The BEST Places to Get Outdoor Supplies

Voyage

5State Parks You Don’t Want to Miss Where you should GO and what you should DO

Downtown Texas

Exploring downtownAustin

Houston

San Antonio

Table of Contents6

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Most Trusted Outdoor Gear

Downtown Texas

Five State Parks You Don’t Want To Miss

Texas Wildlife

Three different people give their opinions on the outdoor gear they like.

Downtown Austin, Houston and San Antonio are talked about by people that have lived there most of their lives. The downtowns of the three cities are compared. But visiting them is easier to tell the difference.

Get away from the city and spend the weekend outdoors at one of these five great camping areas.

There is lots of wildlife to see in Texas. This article shows the most common ones to be found.

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Larry D. Moore

Mwcolgan8

flagstaffotos

Table of Contents

22

History in Texas: The Alamo

Texan Poles

Lockhart: Barbecue Capital of Texas

Texas is full of history and there are many places where you can go experience it.

A closer look at the Polish population in Texas. Find out some of their traditions and how they came here. Also learn about the man who helped settle the town of Panna Maria.

Lockhart is the barbecue capital of Texas. There are several barbecue restaurants in Lockhart and they are all very different. Jason Amador-Locher answers some questions about Kreuz and Smitty’s.

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18Family Friendly Activities Find a place to hang out during the summer or just a place to sit back a relax.

Kate Sheblak

Hannah Hlavaty

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20Dtobias

About the Authors

Miles is a 15-year-old student at LASA High School. He enjoys exploring the outdoors. He know a lot about plants and wildlife and often goes camping with his father. He has been to many different parks around Texas, and most enjoys Guadalupe River State Park because of the look of its many trees whose roots curl into the water along the river bank.

Kate is a 14-years-old student at LASA High School. She enjoys going outside and playing soccer with her brother. She and her family take day trips around Texas and find new towns and things to do. She likes to go places that have lots of new things to learn about and that have a lot of history.

Noah is a 15-year-old student at LASA high school who likes to spend time outside running and biking. He likes to spend time with his friends and family on his free time. He goes on camping trips and hikes with his family in the beautiful state parks around texas. He also goes swimming with friends at some of the great water holes in Texas.

Miles Kersten

Kate Sheblak

Noah Osborn

Favorite Place to Visit in Texas:

Why?:

Favorite Place to Visit in Texas:

Favorite Place to Visit in Texas:

Why?:

Why?:

Edna, Texas

There is always a lot of family there and there is always good food.

Guadalupe State Park

It’s very pretty and tranquil.

Lake Austin

It’s calm.

4

Ciara McDaniel

Ciara McDaniel

Ciara McDaniel

Letter from the EditorsThe goal of our magazine is to bring readers beautiful sights in their backyard. Together all three of us have been all around the state and we have had much experience with travel and the outdoors that we would love to share with people. In this issue we’ll tell you about the a few wonderful state parks to go to and tons of great cities to visit. We will also tell readers which brand of outdoor gear is the best and where to get it. Readers will be able to see three of Texas’ major cities (Austin, Houston and San Antonio) from the perspectives of people that live there . If a travelers are looking for a good family vacation spot, then we will tell them about the best of those as well. There are five different state parks we’ll talk about, and they’re all fairly close to Austin and pretty inexpensive to visit.There are many things in this magazine about Texas and places to visit. Thanks for picking our magazine, hope you enjoy!

5Ciara McDaniel

- Voyage

Most Trusted Outdoor Gear

When Henry Hobbs was running his 50 mile race and it was pouring rain out and his rain jacket all of a sudden developed a leak/hole he had some time to think about his decision to

By: Noah Osborn

buy a cheaper rain jacket instead of a nice, name brand jacket that would keep working for its whole expected lifetime. Instead it failed on him at a very inconvenient time and his race could be compromised.

