apparently, they were busy with the business of the day. How inconvenient of them. Anyway, I think word got round that we were waiting, so they quickly wrapped up and we were able to go in and have a look after the tour.
We had a quick stop at a postcard mural a couple of miles from The Capitol and then we set off the rest of the way to Dallas. One thing that I have to say about the Texans is that they are very inconsiderate drivers. There was one point that we were clearly trying to change lanes to get into a rapidly approaching filling station and almost got rammed by a truck. We were constantly shouting, Dont you know what your state motto is?
After a quick stop at a McDonalds to resolve a satnav problem using their (see McDonalds to The Rescue), we arrived at our hotel in Downtown Dallas.
As we had been sat in the car for most of the day, had a walk around and then looked for somewhere to eat.
