Our Road Trip to South Texas
Date: 1/16/16
On January 14-15th, me and my parents went to south Texas, and we
had lots of fun, but we also learned. We got to learn more about the
Goliad massacre, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, King Ranch and
so much more about history. We drove down to McAllen, we were almost
in Mexico. Before we left and while we were driving, I Googled some
counties and cities in south Texas to learn more about them. They had
historic stores, restaurants and hotels. I added the links and
pictures on Flipboard. I did not know anything about the history of
counties or cities in south Texas until now.
In the afternoon, we went to King Ranch Quarter Horses, and we got
to learn about Santa Gertrudis cattle and the Klebergs family. We read
the signs to learn about Richard M. Kleberg and his father Robert J.
Kleberg. Robert J. Kleberg helped breed the Santa Gertrudis cattle.
The Santa Gertrudis were named after the Spanish land grant. That
night, we went to Corpus Christi, and we stayed at the Hyatt Place. I
didn’t realize Corpus Christi was such a big city, it reminded me of
Florida because of the beach. We got to see the USS Lexington
battleship, fishing boats, Harbor Bridge and downtown Corpus Christi
while we were driving. We went to the original Whataburger, that is
where Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton started it. It had 2 floors and an
outdoor. Before we left and after we finished eating, we took a
picture of Harmon Dobson statue that was on the bench near the door.
Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton were partners, and Dobson’s goal was to
make a very good burger. “What a burger!” he said. That’s the reason
why he called it “Whataburger.”
The next day, we left Corpus Christi. We then traveled to the
historic Presidio La Bahia in Goliad, and we got to see the Fannin
Burial Monument, chapel and Francisca Alavez statue, whose nicknamed
was “Angel of Goliad.” Alavez was called that because she saved some
Texas prisoners during the massacre. We learned more about the Goliad
massacre, Texas Revolution and Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the
Mexican General. I thought it was awesome to be able see all of this,
not just read about it. After we finished visiting the Historical
Sites, we went to the McMillan’s World Famous BBQ restaurant in
Fannin. There were lots of pictures and signed dollar bills on the
wall. We met Mr. Louis, who cooks beef sandwiches and helps autistic
people. He was very nice to me, and he told me that he likes to help
autistic people. He gave me a $2 money that was written with a marker,
and he wrote “McMillan’s Ban-BBQ, good luck Peyton.” We had BBQ
sausage sandwiches, They were really good, I know why he is so famous.
I wish it was closer so I could go there more often.
After we finished eating, we went to the Fannin battleground State
Historic Site. We got to see the Fannin monument and bandstand, the
park is really nice, I like that it has a lot of information at it. We
learned more about the battle of Goliad, the amount of Texans that
were killed by Santa Anna’s troops and Santa Anna taking over San
Antonio and other cities. Texans are buried in the Fannin Burial
Monument, which marks the Goliad massacre. Sam Houston and his men
concluded their speech “Remember the Goliad! Remember the Alamo!”
during the massacre. We went inside the bandstand and learned about
the road to Texas Independence and the battle of Coleto Creek. We
learned that the Texas commander James W. Fannin surrendered to the
Mexican Army, General Jose de Urrea commanded his army to take over
Coleto Creek and Santa Anna told General Martin Perfecto de Cos to
lead his troops. After we finished learning, we went to Victoria to
see the historic town and meet the people who do the Coastal Texas BBQ
Trail stuff. They gave us The Great Coastal Texas BBQ Trail shirts, as
well as a couple other really cool gifts. We then went back home in
Houston at night.
In summary, I now know the history of 1836 Goliad massacre, General
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the founders of Whataburger and the
Klebergs family from King Ranch. If people from Texas have not heard
about them, they should. The Goliad massacre is one of the most famous
story in Texas History. It was nice to walk around in Goliad and
Fannin to read the history information rather than videos, books and
online websites.
Other Blogs by Peyton: Youth Fall Festival & Christmas Party..