Voyage

Cris Strong

6

“I like Patagonia’s light jackets because when I am starting a race pre-dawn it is really cold and their jackets keep me warm, but when I get too hot their technical fabric breathes well and I don’t overheat.” Henry Hobbs uses his gear a lot for running. He has run in many different races in many different climates so his knowledge of what gear to use is very vast. “The quality is reliable and I know it won’t fail me.” Mark Harvey works at REI and is around outdoor gear everyday. He is in the outdoors when he is not working and he feels that North Face is a very quality product because they test all their gear in action not just the lab to make sure it will perform in every way possible. He wants a brand that has

products that will perform in every condition and he has found those qualities in North Face.“North Face tests their gear in the lab and send athletes out on expeditions around the world. This

insures quality and they will never fail in their expected lifetime.” Hobbs has put his faith in Patagonia and since it has great customer service he will return the product and continue to use the company but he will stop using it if the gear continues to fail when he needs it. He knows that humans are not perfect and there are manufacturing flaws so he can understand a problem. “I always support the locals! I have a lot of trust in local brands and companies. If they don’t make a piece of gear I need, then I research to find out who the next best company is that I can support. Maybe there is a small company in the mountains of Wyoming that I can support instead of things being made in

China.” Harvey will always go with the local merchandise instead of products made cheaply overseas. Some people have overall similar opinions about buying

local but they would buy a name brand item if they had to depend on it for something where as Harvey would always go with a locally made item if

it was available. “You can find some cool things for people that they may never had heard of.” said Hobbs Hobbs said when he shops for other people he will go to different shops for the gear that he will be giving to people. He knows that there is different out there and he wants to find it for people. Harvey shares his view on this topic but Hobbs likes to go to places that he shops at frequently because there he knows the employees and what to expect from them. “I am equally concerned about both price and brand. I will get less gear even if it is going to be too expensive to get a lot of brand name gear. I will always go with a smaller amount of brand

name gear than a larger amount of unknown brand gear.” For him it just depends on the situation he is in at the time and

that determines what he what he would be going for. Some people like to find new gear all the time and others just use the same thing for ever because it works for them. Harvey uses his gear until it just doesn’t work any more, this is why some people chose to trust certain brands over another. “Heck, I’ve been using the same North Face duffel bag for so long I can’t remember what new things I’ve tried or not! I can practically carry everything I own in it. All that being said, I guess I have tried new things over the years as a result of owning and relying on the great gear I have already.”

Spring 2013

Cris Strong

Cris Strong

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The riverwalk is filled with people and lit up with a 200,000 light canopy over the river. Spectators line the rivers banks watching as the boats covered in twinkling lights float down the San Antonio River. “We usually like to go for our Christmas strolls downtown every year,” said Liz Avila, who was born and raised in San Antonio. “They always decorated the riverwalk really beautiful with lights hanging from the trees and the buildings surrounding the river. It wasn’t until recently that they did away with the lights so the experience is not the same. But there are usually two Christmas trees that are set up, one is located in front of the Alamo, and the other in the main plaza by the San Fernando Cathedral, which looks beautiful during Christmas time.” San Antonio has its own take on the holiday spirit, and on . Austin and Houston also have their own spin of things. “My graduation gift was a trip to Mexico, I was never the same after visiting that country, the people, the food, the music and art all felt like it was a part of me that I had been so disconnected from. When I arrived back home I really missed Mexico and wanted to stay connected with its culture still, I was even trying my

hardest to move to Mexico and work for an architecture firm there. In the meantime I re-discovered the heart of San Antonio,” said Avila. Because the Mexican culture in San Antonio is very strong, it is set apart from other cities in Texas. Lots of elements lead to San Antonio’s Mexican influence. It’s missions, restaurants, stores and people. Hemisfair park is 15 acres of playgrounds, waterfalls and gardens. It was built for the 1968 world fair. “Hemisfair Park is very beautiful, I used to go for longs runs downtown and I would sometime finish my runs ending at the Hemisfair by the water fountains,” Avila said. “You have to go up to the Tower and see the view of the city. They have this 4-D short movie they show at the tower that is really fun to watch, whenever I was bored I would go grab one of my cousins and we would go watch the movie then walk around the observatory.”

Hemisfair Park in San Antonio, Texas Liz Alvia 8

“I think that you really get the full flavor of Austin by spending an evening on SoCo.”

