Texan Icon

Erecting statues of historical and important personalities is a universal phenomenon and I wonder if there is any country which is an exception to this. In India, we find that the decision to raise statues can lead to huge political tensions and so whenever there is such a threat, the statue remains under a cloak. One never gets to see it even after spending tax payers’ money on its construction. Many times, statues are used only as landmarks and they are never appreciated or maintained. Sometimes, I am unable to identify whose statue it is because there is no sign declaring the personality and his/her work. But statues are meant to remind us about the contributions, sacrifices and ideals of the person.

One of the statues that I still recall vividly is that of Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas. Houston (1793-1863) became a President of the Republic of Texas, then the Governor of the State of Texas, and then a US Senator when Texas joined the Union. The city of Houston is also named after him.

Driving north on Interstate 45, one finds the statue on the right. Although one cannot stop on the freeway to take pictures, it is worth taking a slight detour and going from the back through the Sam Houston Statue and Huntsville Visitor Centre. There is a small museum and a souvenir shop. One can take a small trail that leads to the statue and one emerges from behind. Along the trail, there is a discarded part of the face and it is a spot for photo-ops. This statue is claimed to be the world’s tallest free-standing statue of an American Hero. It was built by a local artiste, David Adickes. With a height of 67 feet and resting on a 10 feet high granite base, the statue is quite overbearing. Sam Houston is shown in his formal attire holding a walking stick. On the side is an inscription that says, “Govern wisely and as little as possible”. Surely, a thought that one can chew over as one drives away.

The Blue Ghost at Corpus Christi

Located in Southern Texas, Corpus Christi in Latin means ‘body of Christ’, however, the city has no particular significance in the celebration of the Catholic feast by the same name. Corpus Christi is actually well known for its Naval Air Station and its museum ship called USS Lexington. The ship was used in the Second World War and is said to have served for the longest period of time and set maximum number of records than any other US navy aircraft carrier. The Japanese called it the “Blue Ghost” because they thought they had managed to sink it several times but it shockingly kept showing up. If one visits Corpus Christi, one has to visit this historical museum to get a sense of what this nation used when it went on wars in the last century and also to see how it now evokes a sense of pride and nationalism among the visiting Americans.

The museum ship at Corpus Christi bay

After reaching the museum, we collected a museum map and brochures and went on a self guided tour. The volunteers and guides were available for answering queries at every corner. The ship has multiple decks, each with interesting exhibits. We first went to the flight deck from where the aircrafts took off and landed and were struck by its size. A number of decommissioned aircrafts were kept on display on the deck, each with a description of when it was used and its technical details. We then went to the forecastle-the part where equipment for anchoring is stored and were stunned to see the giant chains and machinery that was showcased. The lower deck had interesting exhibits on how the crew lived when on duty, where they ate, where they prayed and where they rested when they got sick. The hangar deck, where the aircrafts were kept for maintenance and fueling, also had some interesting exhibits. This included flight simulators where one could actually get a sense of being part of a war and a display of some of the aircrafts used during Second World War for bombings. Although some modifications have been made to the ship in order to make it accessible to the visitors, most of the places required walking through narrow openings and winding pathways and ducking one’s head from being hit by the low ceilings. Closer to the exit, a large US flag was pinned up which also served as a backdrop for clicking group pictures.

As I stepped out, I wondered if such a museum built on the foundations of patriotism and warfare was not only preserving histories and memories but also laying ground for its continued legacy.

In my mind's eye

When I was nine years old, my dad had visited the US and had got us a ‘View-Master’ with reels containing pictures of some attractive tourist destinations in that country. One of them carried pictures of stalagmites and stalactites making amazing formations. That was the first time I had seen such a natural wonder and I had no clue what it was called or how it was formed. More than awe I remember experiencing sheer disbelief that something like that could exist on this planet. It seemed so unreal and straight out of a ghost story.

A few years ago, when I read about the Natural Bridge Caverns near San Antonio, Texas, the images from the View-Master came right in front of my eyes.  I was staying at Houston at that time and the caverns were only three hours drive away. I could not wait to see how it looked like in real life.

The King's Throne

The Natural Bridge Caverns sees many tourists combining this with a visit to San Antonio or New Braunfels. Outside the caverns, there is a nice park with huge dinosaur models that one can climb on. I took a tour of the caverns which lasted approximately one hour and took us about 180 feet below the ground. The pathway was wet and at some places quite slippery. Although there were railings all along, one had to watch every step. I paused to observe each formation along the way and found that every single one of them was absolutely unique although they had generic names like soda straws, chandeliers, etc. Each chamber has an interesting name based on the patterns and meanings drawn from the abstract structures that are formed. As I went deeper and deeper inside the cavern, it became darker but the lights placed at strategic spots gave a brilliant orange hue to the formations. 

