TexMex Country: Family time

Our family was here. Well, to be more specific: my family, my sister and her husband. Volker's parents are almost on the way, so, time for a quick review.

Brownsville is rather small and I haven't found many places to go. I am sure there are some, but here everything is more a word-of-mouth-thingy. I know about the zoo, the State Parks and the museums, but to be honost, Gainesville had more to offer. I don't want to complain, I like it here, it is just more difficult to entertain someone without driving for hours.
At this point I like to mention that all suggestions are welcome, from whoever reads this.

I don't even remember exactly how we found out about WINK'S. Probably by searching for things to do around Brownsville. Surprisingly, this place popped up third on the top-ten list.
Well, Volker and I checked it out - and we liked it.
Therefore, our first task was to take our family out for dinner Texas style.

Now you know what to expect

some very old cowboys hangin' out there ...

live music is good but someone has to teach us how to dance country style (or whatever it is called. It looks fantastic, though)

rather than dancing, we watched the teamroping

Well fed we had to burn some calories. Sigrid and Harry's first task: the yard.
I cannot express my gratitude, without them it wouldn't have happened so fast.

Digging, cutting, trimming, planting. It doesn't look like much, but it was. Maybe you have to go back to our first pictures to see the changes.

It is just the beginning, much more needs to be done. But, little by little. Rome wasn't built in one day ...

Thanksgiving we had our traditional Tina-and-Steffen-Turkey. So delicious!!!! I have told you about Halloween before, so here is just the family picture.

Family time

Several trips to different State Parks were on the list. Here are some highlights.

While Volker was in Maryland, we others decided to go to Corpus Christi. It is a 3 hour drive from us, not too bad.

Corpus Christi and surrounding area

Our first stop is always a Visitor Center. I like to get maps and information locally, and most employees like to chat.

The Heritage was under renovation, so we couldn't enter the homes. We decided on having lunch instead - and it gave us more time for one important stop later.

I know, why the squirrel? Well, there are none in the Rio Grande Valley, I guess. I haven't seen any and we really miss them in our yard. Tiger is soooooooo bored ....

After a short stop and a quick lunch, we came closer to

the aircraft carrier USS Lexington!

The USS Lexington is huge! There is so much to see and read, you can spend a whole day easily.

We were exhausted and spending the night at a motel was the best decision we made.

Sigrid and I feasting on some grilled chicken in our room.

The next morning, after a good breakfast, we took a ferry to Port Aransas. It takes only a few minutes and the ferry is usually accompanied by dolphins.

Port Aransas is probably the Cedar Key of Florida. A cute little place, good for fishing and fresh seafood. The yachts were a nice background.