Downtown By Kate Sheblak

Voyage

San Antonio is more than just Mexican culture. Downtown San Antonio is different from other cities because they have a river running through it. The riverwalk is where tourists go when they are hungry and when they want to see another part of San Antonio. Houston is more than just big city, it’s home to more than two million people. “Even though it’s a really big city, people are friendly here in Houston... there’s several million people who live here, you still get excited when you run into someone you know,” Candice Petru, a Houston native said. Houston is the fourth biggest city in the United States. Although its so big, there are little cities and subdivisions within it, creating small town feeling within a big city. “The Beer Can House near Memorial Park is a place not many tourists know about. A quirky old fellow decorated every square inch of the exterior of his house using products from aluminum cans. I think everybody should go by to see it,” Petru said. Houston is even unique, with Houston’s age and size there are a lot of things to see. Going to see the beer can house and the water wall are just some of

some of them. “Attend a performance of the Nutcracker at Christmas time. The Houston Ballet’s production is absolutely magical, lively, and second to none. Also go see the Art Car Parade that’s usually held around Mother’s Day weekend each year,” Petru said. Each city has its own thing to present to people. Some cities have music, others have history or even special people. Austin has several things that are special to it. “Some things that are unique to Austin are bluebonnets, the Zilker Park Christmas tree, the University of Texas Tower and the Texas Capitol,” like Wood said. Austin has many things that aren’t anywhere else to offer to visitors that come here. The Zilker Park trail of lights is one of them. There is a giant tree made of lights in the middle of the park. The Texas Capital is also very special to Austin because it is taller than the United States capitol building. But Austin is not the only place with quirky and unique things. “I like the restaurants and shopping in Houston as well as all the professional sport teams. But as far as the feel of the city, I like the vibe in Austin best. I think it is the pretties, cleanest and most laid back and a lot less humid than Houston,” Wood said. Water Wall in Houston, Texas

The University of Texas Tower in Austin, Texas

Jamie Sheblak

Kate Sheblak

9Spring 2013

Five State Parks YouDon’t Want to Miss

By Miles Kersten

10 Voyage

Some of the best outdoor places to go are right around Austin and are very fun to visit. Five of Texas’ nicest parks are close to Austin and many Austinites visit them often and have a great time hiking, camping, swimming, and doing many other activities at the park. In the many activities they have at a low cost.

Larry D. Moore

One of the most popular parks in the Austin area, Pedernales State Park has been a favorite spot for Austinites to visit for over 40 years. At $5 a person and only 40 miles away from Austin, this park is a great place for people to do things such as camping, picnicking, hiking, swim-ming in the river, tubing, wading, mountain biking, fishing and horseback rid-ing.

“There’s lots of bird watch-ing and wildlife. Cool river-bed walks when there isn’t any water. I like to walk down the riverbed and collect beautiful stones and shells from the ground,” said Gabriel Maroney, a teacher and a long time citizen of Austin, who has been to Pedernales Falls many times.During times when the river has plenty of water in it, there are many people

that go swimming in it.Cara Crouch, a teacher of Parks and Recreation at Kealing Middle School, also mentioned that, ”Peder-nales Falls has a nice river running through it (except in drought), and a few channels with rock slides. You can hop into one of the many currents and ride it down a ways,”. Throughout one stretch of the river there is a shal-low area with a few strong

currents that are great to slid around in but be careful because you might go farther than expected. But travelers should wait a while to go swimming if it has rained recently. Randall Kersten, the as-sistant grounds keeper at Lake Austin Spa Resort, said, “The Pedernales River is prone to occasional flash flooding, and the river is a dangerous place to be when that happens.”

Pedernales Falls State Park:

McKinney Falls State Park:A great park for first-time campers, McKinney Falls is one of the closest state parks and another favorite of Austinites to visit. For only $6 a day and a short 10 mile drive, one can experience a wide array of the park’s family-friendly

features such as camping, hiking, mountain biking, road biking, picnicking, fishing and wildlife obser-vation, as well as visiting the ruins of the house of Thomas F. McKinney (one of the first settlers in the Austin area), and seeing

“Old Baldy”, one of the oldest bald cypress trees on public land in Texas. The 103 foot tall Cypress tree is estimated to be over 500 years old. On the hikes there is one particular sight that inter-ests many.

“There are many hiking trails, and I got a great view of the waterfalls from one of them,” said Maroney. Though travelers shouldn’t go swimming in any of the falls, the rest of the river makes a great place to swim.

