Battleship Texas State Park

Battleship Texas State Park
La Porte, Texas
February, 2009


Battleship Texas is located right next to the San Jacinto Monument. The battleship allows access to several levels of the ship. You get to see the officer and the enlisted mens quarters. You can even view the captain's room and the bridge. We enjoyed going all the way forward on the bow and checking out the huge anchors and anchor chains. Forward deck was so windy it's hard to believe that working on the ship at sea. Another thing we found interesting was the deck was wooden. The ship has some really interesting history. First battleship to launch airplanes. Only battleship active in both WWs. Current hull is paper thin and will need eventually to be dry docked.

Pros
- Right next to San Jacinto Monument.
- Free admission with State Park pass.

Cons
- none

San Jacinto Monument State Park

San Jacinto Monument State Park
La Porte, Texas
February 2009

Located on the southeast side of Houston, it was an easy Sunday morning drive of about 40 minutes from our hotel located by Bush Intercontinental airport. The kids enjoyed seeing the refineries and storage tanks as well as crossing over the Houston ship channel.

The monument is pretty cool and my kids really thought it was awesome. We did ride the elevator to the observation deck up 49 stories. This is highest they have ever been in a building. The view is pretty neat. Especially the Battleship Texas, my kids couldn't wait to see that next. We did the exhibit but didn't see the 40 minute movie. The park is run by TPWD, but the monument is run by the Texas Historical Society. So we got into the monument for free with our State park pass, but had to pay for the monument attractions.

Pros
- Pretty cool monument and reflecting pool.
- We had fun reading the each side of the monument. We took turns reading it.

Cons
- Surcharge for inside attractions (movie, exhibit, observation deck).

Emma Long / City Park, Austin Texas

Emma Long / City Park
Austin, Texas
(at least four times a year)

We love this park! It's close to home and sits on Lake Austin. I grew up on this lake so I'm pretty partial to this space. Lake trees with lots of shade. Most of the sites are huge with level paved pads with lots of shade. However, there are two or three spots that don't have any shade at all. Fire rings,BBQ pits, and cement picnic tables are part of each site.

Cost $15 per night and per car fee of $8.

Pros
- Close to home and town (35 minute drive).
- Sits on Lake Austin (8 waterfront sites).
- Constant level lake with lots of swimming holes and restaurants.
- Sand Volleyball courts, baseball diamond, and swimming area.
- Cold refreshing water.


Cons
- First come first served. Not able to reserve any spots.
- Only 16 RV spots - two or three do not have any shade.
- Years past the duckweed / hydrilla has been a nuisance, but lately it's under control.
- Water can be cold. Comes off of the bottom on Lake Travis.
- The Pier closed and looks like it might reopen soon. Known for it's lake food and fantastic live music.

Rating
10 out of 10

Choke Canyon State Park

Choke Canyon State Park

Three Rivers, Texas

March 2009

This Lake is so big, is has two State Park sites. The South Shore Unit is day use only is just outside of Three Rivers. The Calliham unit is eight miles north on Texas 72. Three Rivers is just off of IH 37 about half way from San Antonio to Corpus.

I wasn't too impressed with the South Shore Unit. It almost looked abandoned. There wasn't any gate attendant and nobody was there at the park. It did have several picnic tables and two boat ramps.

Turns out everyone was at the Calliham Unit. Good size park that has a baseball field, gym, basketball and tennis courts. There are 20 screened in rental shelters, 14 tent campsites and 38 RV sites. There were also picnic areas and two boat ramps.

The RV sites were good size. They included a covered picnic table and fire ring. The pads were paved, long and level. However, some of the paving was worn away. Some of the sites were pretty close to water. Not sure if that's a good thing with the alligator warning signs.

The lake was huge (26,ooo acres) Seemed like every RV site had a bass boat. This would be a good fishing lake, but would not work very well with skiing and tubing. One area to the south of the park was a big swamp and in the middle of this huge lake were lots of trees sticking up from the water. My son was fascinated with the alligator warning signs and wanted to camp here, but when I asked him if he wanted to go out of the boat and maybe take a swim, he said, "no way!"

