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Post by TexasMac on Aug 11, 2006 13:32:50 GMT -5
Today, I had lunch at a fairly new (10 months old) restaurant very close to my house.
It's called The Steamboat House Texas Streakhouse. It doesn't have a website, so I will have to describe it to you. As you might guess, the restaurant has a Sam Houston and Texas Independence theme. But, it's not a cheap restaurant with cheesy decorations. It's a nice place, but because it's Texas, there were plenty of business people in slacks and others in boots and jeans enjoying a slightly formal atmosphere. The lunch menu prices are very reasonable at $7 or $8 for an 8-oz steak. But, the dinner menu is a bit pricy. I chose to eat a full dinner of a 16 oz ribeye with salad, baked potato, and red wine, that ran me $50 after tip.
The restaurant is large. The inner diningroom walls are covered with the various national, state and battle flags that have flown in Texas. Also, there are two huge mural-size paintings - one of the Alamo and the other of the San Jacinto battle - on one side of the dining hall, and a large portrait of Sam Houston, flanked on the left and right by the U.S. and Texas State flags, on the opposite wall. Outside of the dining room, the walls are lined with various prints and photos of famous males and females notable in Texas history. Outside, the front of the brick restaurant has a steamboat design like Houston's actual last home. And, there is a small replica of the huge white statue of Sam Houston that welcomes all to Huntsville, TX, where Houston lived out his remaining years.
For those coming to the area to visit, the restaurant is located roughly between Huntsville and the San Jac battleground. It's in northwest Houston at the intersection of Gessner and the Sam Houston Tollroad (Beltway 8).
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Post by TexasMac on Aug 10, 2006 20:57:58 GMT -5
This past Saturday, I took my latest squeeze to the San Jacinto Battleground and monument, but it was so hot and humid and the mosquitoes were so carnivorous, we had to give up any walks off the asphalt path/road that runs through the Mexican camp. So, I didn't get to see where the old Peggy Lake was or is. Supposedly, there are markers indicating where a good many Mexican soldiers were killed at what was Peggy Lake. We did get to see Santa Ana's camp and the spot where Houston was shot in the ankle, which wasn't too far away. Assuming these positions are correct, Houston was very much in the midst of the battle. It was nice to see so many spanish moss-covered oaks, some of which looked mighty old. I wonder if any were old enough.
I will have to go back after the season changes and it's more tolerable to wade through the grasses, weeds, and marshes. Piper909 and his wife want to visit and this will provide another good opportunity.
Some notes for travelers: The monument is only open at its base, where there is a small museum and a souvenir shop. The observation tower is currently closed. No one could tell me when or if it would be reopened. When I was a kid there was a charge to go up the tower, but now it only costs a $1 per person to drive onto the property. Wandering about the Battleground was free! The same dollar will get you to the parking lot for the USS Texas, but you will pay $9 per adult to board her. The Texas is refurbished somewhat as it looked in 1945, but other than a short film, there is not much to see. I would have been pleased to have paid the $9 just to see the Battleground, so all around I got my money's worth!
At 48, I didn't get such a kick out of sitting at one of the machine guns as I did the last time I was there, when I was 13. But, it was nice to reminisce because I remember my father catching me as I fell coming too fast down one of the ship's ladders.
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Post by TexasMac on Dec 29, 2006 10:53:34 GMT -5
Alamoguy, I know you are concerned about the weather when you go. I suggest you consult Weather.com so that you will know how to pack. It's what I do when I travel. I can be rainy in April.
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Post by TexasMac on Mar 27, 2005 14:12:55 GMT -5
Same to you, fella...and, to the rest of you!
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Post by TexasMac on Dec 30, 2006 18:03:20 GMT -5
To protestants, it is Sherlock Holmes' birthday.
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Post by TexasMac on Dec 29, 2006 11:26:02 GMT -5
in pennsylvania, polish sausage and sauerkraut is eaten for good luck in the new year. Ah, this is obviously a tradition obtained from the PA "Dutch" (Deutsch). Between Houston and San Antonio spreading north and south of the I-10 corridor are several German/Czech communities that began around the 1840's. I suspect sausage and sauerkraut are traditional new years foods there, too!
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Post by TexasMac on Dec 29, 2006 11:06:33 GMT -5
Generally, in Texas, tomales are the good-luck food atr New Year's. Also, for the South in general, black-eyed peas are eaten for good luck.
If you hadn't guessed by now, I am into my Scottish heritage big time. In Scotland, New Years is also called Hogmanay, and according to old tradition, Hogmanay was more of a celebrating time than Christmas. In Scotland, there is also a tradition called, "first-footing," in which a dark-haired person is to be the first to cross the threshhold of your house in the new year in order to bring good luck. It has to be a dark-haired person because a blond or redhead represents the raiding Vikings. Anyway, the first footer is supposed to bring a bottle of whisky, a lump of coal or some firewood, and a black-bun cake. I will be first-footing at piper909's home this year as I have for the past 5 or so years. Instead of a black-bun, I will bring Christmas presents. BTW, I will be piping with piper909 and the Capital City Pipes & Drums in a parade on New Year's Eve, if all goes according to plan.
