I took Thursday morning off of work to take Yagi-san to the airport.  A friend of mine is a member of the Continental President’s club so we actually could go past security with him and hang out there.

We played Shogi while we waited:

Then it was time to catch the flight:

Here is the plane that he boarded:

Already we are missing him…  But we look forward to visiting Japan again, maybe having Yagi-san visit us in India or America.  And keeping in touch via email, phone, and regular mail.  I am planning to make it so we can play Shogi via email on www.IPlayShogi.com

I had to work this day also.  So, Yagi-san stayed at home, packed, went shopping at Walmart with my in-laws.

That night he took my family out to Dhakshin, an Indian restaurant.

He had a dosa

My mom said good bye

Sonia gave him an album of his trip:

We had some friends over to visit.

Play Shogi, of course.

We went with some friends to Galveston

First we went to the Ocean Star offshore drilling platform museum.

It was a little cold, so Stephen wore my jacket…

Then we visited the Hotel Galvez, which I thought was built before the flood.  But actually it was built several years afterwards:

then we went to the Titantic exhibit at Moody gardens.  They give everyone a different "boarding pass" with information about a passenger.  You do not find out until the end if they died or not.

My guy died…

Then we went to the beach and Yagi-san touched the Gulf of Mexico

Next we rode across on the ferry:

Then we went back home, and played some more Shogi

Headed back to Houston.  Ate breakfast at McDonalds on the way:

We went back to my house and rested for a while.  Then we went to the Woodlands for Easter dinner with my dad and Carole.  Stephen and Amma played Shogi while we waited for a seat at the Cheese Cake Factory:

Afterwards, we went home and worked on our garden:

We had dinner at our house that night:

And I play Yagi-san some more Shogi…Here are some shots of the ending

Breakfast at the Hilton… worked on teaching Christopher Shogi while we were waiting… (Do you know Shogi?  you should.. check out www.IPlayShogi.com)

Then we went Canoeing on Village Creek (feeds into the Neches near the Big Thicket national preserve)

Then we ate Dinner at Fuddruckers.  And played Shogi (seeing a trend?)

Then we went to Spindletop

Then we dropped Sonia, Stephen, and Christopher at the hotel.. then Yagi-san and I went to Orange.

We went to the Stark Art Museum

We missed the last tour of the Stark house by 15 minutes…  At the Stark house they have a Neopolean death mask…I remember seeing it when I went on a tour in high school…  There are only three in the world… one in Paris, on in Washington DC and one in Orange Texas

We got some pictures of the outside thought

Then we went to Shangra La, but did not see much there:

Then we drove over to Louisiana.  The visitor center was closed, but they left some maps and handouts on the front step.

We went back to the Texas center and they were closed too.   But they didn’t leave handouts.

Then we headed back to the hotel..

On the way to Beaumont, we stopped at subway

And then we stopped at the Ben J. Rogers Regional Visitors center where we found the most wonderful people to help us.  If you are traveling towards Beaumont on I-10 from Houston, then you should definitely stop by and visit.

Next we visited Gator Country.  It was actually before the Visitor Center in geography, but we didn’t know about it.  So after getting the information from the visitor center, we turned around and drove the 8 miles are so to see it.

They had lots of alligators and crocodiles.

Also, they had a snake that I got to hold.

stephen got to hold a baby alligator

This is there motto at Gator Country: "Quick Hands or NO hands"

Even Yagi-san held an alligator

Then we went to the Hilton in Beaumont and then ate at Johnny Carino’s Country Italian restaurant next door.

Stephen and Yagi-san played Shogi while we waited for our food…. (This is a good time to mention that we are building a site to teach people to play Shogi and to help them learn about the game.  Check out www.IPlayShogi.com when you get a chance.. Not much there but a few pointers to other sites… but you might want to at least book mark it.

After eating, we went bowling.

Then we called it a day and went to bed… very busy day the next day.

Thursday, we spent in Houston.  We went to Minute Maid park for a tour.

See!  yagi-san really likes baseball.  We were trying to convince him to stay another week or so to see the opening game.

We also went to the downtown aquarium.

And then headed off to the Gallaria. We were thinking about going ice skating, but there was only 15 minutes left to the public session.  So we sat and had an ice cream instead.

Breakfast at Denny’s

Mexican Market

San Antonio is one of my dad’s favorite places to visit.  We used to come here all the time.  And we were here in 1992 when the Governor from Arkansas, Bill Clinton, cam to San Antonio to campaign.  We were staying in my dad’s favorite hotel, the Menger.  And Bill Clinton was staying there too (I think..)  I remember there being a big crowd of people outside of the hotel, and barely seeing Bill Clinton. 

Well, Bill Clinton likes to jog.  And there is a painting of him at La Terra with him jogging.  It is one of those things that you remember, that you have to find.  Anyway, find it I did:

Apparently Mr. Clinton was here a few weeks ago for the Texas Primaries.  And he signed the picture:

Apparently John McCain had come at the same time and it was kind of crazy there…

We also got to listen to live music:

We also saw a high school cheerleading squad

La Villita  (Lunch here)

There was this very cute chess set.  The Spanish Conquistadors against the native americans.  I would have gotten it if it wasn’t $50… Maybe next time…

Spanish Governor’s Palace

The children got to play with replicas of toys that were common back when the Spanish Governor’s palace was in use.

Two missions on the mission trail

San Juan mission:

Mission Espada

Dinner at Luby’s

Take the bus around

We had a really cool bus driver that let the children take a picture driving the bus..

McDonalds for breakfast

Boat tour on the river walk

Museum of American cultures

I was particularly interested in the Japanese influence in Texas.

The kids found this weaving activity.  They want to create a frame like this at home and start working on making cloth…

St. Patrick Parade…. (maybe not…)

Chili’s for lunch

walking around the river walk.

Jim Cullum’s Landing – Jazz cafe

Tower of the Americas

This day had a lot of driving.  First we went to my Aunt’s house in Bastrop.  the 9e-ranch (www.9e-ranch.com).

However, I had not checked with my Aunt about what time I would be arriving and she was away.  Also, we had not eaten yet.  So, we met her and my uncle at a nearby hamburger place.  We dropped my mom off for a mission trip.  Then we continued on to San Antonio where we met up with my dad and Carole.

There was an art event going on.  It had a parade:

We saw a glass blower:

We met up with my dad and Carole at the Menger hotel:

Teddy Roosevelt had recruited some of his roughriders here.  So, there are some documents, pictures, and other things from that era.

Then we went to the Alamo next door:

Then we went to the riverwalk and ate at Rita’s

Then we went back to Alamo plaza and went through the 4D scary ride, and the haunted maze.  Then we went home to get ready for the next day.