San Jacinto, NASA, and Galveston Island State Park Trip Report, April 2000
By Pat Hastings IV, Patrol Leader, Raven Patrol

During Easter break we had a spring adventure at the Battleship Texas, the San Jacinto Monument, Space Center Houston - NASA, and Galveston Island State Park.  We departed from Lago Vista early Thursday morning and drove straight to the Lynchburg Ferry just across from the Battleship Texas.  After making the short ferry trip, we arrived at the battleship where we ate lunch before going aboard.  We explored the ship for a couple of hours before going over to the San Jacinto Monument.  We went to the top of the monument by elevator and then came down and watched an audio-visual show about the Battle of San Jacinto which was displayed by 42 synchronized slide projectors.  Following the show we went to Galveston Island State Park and set up our camp.

On Friday morning after breakfast we went to NASA and spent most of the day there.  We did our best to see every single attraction and almost made it.  There were several IMAX films and a lot of hands-on exhibits.  On the tram tour inside NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center we saw the actual X-38 emergency crew return space vehicle under construction in a large building that the tour guide took us inside.  On the way back to camp we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some more food.  That evening my brother and I cooked dinner for everyone and then we played on the beach for a few minutes until it got dark.  At night we had a campfire where we had a pass-around story and then our scoutmaster told a story about a lost Spanish galleon's treasure and the pirate Jean Lafitte.  On Saturday morning two more scouts cooked a breakfast of pancakes and then we played at the beach for several hours until we got tired but only slightly sunburned (the sunblock worked pretty well). Then we packed up, ate lunch, and got home Saturday evening in time for our community's Easter Sunday sunrise service.

Related links:

Easter Adventure 2000, Houston Area · April 20-22, 2000