Mom decided that we needed to do a least one educational/historical activity while she was in town, so yesterday we headed over to see Battleship Texas. It’s docked (probably feet deep in silt by this point) right off the Houston Ship Channel and next to the San Jacinto Monument. While I’m sure this area of town was much different years ago when the Battle of San Jacinto took place, it’s now devoted solely to making funny-smelling and probably toxic materials. Nothing like going to see a historic landmark nestled amidst chemical plants galore.
Anyway.
As we learned, the Battleship Texas became the first memorial battleship museum in the country in 1948. It was commissioned in 1914 was, at that time, the most powerful weapon in the world. It saw action in both world wars, even though it was a pretty old ship by 1945, and was part of D-Day, as well as the battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Only one person was ever killed in battle onboard, and the ship was surprisingly unscathed in both wars. It was decommissioned right after WWII and had been scheduled for use as target practice, but the people of Texas managed to buy the ship and bring it here in 1948.
It was a cool ship, and fun to visit. The big disappointment was that the engine room was closed — the engines are National Engineering Historic Landmarks and we wanted to see them. But the rest of the ship was cool enough. A couple of the anti-aircraft guns on the deck still move, so Jose and I had a lot of fun aiming the gun and shouting things like “fire in the hole.” Enjoy the photos…
I’m not sure that I can take much more of the Astros. Last night’s game, though they managed to eke out a win, was the perfect example of the exercise in futility that their season has become. After losing the first two games of the series, they were up 7-3 in the 8th inning. But Rick White and Dan Wheeler each gave up 2 runs, and the game was tied. In the top of the 9th, the Astros somehow managed to score another 2 runs to make it 9-7 — which Dan Wheeler promptly ruined again as he was inexplicably left in the game and gave up 2 solo home runs. The Astros somehow managed to score another 3 runs in the 10th to make it 12-9, and finally the bullpen was able to hold onto a lead to win the game. The worst part? Dan Wheeler got the win. The win! He got a blown save, and a win. What a chump.
After Biggio gets hit # 3000, I’m not sure how much more there will be to see this season.
I like the recent turn towards lots of pictures in your entries – you’re a professional photographer, let’s see more photos! 🙂
Yeah, I love visiting the Texas. They refitted it maybe 10 or so years ago, and had to move it out of the silt then. Gave it a great paint job, repaired the hull plus some other stuff, and put it back.