USA Day 19 - Houston, we have a problem...

Total States Visited: 8
Where Are We Sleeping Tonight: Holiday Inn, Houston, Texas

What a great day we had today! After a late start, we headed to Cavender's Boot City cowboy supply store where I got some cowboy boots, a hat and a belt - yee haw! Clare still refuses to believe me when I say that she doesn't look foolish in a hat... so she bought a bandanna.

After Subway for lunch, we visited WalMart again - that place is evil! I still wished we had them back home though. Next we finally got to the Johnson Space Centre! We went on a tour and saw a Saturn V rocket and the astronaut training facility, complete with International Space Station mockup and weird sci-fi looking moon buggies.

 
 

Back at the main complex we watched a film on NASA before experiencing a simulated shuttle lift-off before making our way into a simulated mission control centre where we had a briefing on current missions, and got to ask questions about NASA's future without shuttles. We had a look through the "Starship Gallery" where we saw lunar modules and got to go aboard a full sized shuttle training simulator - it was so cool!

 
 

We visited the gift shop just as they were closing before we rushed around and got to play with lots of cool things, like helmets, and generally behaved like small children - it was so much fun. The centre practically had to kick us out :) Just around the corner from the Space Center is a McDonald's with a giant inflatable spaceman on the roof!

 
 

We drove down to Galveston where we saw huge mansions next to boarded up run-down slums - it was a strange sight to see. While there, we had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. I ordered the Samuel Adams Steampot which has half a crab, 3 lobster claws, heaps of clams and shrimp, potatoes and a whole corn on the cob - oh my God!! YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM :)

USA Day 18 - Happy 4th of July

Total States Visited: 8
Where Are We Sleeping Tonight: Holiday Inn, Houston, Texas

After a slow start to the day, which included doing some washing, we headed off, ready for Texan fun!

After seeing the above commercial, we decided we had to try the Outback Steakhouse and what better day to have Australian cuisine than on America's Independence Day. After driving around Houston for a bit, the one we found was closed (boo) so we ended up having lunch at Jack In The Box, which was pretty good.

Dressed in our American clothes, we were ready to head down to "Freedom Over Texas" - the largest land based fireworks show in America!

 

One of the best ideas (sort of) here is the idea of buying coupons that you then redeem everywhere inside the enclosed Freedom area (is it me or is that an oxymoron?). It definitely makes life easier when people don't have to count money or give change. Clare bought some deep fried Oreos and a weird blue drink with dry ice - it looked like it came out of a scientist's lab!

 

Once we got past all the different armed services recruiting stands, we saw several music stages with numerous different country singers - none of which we had heard of before! I am sure they are big names in the US, or at the very least Texas... After walking through the numerous streets of shops and stalls (all inside the enclosed area), we found ourselves a great spot on the hillside, not far from the beach volleyball court. Drinking our Diet Dr Pepper and eating pizza, we were fully disguised as locals... or more likely, stood out as obvious tourists! With the sun setting, it was time for the major show.

 

The show was amsing - so much bigger and better than the Australia Day fireworks in Perth (or Bunbury).

USA Day 17 - jerky capital of the world

Total States Visited: 8
Where Are We Sleeping Tonight: Holiday Inn, Houston, Texas

After more Texas shaped waffles we decided to head straight to Houston. Of course we had to stop at WalMart first for some supplies, which included some IronMan PJs :)

On the way to Houston, Clare pulled off the interstate so we could visit Woody's Smokehouse - the jerky capital of the world! They had jerky from just about every animal imaginable. We grabbed a bit of everything - the elk jerky was bar far the best, the venison sausage was a close second.

Back on the road again, after we saw another great billboard, I spotted an electronic hazard sign warning motorists about an accident ahead - a truck transporting a house lost it's load. Yes, a house crashed on the interstate - glad I wasn't right behind that one!

 

We had Whataburger for lunch and apart from the homemade diner feel, the food was a tad ordinary. We did a little bit of antique shopping before getting back on the road. Driving through downtown Houston, we couldn't help but notice the large church next to the freeway.

When we checked into the hotel, we decided to set up the laptop and get plenty of rest as tomorrow is going to be a busy day!