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Post by TexasMac on May 12, 2005 17:17:29 GMT -5
do think it is the worst alamo movie ever made? i think it is. bad acting, bad shots, combined with travis getting killed 3 times on top of the well made for a terrible movie. but we have to watch it anyway just becuase it is a mo movie. The worst movie or the worst Alamo movie? The worst movie ever made was Plan 9 From Outerspace.
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Post by TexasMac on Dec 30, 2006 17:49:38 GMT -5
I never saw Bandolero at the movie theatre, only on TV, but I remember Jimmie Stewart appearing on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson "advertising" his latest movie in 1967. He swooned over Raquel Welch! I remember the movie primarily b/c I liked the way Dean Martin's character was respectful and passionate toward Welch's character. What a woman!
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Post by TexasMac on May 12, 2005 5:32:18 GMT -5
yep, welcome to the alamosports forum Happy to be here!!
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Post by TexasMac on May 12, 2005 5:31:45 GMT -5
Whatever happened to Piper909? He started the piper thread on the other Alamo site and he hasn't posted since he started it. It seems that you, me and Davy are the only ones who post there..anyway, welcome aboard and it's good to see you here.. He told me that he doesn't like message boards, for some reason he didn't give. I tried to get him to post at the Gathing of the Clans website and he wouldn't. He posts sparingly as you've noticed.
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Post by TexasMac on Jan 17, 2005 9:44:26 GMT -5
Piper909 was an extra in Two for Texas. He played a coonskinned-capped Texian and a Mexican soldier - not at the same time, mind.
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Post by TexasMac on Dec 30, 2006 17:54:54 GMT -5
I remember my father took me to the theatre to see "Viva Max" in 1969 when I was 11. We were living in Corpus Christi, TX, at the time and I had seen the Alamo maybe one other time before. Although it was a small comedy, it made me want to understand the history of the place more than I did from my TX history class in 7th grade, oddly enough.
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Post by TexasMac on Jan 17, 2005 9:34:05 GMT -5
Jiminy Xmas! - Viva Max. I saw this when I was 11. I remember on the march to San Antonio the Mexican soldiers had to disguise themselves and one of the soldiers was wearing a Baylor sweatshirt. Ustinov, Jonathan Winters, and John Astin were the best.
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Post by TexasMac on Jan 3, 2007 21:35:17 GMT -5
Action, hands down (then, blown off)!!! I have a surround sound system with sound less muffled now that I have replaced my wall-to-wall carpeting with ceramic tile!
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Post by TexasMac on Nov 7, 2006 6:29:20 GMT -5
I hate to say this, but the latest remake of The Wicker Man, starring Nick Cage, is among the worst. The original is a cult classic and not to be toyed with.
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Post by TexasMac on Nov 7, 2006 6:28:03 GMT -5
I remember walking out of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
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Post by TexasMac on Nov 7, 2006 6:35:09 GMT -5
I got to meet the writer of We Were Soldiers and Braveheart, Randy Wallace. He was quite nice. He was selling his latest novel in 2004 in an autograph tent at the Longs Peak Highland Games in Estes Park, CO. Das Boot is also among my faves, too. TCM will be showing Gunga Din in the near future. You may want to keep your eyes peeled for it. Once Upon A Time in the West ranks up there for me.
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Post by TexasMac on Nov 7, 2006 6:26:25 GMT -5
The Flight of the Phoenix starring James Stewart The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) Directed by Robert Aldrich Writing credits Lukas Heller Trevor Dudley Smith (novel) Genre: Action / Adventure / Drama (more) Tagline: One of the most startling twists of fate you have ever experienced in a motion picture! (more) Plot Outline: After a plane crash in the Sahara, one of the survivors says he's an airplane designer and they can make a flyable plane from the wreckage. (more) (view trailer) Complete credited cast: James Stewart .... Capt. Frank Towns Richard Attenborough .... Lew Moran Peter Finch .... Capt. Harris Hardy Krüger .... Heinrich Dorfmann (as Hardy Kruger) Ernest Borgnine .... E. 'Trucker' Cobb Ian Bannen .... 'Ratbags' Crow Ronald Fraser .... Sgt. Watson Christian Marquand .... Dr. Renaud Dan Duryea .... Standish George Kennedy .... Mike Bellamy Gabriele Tinti .... Gabriel Alex Montoya .... Carlos Peter Bravos .... Tasso William Aldrich .... Bill Barrie Chase .... Farida Have you seen the latest version with Dennis Quaid?
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Post by TexasMac on Nov 5, 2006 15:11:50 GMT -5
I have an assortment of movies set in Scotland. I am saving my next viewing of Rob Roy for maybe Thanksgiving or Xmas. Despite how Braveheart overshadowed RR in 1995 at the box office and the academy awards, RR is the better of the 2 films.
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