Sam Houston Statue

Fayrouz Hancock visits the sculpture of Sam Houston at Sam Houston Statue Visitor Center in Huntsville, Texas on May 12, 2012


Photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

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Fayrouz Hancock visits the sculpture of Sam Houston at Sam Houston Statue Visitor Center in Huntsville, Texas on May 12, 2012

Easter lunch 2012

Photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

Desert includes petite samples of creme brulee, lemon tarts, fruit tarts and strawberry Napoleons during Easter lunch at our home in Plano on Sunday, April 8, 2012.


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The Hancock family and Michael Ainsworth have Easter lunch at our place in Plano on Sunday, April 8, 2012.

Downtown Fort Worth

Photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

One of the two 48-foot tall angels on the Grand Facade of the Bass Performance Hall appears to blow its horn in Fort Worth on Saturday, July 7, 2010.


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Fayrouz Hancock visits some sites in downtown Fort Worth on Saturday, July 7, 2010.

Dallas Zoo under new ownership

Boudreaux, a nine-foot-long albino American alligator, comes into the light in the Ghosts from the Bayou exhibit at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas on Sunday, May 30, 2010.


Photos and music © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com


The Dallas Zoo was recently transferred from city ownership to private ownership in Dallas on Sunday, May 30, 2010.

Named in this slideshow are: Parrots, black-and-white ruffled lemur, ring-tailed lemur, collared lemur, blue and yellow macaw, great egrets, flamingos, golden lion tamarin, cotton-top tamarin, spectacled langur monkeys, Sumatran tiger, red kangaroo, Harpy eagle, bald eagle, Andean condor, red-crowned crane, tortoise, great anteater, rhino iguana, Oustalet's chameleon, veiled chameleon, Caiman lizard, Perentie monitor lizard, Fayrouz Hancock, albino American alligators, Mexican bearded lizard, Cape cobra, crocodile monitor lizard, Burmese python, collared lizards, timber rattlesnake, Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake, sailfin lizard, Asian yellow-spotted climbing toad, blue poison dart frogs, mandrill, African elephants, warthog, ostriches, giraffes, cheetahs and Boudreaux, a nine-foot-long albino American alligator.

Corpus Christi Shoreline Blvd.

Photos & music © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

A vendor awaits customer during the Buc Days carnival in Corpus Christi on Sunday, April 25, 2010.


Activities happen from sunrise past sunset along Shoreline Blvd. in Corpus Christi during the annual Texas International Boat Show and Buc Days Festival.

Texas State Aquarium

An Atlantic bottlenose dolphin swims at the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi on Sunday, April 25, 2010.


Photos & video © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com
"Vida De Parranda" © Tekumbe / tekumbe.com

 

Featured in this video slideshow are: Fayrouz Hancock, Hans the tiger shark, sea turtles, a flounder, seahorses, a slipper lobster, a toadfish, a striped burrfish, an alligator, roseate spoonbills, egrets, a hawk-headed parrot, a prehensile-tailed porcupine, an arawana fish, piranhas, a French angelfish, a stingray, a great barracuda, an Atlantic sea nettle, a comb jellyfish, a northern sea nettle, moon jellies, Pacific sea nettles, Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and North American river otters.

Scarborough Faire 2010

The Flaming Idiots (Gyro, Pyro and Walter) returned from New York to perform a special anniversary act at Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie on Saturday, April 17, 2010.


Photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com


Scarborough Faire villagers participate in activities during the annual Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie.

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Named in this slideshow are: The Flaming Idiots, Pyro, Gyro, Walter, Don Juan, Miguel, King Henry VIII, Queen Anne Boleyn, Suellen Moline and Fayrouz Hancock.

San Antonio Riverwalk

Visitors ride a barge through the Rivercenter Mall in San Antonio on Nov. 26, 2011.


Photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com


Fayrouz Hancock tours the San Antonio Riverwalk on Nov. 25 and 26, 2011.

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The Alamo

Photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

Fayrouz Hancock tours The Alamo in San Antonio on Nov. 25, 2011.


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Fayrouz Hancock tours The Alamo in San Antonio.

Please also see Fayrouz's slideshow.

San Antonio churches

The golden alter at San Fernando Cathedral reflects lights on Nov. 26, 2011.


Photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

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Fayrouz Hancock tours the San Fernando Cathedral, St. Mary's Church and St. Joseph's Church in San Antonio.

Please also see Fayrouz's slideshow of the churches.

San Antonio Season's Greetings

A carafe of wine accompanies lunch at the Luciano restaurant as a barge navigates the cove inside Rivercenter Mall in San Antonio on Nov. 25, 2011.

Photos Mark M. Hancock / © DFWmark.com


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San Antonio turns on the lights near The Alamo and along the Riverwalk during Thanksgiving weekend 2011.

Snowmageddon 2011

iPhotos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

Fayrouz Hancock poses for a portrait next to the pond fence during "Snowmageddon" near our home in Plano on Friday, Feb. 4, 2011.