By Miles Kersten

11Spring 2013

Travis Witt

Guadalupe River State Park:

“It’s a nice spot with water, depending on the time of year and how bad the drought has been,” said Crouch. The river is usually

at least partially full and there are plenty of places to swim when it is.Along all the trails in the park there is much wildlife

to see and enjoy. “There are many plants to see, such as trees such as mesquite and ash juniper, as well as many beautiful

native grasses and wild-flowers,” Kersten said.

This lesser-known park makes a great spot to visit if travelers are feeling like they could use a bit of serenity. At this park there may not be as many activi-ties to do as some of the others, but the ones one can do, such as canoeing, fishing, swimming, tub-ing, picnicking, hiking and camping, mountain biking, and bird-watching, that make it all worth the 80 mile drive and the seven dollar entrance fee. The river is a great place to go and spend the day and is the main attraction of the park. “Certain sections of the Guadalupe River are beau-

tiful and have nice cypress trees, and I enjoy walking along the river bank,” said Crouch. The river is also a great place to fish, sunbathe, or just splash around and hang out around and on some of the rocks that stick up here and there. If a traveler would prefer not to get wet, then he/she can always go hiking, and still experience the beauty of the river. “There are trails all over the park with many views of the river from up high and from up close, but be careful not to fall if you’re watching from the top of a cliff,” Kersten said.

12 Voyage

Larry D. Moore

Larry D. Moore

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area:It’s not a state park, but it is just as good as any of the other official state parks, and though this means that one has to bring their own firewood if they want to roast marshmallows, it is still one of the best places around to go and spend the day hiking. This park has quite a few activities, including backpacking, camping, hiking, technical rock climbing, picnick-ing, geological study, bird watching, and stargazing

with minimal light pollu-tion, and is well-worth the 95 miles travelers have to drive to get there and the $6 entrance fee to get in. By far the main attraction in the park is the hiking. There are three huge rocks and mountains composed almost completely of granite to climb, as well as the many trails running throughout the rest of the park. The three rocks in order of shortest to tallest are Little Rock, Enchanted

Rock (the most famous one), and Rooster Peak. Along the sides of the first two rocks, there are many chunks of granite scat-tered on the slopes in odd formations that are fun to explore. If a traveler wants to get the best view of the park, there is one location they need to head to, but be warned: it’s windy. “To get the best view of the surrounding area, you need to head up to the top of

Rooster Peak,” said Kersten. Of course, one should also head up to the top of Enchanted Rock because it’s the most famous and if they head up in the early hours he/she might get a nice surprise. “I especially enjoy Enchant-ed Rock because viewing the sunset/sunrise from atop the rock is serene and beautiful,” Crouch said.

13Spring 2013

Jujutacular

Wing-Chi Poon

Last but not least, is the major tourist park. The park was once home to dinosaurs, and there is a lot of proof left behind. Visi-tors can walk around and explore the park, viewing dinosaur tracks as they go. A lot of the tracks are by and in the river, and the park officials ask the visi-tors not to touch them or disturb the water because the tracks are in a delicate condition and they could deteriorate faster if they are disturbed. There are two fiberglass models near the entrance of the park, a 70-foot Apatosaurus and a 45-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex. If one doesn’t want to see

the dinosaur tracks, or they have already done that and want to do something else for a change, there are other activities to do in the park. Other activities in-clude camping, picnicking, hiking, mountain biking, equestrian use in a sepa-rate 100-acre area, river swimming and fishing, and wildlife observation. And of course, travelers can still do more dinosaur track spotting. “There are many trails throughout the park, and dinosaur tracks all over the place, and it’s fun trying to find all of them,” Kersten said.

Dinosaur Valley State Park:

14 Voyage

Robert Nunnally

Gordan Reid

Texas WildlifeThe coyote (Canis latrans) is both very good and very bad in nature. It destroys more livestock than any other animal in Texas but on the other hand it protects crops by killing rodents and other small creatures that eat the crops. A coyote weighs about 16-46 pounds and is about 23-26 inches tall at the shoulder. Their fur is a mixture of brown, red and black helping them blend in with their surroundings. They are a common mammal that can be seen in the Texan wilderness.

15Spring 2013

Coyote

The Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) is the most abundant mammal in the western hemisphere rang-ing through North America, Mexico, and South America. A colony of these bats can eat 250 tons of insects in one night alone. The Congress bridge in Austin turned out to be a great home for these bats and has been the home for them ever since the bridge was built.

