Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts

Friday, March 18, 2022

Birding at High Island

One of my favorite spring activities is birding at High Island.  We've never gone in March before, so it was a treat to see the rookery a little earlier in the year. The birds were still building their nests and we got to see some eggs too! It was a spectacular day with brilliant blue skies, low humidity and no mosquitoes. 


Great Egrets


Blue eggs in the nest








We saw five alligators at the rookery. The alligators keep racoons and other critters from swimming to the island and eating the eggs.  



Roseate spoonbill



Snowy egret



Juvenile white ibis with a roseate spoonbill









After a picnic lunch, we detoured slightly to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. We have been once before, in the winter, and we were astounded by the number of animals we saw on this visit. We saw so many alligators that we had to stop counting, but it was well over 100. It was a spectacular detour!


White ibis



Black-necked stilt


A day trip to go birding in southeast Texas is always one of the highlights of our spring! 

Sunday, December 22, 2019

A Texas Adventure: Central Texas (Part Two)

After our second drive through Fossil Rim Wildlife Park, we headed to Fort Worth with a stop at Cleburne State Park on our way.  It was a gorgeous day to get outside for a little bit.  





After hiking and a picnic lunch, we continued on to Fort Worth, where we visited both the Amon Carter and Kimbell Museums. Both were fantastic, though we all really enjoyed the works at the Kimbell.  



For dinner that night, we tried a local spot called The Bearded Lady, which was delicious!



On our next day in Fort Worth, we ran to a bookstore and then were at the Stockyards in time for the 11am cattle drive.  

Note Will's grumpy face because he thought it was too early for Christmas decorations to be up!


Everyone was reading while waiting for the cattle drive to start. One lady even crossed the street to compliment us about the boys reading!


Books in hand


And then we saw the cattle drive!


Afterwards, we ate lunch at Riscky's Steakhouse, which was incredibly good. We only felt mildly bad about eating beef after seeing the cattle drive!



The Stockyards Museum is small, but worth a visit.  






That evening, we went to the Water Gardens, designed by Philip Johnson.  They are spectacular!










We were too tired to go out for dinner, so we just enjoyed cheese, crackers and veggies in the hotel room.  Gene and Henry did some sketching.  



On our last day of our mini getaway, we visited the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on Fort Worth's north side.  We have no photos because cell phones and cameras aren't allowed inside, but we the bureau is worth visiting to learn about how America's paper money is printed.  More than half of it is made in Fort Worth and it was a fascinating experience.  After a quick lunch, we drove to Palestine, arriving early enough to have some downtime in our hotel before heading out for our annual Polar Express train ride.  






We've done the Polar Express for so many years, but it really is a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit (even if you go before Thanksgiving like we did!).