Pros

- close to Three Rivers and IH 37

- huge fishing lake

- good size RV sites

- covered picnic tables

Cons

- paved pads were crumbling away

- lots of inspects

- alligators

Rating

4 out of 10

Lake Corpus Christie State Park

Lake Corpus Christie State Park
Mathis, TX
March 2009

Located about 40 minutes north of Corpus is this wonderful State Park. The park is just a few miles off of IH37, so it's pretty accessible.

I was surprised at how big this State Park is

(48 RV spots, 60 tent spots and 24 shelters).

There were four loops. The west loop of the park was closed

for winter so I didn't get to see those picnic and tent sites.

The Old Pavilion loop had 24 screened in shelters for rental.

The east loop had nice size tent spots with a fishing pier.

The two inner loops by the

boat ramp had water and electricity (RV). I really like the way all

of the RV sites were pull-thru. The first loop had 23 RV spots with decent shade and fairly level paved pads. The second loop

had more shade and another 25 RV spots. The RV spots were

pretty close to each other.

The lake looked awesome. We were there in early March and

the lake was a little busy with fishing boats, runabouts and

wave runners. Lots of people out fishing from the banks and

pier as well. I wasn't able to explore the lake, but I do plan

on doing so in the future. I'm planning on returning!


Pros

- Pull-thru RV spots

- Huge pretty lake

- Two fishing piers and two boat ramps

- Close easy drive from Corpus off of IH37

- Neat Pavilion lookout overlooking the lake

Cons

- No Septic hookups

- RV pads were a little rough

- RV loop closest to water had some to medium shade

- RV pads kind of close together

Rating

8.5 out of 10

Mustang Island State Park

Mustang Island State Park
Mustang Island/North Padre Island, TX
March, 2009

Wow! Pretty darn close to ocean RV camping. The sites all 26 of them are just a short walk to the beach. I would say maybe a block or two from the beach and protected by a dune. You can't actually see the surf from the RV area because of the dune, but you sure can hear it. If you climbed on top of your rig, I'm sure

that you would be able to see the surf. The RV area is just one big

paved parking lot.

This State Park is located just outside of North Padre Island and

about 20 minutes from Downtown Corpus. The park is really

easy to get to. The RV sites are small and close together. You

really get to know your neighbor in this park. Each site has a semi-

covered picnic table area.

The beach area is nice and has a couple of dozen semi-covered

picnic tables. The beach house restroom was closed and looked

in need of repairs. The park had a gift shop with ice and bait

available.

To the west of the beach area is tent camping which is right on the beach/surf.

Pros

- close to Corpus and easy to get to.

- close to the beach and surf

- great beach camping

Cons

- small RV sites


Rating

8.5 out of 10

USS Lexington - CV16 Aircraft Carrier Museum

USS Lexington - CV16 Aircraft Carrier Museum
Corpus Christi
March 2009

This was an overnight stay on board the USS Lexington with Jake's Cub Scout troop. My dad went with us on this three day trip.

The Lexington is easy to locate. It's just past downtown Corpus right next to the aquarium. We went down to Corpus on a Friday

night and as be crossed the ship channel the "Lex" is an awesome site. At night it is bathed in a blue/purple light. It is huge!

We did all six of the self guided tours along with the IMAX theater and flight simulator. It took us all day long to complete the tours (10 hours). On the flight deck and in the elevator deck, there is a airplane/jet museum that has most of the aircraft that flew off of this vessel. It was super windy on the flight deck. We almost felt like we were going to be blown over board.

The meals were served Navy style in the galley and were decent. The bunks were tough......small mattress and bunk. At night the sleeping quarters are lit up with red lights and I had a top bunk located right under one of these red lights. First time I've ever slept with a hat over my face. The stairs and doorways are dangerous. I'm only six foot, but I bumped my head a couple of times.

We had a great time on this venture. I recommend both the day

visit and if you get the opportunity, the overnight stay.