Mexican Free-Tailed Bat

The black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), also known as the American desert hare, is a common hare found in the Texas hill country. Like other jackrabbits, the black-tailed has distinctive long ears, and the long, pow-erful rear legs characteristic of hares. Reaching a length of about 2 feet, and a weight from 3 to 6 pounds, the black-tailed jackrabbit is the third largest North American hare. Young are born fully furred with eyes open; they are well camouflaged and are mobile within minutes of birth, thus their mothers do not protect or even stay with the young except during nursing.

Black-Tailed Jackrabbit

Christopher Bruno

dizfunkshinal

Jim Harper

The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), or the nine-banded, long-nosed armadillo, is a medium-sized mammal. It is found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the arma-dillos. The armadillos can weigh up to 5.5–14 pounds, though the largest ones can scale up to 22 pounds. They are one of the largest species of armadillo. They can be as long as 25–42 inches and they stand 5.9–9.8 inches tall at the top of the shell. Nine-banded armadillos are gener-ally insectivores. They forage for meals by thrusting their snouts into loose soil and leaf litter and frantically dig-ging in erratic patterns, stopping occasionally to dig up bugs to eat.Bird Photos

Nine-banded Armadillo

By Miles Kersten and Noah Osborn

Texan PolesBy Kate Sheblak

16

“ In Poland, Panna Maria, Texas is very famous.

Everyone knows of Panna Maria and those first

Polish immigrants who responded to the call of

their pastor and spiritual leader, Father Leopold

Moczygemba. All of our great American Polonia

credits its origin to you, Panna Maria, as the first

nest built on American soil by Polish immigrants

inspiring others to follow in your footstep.”

Pope John Paul II,

To Polish Texans and Parishioners of Panna Maria,

September 13, 1987

Voyage

Information from: Adelene Blanchard

Marven Schefflerhttp://www.pannamariatexas.com/

http://polishpresents.com/

December of 1854 a group of 100 Poles arrived in Galveston. They came to Texas for a better life, because at the time in Poland there were a series of disasters that caused immigration. When the Polish started to move across the ocean they knew that there was a Polish priest that was staying in Texas and preaching in the

German cities. A group of 300 farmers, artisans, Father Moczygemba and his brothers settled in the Panna Maria area. The last big wave of Poles to come to Texas was in 1982. That same year the town of Czestochowa was a Polish parish by the Catholic bishop in Houston.

Father Moczygemba died in Michigan in 1891 and was buried in Detroit. In 1974 his remains were brought to Panna Maria. His remains are buried under the tree where he held the first mass in 1854.

Kate Sheblak

History Of the Polish in Texas

The first mass was held under this tree on December 24, 1854.

Kate Sheblak

A Polish Christmashello

goodbyeplease thank youyour welcomehow are yougood

Learn Some PoLiSh

cześćpożegnanie

proszędziękuję

mile widzianejak się masz

dobry

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Fun FactS about PoLand

FULL NAME:

Republic of Poland

POPULATION:

39 million

CAPITAL:

Warsaw

AREA:

120,728 sq. miles

MAJOR LANGUAGE:

Polish

MAJOR RELIGION:

Christianity

LIFE EXPECTANCY:

MEN:

72 years

WOMEN:

81 years

69th largest country

9th largest country in

Europe

The Polish have many traditions and many of them are around the holiday season. With a majority of the Polish being Roman Catholic lots of their traditions are during and the Christmas holiday. During the Christmas holiday Polish keep their homes very clean. It is thought that the way your home is Christmas eve is the way it will be for the next year. Same goes for the weather. If they have a which Christmas in Poland then it is called a “real” Christmas. Christmas eve is called Wigilia. On Wigilia, a traditional wafer called a Oplatek is broken and exchanged. When it is exchanged you wish for health, wealth and happiness for the next year. The Polish have a Christmas eve dinner and they believe that nobody should be alone so they welcome everyone. It is a tradition that they place an extra plate at the dinner table because deceased family and friends join them. Spring 2013

Family Friendly ActivitiesCooling Off in the Summer

It is a water park located next to Lake Travis and is the only water Park in Austin that has slides and rides that would be found in a full sized water park. The admission ranges from $16-$21 but it includes all the rides and leisurely swimming pools.

