Carl Henning

There is a lot to do in Cleburne, Texas. Like see its history in the Layland Museum. It’s housed in the former Carnegie Library. Interesting history of the building: Andrew Carnegie donated funds for the library (and over 2,500 others).…

Things to do in Cleburne, Texas: visit the Cleburne Railroad Museum. Why on earth were we in Cleburne? Baseball – a tournament for our 16-year-old grandson’s team. Baseball is a big deal in Cleburne. Their first pro team dates from over…

As we’re ready to bid Galveston adieu, we stop at the Galveston Naval Museum at Seawolf Park on Pelican Island. It features the USS Stewart (a destroyer escort) and the USS Cavalla (Gato Class Submarine). Both saw service in WW2.

It wasn’t always the Bishop’s Palace. It was completed in 1893 for the Gresham family. Made of stone, it survived the great hurricane of 1900. The family took in many survivors. In 1923 it was sold to the diocese for use by the bishop.

An accounting of tall ship Elissa and deadly bananas, praise the Republic of Texas navy, a squadron of pelicans, and Zeke, one of many sea turtle sculptures.

Engineers like to visit museums that show how things are done. The Ocean Star Museum is one. How is oil drilling in the ocean done? How are oil wells connected? What does a drill rig look like? These questions and…

Glenn Campbell sang “Galveston, oh Galveston, I still hear your sea winds blowin'”

So we drove down to hear the sea winds, aka gentle ocean breezes, hoping for cooler temperatures than Houston. And to see the sights. It had been a long time since we had visited. Turns out there’s a lot to see. And lots of history.

On the Florida Gulf coast are some great beaches, like Siesta Key. In fact, the welcome sign says it’s “The Number One Beach.” We saw the sunset from Nokomis Beach.

The Nimitz displays are interesting but the real worthy exhibits are in the 30,000-square foot George H. W. Bush Gallery. The history of World War II in the Pacific is traced chronologically. It actually has a brief prolog revealing the events that set the stage for the war. Events at the war’s end were surprising.

In my quest to visit the frontier forts of Texas, I visited Fort McKavett. The sprawling grounds encompass ruins and original buildings. Like all the forts visited, this one has no palisade (unlike Western movie forts). Other forts visited include Fort Davis, Fort Lancaster, and Fort Stockton. Many more to go.