Pluto's Anteroom

We were told that the caverns were discovered in the early sixties by a group of local college students who made repeated expeditions to the naturally formed limestone bridge that lies above the caverns. Thanks to these college kids who were adventurous enough to crawl through the small openings and discover the spectacular caverns, we now have a site that showcases what underground water flowing through cracks in the layers of limestone can create over millions of years. The stalagmites and stalactites are still dynamic and growing with water silently passing and dripping through the formations.

I tried to take a few pictures but I don’t think they can ever match the quality of what I had seen through my old View-Master. I clicked them nevertheless, not to showcase the unbelievable wonders hidden in the caverns to others but to remind me of the joy of actually seeing it after preserving its image in my mind’s eye for years.        

Dollar Factory

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing of the US Department of Treasury prints the Federal Reserve Notes i.e. US dollar currency at two locations in the country, Washington D.C. and Fort Worth, Texas. We visited the facility at Fort Worth to see how billions of dollars in hard cash looked like in times of recession. Actually we were quite surprised to know that the facility is open to visitors since we do not know if similar facility in India is open to the public.

After going through standard security checks, we entered a lobby where there was a huge glass cube with one million dollars of hard currency stuffed inside. Gosh, looking at all that cash made me feel a little dizzy. As we turned away and began looking at other exhibits, we were ushered into a mini-theatre where they were about to screen a video documentary. The video was very informative and showed the history of currency making, how currency is printed, the crucial role played by the engravers, how the designs are prepared, the kind of ink and paper used, the various tests the currency notes are put through (like the laundry test where the notes are put through the laundry seven times to check if they survive), how they redeem currency that is completely mutilated, the things that are done to deter counterfeiting, how defective currency is identified and removed and how the notes become ‘real currency’ after one final step that takes place in Washington D.C. We were then taken on a tour of the facility. Through the glass paneled elevated walkway, we saw that the place looked like any other printing factory, just that what was being printed gave it an extra value. The notes were printed, cut, stacked, bundled and loaded into boxes meant to be dispatched to the D.C. facility. There were very few workers and they seemed to be going about their jobs in a matter-of-fact way. One of the workers standing next to a huge pile of notes scribbled a fat number and held it up for us to read. I could not even count the zeroes- but that was apparently the value of those green bills stacked next to him. We were told that the new ‘purple five’ dollar bill was being printed at the facility and if we looked more closely, we could see the identity of the Fort Worth facility printed on every such bill available. The tour lasted for about 45 minutes and we were then brought into another exhibit area. We were really impressed with the way the entire tour was organized and also the manner in which all the information was presented to visitors through interactive and interesting exhibits. On the way out, we stopped at the gift shop which sold interesting items like uncut sheets of dollar bills, shredded dollar bills besides the regular souvenirs like magnets and key-chains. We purchased a few souvenirs by paying cash (somehow did not feel like paying with plastic) and asked for a ‘purple five’ to be given as part of the change due.

We wondered in whose pockets would the billions of Federal Reserve Notes we had seen getting printed finally land. Hopefully, in the hands of those who have a rightful claim. In God We Trust!

Azalea Trail

Spring time in Tyler, Texas is very special. Azaleas are in full bloom and the entire town gets ready for the annual Azalea Trail. Until I heard about this annual event, I had not even seen how Azaleas looked like. But the pictures in the brochure available at the hotel lobby looked very pretty and the description of the trail itself seemed interesting. It talked about how homes with private Azalea gardens also participated in the Trail and opened their doors to visitors. The season was coming to an end; so we decided to head out to Tyler and catch a glimpse of the Azaleas before they withered away. This was also a good way to beat the jetlag as we had reached Dallas just the previous evening after over 20 hour travel from Bangalore. Fortunately, hubby who was driving had reached Dallas earlier and was hopefully not going to sleep behind the steering wheel over the two hour drive to Tyler.

The Visitors Centre at Tyler gave us a map of the trail which was about eight mile long with actually two main routes that one could take. The weather was beautiful and so we decided to walk as much as we could. We decided to start from where we had parked and follow as much of the trail route as possible without getting rigidly bound by it. The private gardens were beautifully spruced up for the show. Many local young girls dressed in old fashioned gowns were seen sitting around the houses inviting visitors. As the event includes a competition for the best private garden, folks take a lot of effort to make theirs look special. Pink hued Azaleas clearly dominated all the gardens. It was hard to imagine how within the next few days, the Azaleas would wither away and the gardens would suddenly become bare.

We walked around, took loads of pictures and sat on tyre-swings whenever we got tired of walking. After lunch, we decided to drive and cover the remaining part of the trail. We realized  that the city as well as private homes invest a lot in making sure that the Azaleas are showcased well and that the visitors not only get to enjoy the springtime blossom but also witness the intimate culture that Tyler has created surrounding their Azaleas. Despite the competition among home owners for the best Azaleas, it seemed as if they knew that the competition was helping them to collectively present the best to the visitors. What a wonderful way to preserve and re-affirm a sense of community, I thought.