Barton Springs

Volente Beach

Barton Springs is a spring fed pool inside Zilker Park. Since it is spring fed it the waters are a bit

colder than nor-mal pools, 68 degrees average temperature can be a little daunt-ing. The cost to get in ranges from $1-$3 depending on your age.

Lake TravisLake Travis is the biggest lake in the Austin area and reaches 632 feet in depth at its deepest point. Boating is a popular thing to do on Lake Travis and private boating is free but renting a boat can cost upwards of $40 an hour. There are many little coves that break off of the river and boats can anchor there and people can swim around until they have to be off the river at 5 p.m.

Relaxing Scenic Activities

The Zilker Zepyr is a miniature train that goes trough Zilker park. The train takes the riders through two tunnels, along side the Colorado river,

and by the fields of Zilker Park. The cost ranges from $2-$3 and the train holds about 30 people.

The Austin Zoo holds a variety of animals ranging from snakes to tigers and everything in between. Chickens and peacocks run around free and people can feed them but they are friendly and they don’t

attack people. People can walk into the snake house or walk by the tiger cages. The zoo also has a train that takes riders around the park.

Austin Zoo

Congress Bridge BatsThe Mexican Free Tailed bats come out at dusk swarming in numbers over 1.5 million. The bats eat between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds of insects. It is free and happens every night at Congress bridge. It is the biggest bat colony in North America.

Zilker Zephyr

Voyage18

Austin Metropolitan Area

United States Geological Survey Employee

Red Sully Jen Brooks

Peter17

Larry D. Moore

By Noah Osborn

Mount Bonnell is a small mountain in Austin that has houses and trails on it. The area on Mount Bon-nell is very scenic with trails crisscrossing all over it. The trails allow hikers, runners, and bikers to do as they please as long as it doesn’t involve littering or

destroying the trail. The summit of Mount Bon-nell gives people a view of Lake Austin as it is all laid out below them.

Hiking Trails around Texas Biking and Running Trails

Swimming is popular in Texas because of the heat but people also like to go hiking and biking as well and some popular places for all of these activities are available here. Information is credited to wikipedia and fun-things-texas.com

Enchanted Rock Natural State Area has a dome 800 feet high and it is solid granite. The Enchanted Rock summit trail allows dogs and is almost a mile long

but it is rate as difficult. At the summit Enchant-ed Rock gives a full view of the Central Texas hill country.

Inks Lake State Park TrailInks Lake is a State Park and therefore has many dif-ferent hiking trails to offer to the public. The trails have lots of cacti, bare rocks, and shrubs alongside the trail. It costs $4 to get inside the park and a map is also provide for the many trails.dss

Mount Bonnell

The Green Belt goes everywhere in Austin and there are many different access points and there are so many trails that if they were all combined in their distance they would be over 30 miles long. There are trails for runners and bikers, there are rivers and creeks going through the trail. It is a trail for every one because of the difficulty ranges.

The Green Belt

Garner State Park has huge Oak trees that cover the ground. The Frio river flows through this state park and people come there to swim and go tubing. But the trails that wind their way through the trees attracting both bikers and hikers.

Garner State Park

Lady Bird LakeThe Colorado River also known as Lady Bird Lake flows through Austin. A ten mile trail goes all the way around the lake. People can run or bike on the trail as far as they want and the bridges break up the trail into two and a half mile increments that make is much more accessible to new runners.

Enchanted Rock

Spring 2013 19Baytownbert

Benjamin Bruce

Claygate Julia Duffy

Billy Hathorn

LoneStarMike

History in Texas

The Alamo is first built by the Spanish Empire under the name Mission San Antonio de Valero and used to educate Native Americans after their conversion to Christianity.

The mission was separated from religion and was abandoned by the Spanish.

The Mexican Army began using it as a fortress that hosted the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras, who likely gave it the name of “Alamo”.

After capturing it during the siege of Bexar, the Texian Army held onto it until the Mexican Army assaulted and captured it in the Battle of the Alamo.

Several years after the United States annexed Texas, the US Army began renting the Alamo for use as a quartermaster’s depot.

