Beer, Churches and Court Houses

So Wednesday was a FULL day of driving for sure. Today's drive took us to San Marcos where I took pictures of the Hays County Courthouse. Not the prettiest, but a very nice courthouse. (#1 and #2 below)

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After leaving San Marcos we headed to New Braunfels for the Comal Count Courthouse. Very nice building, but unfortunately it was covered by too many trees to get a full shot, so I did what I could. :) (#3 and #4 below)

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From New Braunfels we headed to Seguin where we saw the Guadalupe County Courthouse. Not one of the better looking ones unfortunately. (Steph and I call these the "box" style. In comparison, pretty boring. (#5 and #6 below) At the same location we did take some other pictures of interest though. (#7, 8 & 9 below)

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#7 (anyone ever thought of opening a bakery, here's your chance.)


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Now we move on to one of the most beautiful courthouses we have seen so far. The Gonzales County Courthouse was absolutely beautiful. (We even went inside this one and it was just as nice inside. And met the county Judge without even knowing it. He was very nice.) (#10, 11 & 12)

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As I always knew, my reputation precedes me. (#14 below)


So from here we moved on to Shiner. No there is not a county courthouse in Shiner, but there was beer. :) There was also a spectacular church. (#15, 16 and 17)

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Like I said, it was a busy day. In the Shiner / Schulenburg area there are 4 painted churches that are a MUST see. I took a LOT of pictures of them, but will only post a few. (#18, 19, 20 & 21) The insides of these churches are the best, but this post is already VERY long.

#18 (St. Marys in High Hill)


#19 (St. Marys in Praha)


#20 (St. Cyril & Methodius in Dubina)


#21 (St. John the Baptist in Ammannsville)


So moving on we went to La Grange and took pictures of the Fayette County Courthouse. Another spectacular courthouse. (#22 & 23 below)

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Finally on Wednesday we stopped at the Bastrop County Courthouse. Not spectacular, but it was a nice courthouse. (#24 and #25 below)

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Like I said, it was a busy day, but one that will not be forgotten any time soon.

Hope you enjoyed our travels today. :)

And the Show Goes On...

Wow! What an exhausting day. The plane ride to Easter Island was way longer then I ever thought. What a Ride. Here are some pictures.






Okay, Okay, fine. So we didn't really go to Easter Island, but we did see Stonehenge II in Hunt, TX. :) Oh yeah, it came complete with the statues.



Okay, back to the trip...below is a picture of the original county courthouse in Blaco County. The County Seat has since been relocated to Johnson City (don't worry, I will be getting it this week) but this was the courthouse for 4 years.



Kerr County Courthouse (in Kerrville) is not the most striking structure so far, but I have a LONG way to go on my list, so we'll see what else I come across.




Lastly, off the roadside was an absolutely beautiful creek. This is taken on each side of the road. Hopefully in the second picture you can see the waterfall in the distance. (Sorry, didn't have the telephoto on at the time.) :)

Texas Travels '09

For those of you who don't know, Steph and I are traveling this week to see the great state of Texas and what she has to offer. I have set a goal for myself to take a picture of all the court houses in each county in Texas. (Not in one week.) On the way I plan to take pictures which will also remind us where we have been and what we have seen.

No better way to start the tour then with family. On a spur of the moment we decided to head to San Antonio and book a private tour with Aunt Jo. We saw and heard more about San Antonio then I imagined. What a beautiful city when you know where you are going. :) From the parks to the court house to the Pearl Brewery to the River Walk there was tons to see. Hope you enjoy the pictures. Be sure to check all week as there will be LOTS more to come.

(Pictures will be straight out of the camera this week as I won't have time to keep you posted and do all the processing. ;) )

Summer Fun!

I need some advice and help from everyone please. I would like to enter a photo contest titled Summer Fun! What I would like to know from you is which one of the 4 images below says Summer Fun to you. 50% of the contest is how close the title I give the picture relates to the picture. If you have a few minutes could you take a look at the pictures below and comment on the photos or at least give me the # of the one you think says Summer Fun.

I really appreciate your opinions and comments. Thanks for your help.

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Hope EVERYONE is having a great summer!!

When in Fredericksburg, TAKE PICTURES! :)

So this weekend was the annual Kaiser Family Reunion. In addition to taking pictures of the families that attended, I also took very few pictures of the absolutely beautiful churches and structures.



The indoor pictures are from the smaller church which actually does have a blue tint to it without the lights on. (Notice the stained glass.) Unfortunately I couldn't get in the big church since there was a wedding going on. I will try again on my next trip soon. :)





What you are seeing here are The famous Catholic Fredericksburg church. (The larger one.) The second church is the original Fredericksburg church. Even more interesting is that Steph's great, great, great grandfather Peter Schandua and great, great grandfather Peter Nepomuk Schandua we part of the construction crew which built it.





The other building is actually the school that Steph's mom went to when she grew up in Fredericksburg. I think for me the clouds in the sky just brought the building to life.



Same building, but at night. This is actually across the street from the churches.



I'm really enjoying the look of the night photography at the moment so I hope you are too.

Oh...and last but not least a couple of pictures from the reunion. JD and my nephew Joseph.

I love the night life, I like to boogy....(you know the rest)

Yep, its been a while since I posted anything so I wanted to make sure it was SO worth it when I did. :) Actually, the real truth is I finally had a change to post something.

I have been wanting to take some night photos of different locations so Steph and I finally made it out last night to do just that. Although all of the pictures didn't come out, as I kind of expected for a first run, I did get some GREAT pictures.

I think each of you will recognize the first picture here. An 8x10 is being printed for my office already. :)



Next up is the PAC, or Performing Arts Center, for Hays. I have been wanting to take this one for a LONG time as well and am pretty happy with the results. Steph is also planning to have a large copy of this one made for her office at school.



I have some others that I took over mothers day that I will be posting, but am pacing myself right now. :)