USA Day 16 - Texas Schoolbook Depository

Total States Visited: 8
Where Are We Sleeping Tonight: Econo Lodge, Dallas, Texas

Cooked up some pre-made waffle mix for breakfast this morning to make a waffle in the shape of Texas! They were delicious - just like a fluffy pancake. After a wonderful breakfast, it was time to drive into Dallas.

First up was a visit to Dealey Plaza and the 6th Floor Museum - it was unbelievable surreal actually being here where JFK was assassinated. I have seen so much documentary footage but actually standing behind the fence on THE grassy knoll was very humbling. The museum was fantastically open about the inconsistencies and the conspiracy theories around the assassination proving how much the USA values free speech - there was even a guy on the street yelling about the similarities between the assassination of JFK and the "assassination" of Jesus!

 
 

After visiting Subway for lunch, we visited a couple of cowboy outfitters - I found a pair of $300 cowboy boots that didn't look too touristy, and of course a cowboy hat. Everything was a bit too expensive as they were targeting the tourist trade. I decided not to get anything here and to see if we can find a traditional cowboy outfitters store. That's when we drove back out of Dallas, following the route the JFK's motorcade took through Dealey Plaza - I had a cold shiver as we drove over the spot Kennedy was shot...

After a brief 80's flashback on TV (Wargames and ET), we drove over to Fort Worth to visit the Fort Worth Stockyards area. After a quick tour of the area, we had dinner at the wonderful Risckys Bar-B-Q - it was great food with great service. Next time I will have to try the all you can eat beef ribs.

Next we walked past the Live Stock Exchange and walked into the rodeo - what a show! We saw the team steer roping, the cowgirl horse race and of course, bull riding. I was amazed at just how much fun we had!

 

The next chapter of our Texas adventure saw us visiting the world's largest honky tonk bar - Billy Bob's Texas. The place was huge! It had 6 large bars inside (that I saw), several dance floors, a restaurant, a stage with seating, a gift shop, a pool hall, game machines, hand print wall, mobile phone recharging stations - the place was amazing! All we were missing were the boots and the hats :)

 

USA Day 15 - the best museums ever

Total States Visited: 8
Where Are We Sleeping Tonight: Econo Lodge, Dallas, Texas

I awoke this morning watching 747's taking off over our heads. At least it is finally cool - something I thought it would never be again!

We went and visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum - the site of the infamous Oklahoma City bombing. All of the chairs next to the reflecting pool represent the people who were killed in the attack - it was very moving. The museum was amazing and while I like how the museum was arranged chronologically, there was so much information to try and absorb - I feel like we need a whole day to spend here. The way that they have displayed relics from the bombing is great - it's a shame they couldn't have done something like this for the World Trade Centre attack.

Next we walked across the road to the Post Office to buy some stamps to post home some postcards. We spent half an hour in the queue waiting for the single staff member to move with a purpose... I had time to walk a couple of blocks to the car, and drive it to the Post Office, and the queue had hardly moved!

Back on the road, we headed to "Bricktown", an evening hot spot in the converted freight area of Oklahoma City. While we were there at lunch time, I can see how the place would be super busy at night. We had lunch at the Jazmo'z Burbon Street Cafe and boy was it a wonderful experience. Not only did we eat new food (alligator, catfish and jambalaya) which was super tasty, but the blues/jazz music and the whole atmosphere made lunch a wonderful dinning experience. Sadly, we didn't get time to pop into the American Banjo Museum...

 
 

Heading onward toward Dallas, it was time for Clare to drive (once again through some major roadworks) while I took a nap.

 

At some point, Clare woke me up to ask if I wanted to visit the Toy & Action Figure Museum - Hello? Of course! While it was a little pricey for what was there, there was a huge range of cool toys - it was a lot of fun :)

 
 
 

After checking in to our Dallas motel, we headed to the cinema to watch Transformers 3. It was OK but too much poorly timed humour, slapstick, and in places sequences were too long (the end battle where the troops appeared out of nowhere) and too short in other places (Chicago fell in the blink of an eye). At least it is better than Transformers 2.