20 Voyage

Theodore Gentilz Frank Thompson

There are many places to visit in Texas, and while on the road you might want to visit one of Texas’ most famous historical landmarks, the Alamo. It has a big history and is very important to most Texans. All of the following information was compiled from Wikipedia.

By Miles Kersten

The US Army abandoned it after nearby Fort Sam Houston was built. The chapel was sold to the state of Texas, which had occasional tours. The remaining buildings were sold to a company which operated them as a wholesale grocery store.

Texas governor Oscar B. Colquitt took the Alamo under state control and began restorations, because of the quarreling amongst the DRT on who controlled it. The site was given back to the DRT later that year.

The legislature took steps to transfer control of the Alamo to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department but the attempt failed after governor George W. Bush vowed to veto any bill removing the DRT’s authority.

The newly formed Daughters of the Republic of Texas began trying to preserve the Alamo.

Adina Emilia de Zavala and Clara Driscoll successfully convinced the Texas legislature to purchase the buildings and to name the DRT permanent custodians of the site.

21Spring 2013

Frank W. Johnson Frank Thompson

George Fuermann Daniel Schwen

Lockhart:

22

On your barbecue tour what restaurants did you go to?Kreutz’s and Smitty’s Why did you chose to go to them?To compare and contrast the sausage and brisket. They are both renowned for each and I had to put them to the test!

Which one was your favorite? Why?Kreuz had the best sausage and Smitty’s had the best brisket. My favorite, still, after several trips is smitty’s due to the historic and classic feel of the building.

Between Smitty’s and Kreuz, which one is your favorite? Why?Smitty’s. The pure experience and, I like brisket more than sausage.

How was the atmosphere different in each restaurant?Kreutz’s is “new” and kind of feels like a grocery store to me. Smitty’s is an old brick structure where you wait in line outside, then proceed through the smoke room right where the meat is waiting - its a very old world experience.

Q & A with Jason Amador-LocherEvery year Jason Amador-Locher goes on his own barbecue tour. He smokes his own brisket in his backyard. His neighbor also ate his brisket. His neighbor repaid him by taking him to Lockhart to eat barbecue.

B a r b e c u e

Capital of Texas

Q:

Q:

Q:

Q:Q:

Voyage

By Kate Sheblak

Chisholm Trail has been around since 1978 and it was opened by Floyd Wilhelm. The restaurant is always filled with locals. Chisholm Trail has been listed on Texas Monthly’s list of Texas’ best barbecue along with Black’s Barbecue. Chisholm Trail serves their barbecue in a cafeteria style along with sides. They also have fried catfish on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Smitty’s Market has been open since 1999. It took the place of where the old Kreuz use to be. Nina Schmidt, Edgar “Smitty” Schmidt’s daughter, opened the restaurant. When walking in to the restaurant you walk through the pits and can smell the meat. The food is served on butcher paper and the only silverware are your fingers. Smitty’s has also been mentioned in Texas Monthly, they were ranked in the top five best barbecue restaurants in Texas.

Black’s barbecue is the oldest and best major barbecue restaurant that has been continuously owned by the same family. They have been around since 1932, and have been featured on the travel channel on Barbecue Paradise. In the May issue of Texas Monthly Black’s barbecue was chosen as one of the top 50 best barbecue places in Texas. In the 1960’s President Lyndon Johnson asked for Black’s to provide sausage at the U.S. capitol in front of the Smithsonian.

Kreuz is a German styled barbecue. It opened in 1900 as a meat market and grocery store by Charles Kreuz. In 1948 Kreuz sold the restaurant to Edgar Schmidt, who had worked there since 1936. Schmidt closed the grocery store. In 1984 Schmidt sold the company to his two sons. In 1999 Kreuz moved to a new location that was much bigger because it had become so popular. At Kreuz there is no sauce and no sides.

Black’s Barbecue

Chisholm Trail

Smitty’s Market

Kreuz Market

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The German Gem

Kate SheblakKate Sheblak Kate Sheblak

Kate Sheblak

The Local Favorite The Kreuz Jr. The Texas Monthly Favorite

Spring 2013

Information from: Jason Amador-Locherhttp://www.lockhart-tx.org/web98/visitors/bbqcapitaloftexas.asphttp://www.blacksbbq.com/http://www.chisholmtrailbbq.com/http://www.smittysmarket.com/