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Fayrouz Hancock explores a heavy snow during "Snowmageddon" near our home in Plano on Friday, Feb. 4, 2011.

Christmas Eve at our home

Fayrouz Hancock prepares a Christmas Eve feast for our family at our home in Plano on Friday, Dec. 24, 2010.


photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com


Michelle Moe and William Hancock unwrap gifts from relatives.


Fayrouz talks to her in-laws Suellen and John Moline on Christmas Eve.


Deviled eggs made by Cindy Hancock, tiger shrimp and other appetizers await the family on Christmas Eve in Plano.




Mark's handmade guacamole and tiger shrimp await Santa (if he shows up quickly).




The Moline family of Plano poses for a portrait.




William Hancock and Michelle Moe try to sneak a kiss when they think nobody is looking.


The deserts were a big hit with our family. It included Suellen's Harvest Pie, Fayrouz's pineapple upside down cake, several flavors of Richard's fudge, a fruit tart, pecan tart, a seven-rum fruitcake from Wisconsin, and more.




A fruit tart, and a seven-rum fruitcake from Wisconsin await anyone with some room left in their belly after Christmas Eve dinner at our home in Plano on Christmas Eve.

Epic Roadtrip Recap

For optimal viewing/sound, please pause play to allow the slideshow to buffer some information before resuming play.


photos Mark M. Hancock / © DFWmark.com 
music "Campesina" © Tekumbe / Tekumbe.com

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We toured Texas during the week of July 15 to 22, 2010.

We logged about 1,100 miles inside Texas during a five-day roadtrip. We drove a triangle from Dallas to San Antonio to Houston and back.

To see more of what she saw, please follow the links below.

In one week we hit these cities:
Addison - dinner at Magic Time Machine served by the Mad Hatter
Dallas – Dallas World Aquarium, Sixth Floor Museum (JFK), West End Marketplace
Mesquite – Mesquite Championship Rodeo along with an all-you-can-eat-and-drink BBQ
Waco – lunch at Collin Street Bakery
San Marcos – Wonder World caverns (a waste of time)
San Antonio – Sea World, The Alamo, walked and took a river barge tour on The Riverwalk, Mexican dinner on the river and late-night burgers at the Hard Rock Café, San Fernando Cathedral and plaza
Schulenburg – lunch and fresh cinnamon-glazed pecans for the road
Galveston – Moody Gardens Aquarium, dinner at the Rainforest Café, drove along the seawall, coffee on The Strand with a dear friend
Clear Lake – toured and dined at NASA's Space Center Houston
Kemah – dinner and shopping on the Kemah boardwalk
Plano – shopped at Willow Bend Mall, several meals

Autumn at the Dallas Arboretum

Fayrouz Hancock poses for a portrait at the Dallas Arboretum on White Rock Lake in Dallas on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010.

photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com
music "Suenos De Libertad" © Tekumbe / Tekumbe.com


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Flowers bloom at the Dallas Arboretum during a visit with Fayrouz on White Rock Lake in Dallas on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010.

Please also see Fayrouz's photos.

Because I don't have time to tone or crop these images and Halloween is this weekend, I'm doing something I have never done before: I'm posting shots straight from my camera. I'll tone them when I come up for air later this year. So, for now, y'all get to see my actual framing and exposures.

Epic Roadtrip - Kemah

photos © Mark M. Hancock / © DFWmark.com

Visitors scream on rides near Babin's Seafood House on the Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah on July 20, 2010.


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Fayrouz Hancock visits the Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah on July 20, 2010.

Epic Roadtrip - NASA Space Center Houston

photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com

Fayrouz Hancock poses for a portrait next to a painting of the Apollo XIII astronauts in the Saturn V building at NASA's Space Center Houston on Tuesday, July 20, 2010.


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Fayrouz Hancock tours NASA's Space Center Houston in Texas.

Epic Roadtrip - Galveston

Fish swim in aquariums at the Rainforest Cafe in Galveston on Monday, July 19, 2010.



photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com


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Fayrouz Hancock visits the Moody Gardens Aquarium and enjoys dinner at the Rainforest Cafe followed by coffee on The Strand in Galveston on Monday, July 19, 2010.

Epic Roadtrip - Schulenburg

Fayrouz Hancock poses for a portrait with her coffee and flavored popcorn in front of the Potter Country Store in Schulenburg, Texas during a lunch stop on The Epic Roadtrip across Texas on July 19, 2010. We had to stop for for a few bags of their famous cinnamon-glazed pecans.

Epic Roadtrip - The Alamo

Fayrouz Hancock visits The Alamo in San Antonio on Monday, July 19, 2010.


photos © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com



The Alamo stands as a monument of Texas independence in San Antonio.


A groundskeeper cleans the sidewalk in front of The Alamo in San Antonio.


Fayrouz Hancock visits The Alamo in San Antonio on Monday, July 19, 2010.