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So 5 hours after leaving Louisiana, we entered the State of Texas.
Before 1845 Texas was an independent nation, recognised by the USA, UK, France and Holland. In 1845 it was annexed into the USA and it is now the second largest state in terms of population and area (the first in each category being California and Alaska respectively).
The name " Texas" comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends and Texas is known for its friendly people. For instance, they say:
- If someone in a store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may be in Texas
- If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may be in Texas
Two useful facts about Texas (probably only useful for those who are active in pub quiz circles):
- “Dr Pepper” was invented in Waco in 1885. Secondary useful fact: There is no full stop in “Dr Pepper”
- The Texas State Mascot is the Armadillo. Secondary useful fact: Armadillos always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.
And so 16 days and 10,146 miles after leaving Epsom, UK we arrived in Houston, Texas.
Now you will recall the title of today’s entry being the first words spoken by Neil Armstrong from the Moon on 20 July 1969, making “Houston” itself the first word spoken from there.
Here are some other useful (pub quiz) facts about Houston:
- Houston is the fourth largest city in the USA, after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago
- Houston is named after Sam Houston, the former President of the Republic of Texas. A 67 ft statue of him in Hunstville, Texas is the world’s largest statue of an American
- Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America
- The first domed stadium in the USA was the Astrodome in Houston
- Houston is twinned with The Grampian Region of Scotland
- Houston has the world’s largest concentration of healthcare and medical research institutions
- Over 90 languages are spoken in Houston
- The coldest temperature ever recorded in Houston was -15C. In the summer the temperature is typically over 32C and in the Winter 17C
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Today is the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster here in New Orleans.
Katrina was a category 5 hurricane, the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest hurricane ever to reach US soil. It caused damage overall totalling $81.2 billion (in 2005 money).
Whilst a lot of progress has been made in restoring the city’s housing and other facilities only around 67% of the population has returned to date (and even here nearly 3,000 families still live in emergency accommodation today) and there’s still more work to be done.
So on a day like this you might expect to see a photo of us standing at the memorial to the nearly 2,000 people who died in the disaster. Sadly, there isn’t one. Not yet at least. Despite a site being donated by the Louisiana State University (Charity Hospital Cemetery, shown above with Patsy Dupart, the daughter of the Rev. Lonnie Garrison who died in the aftermath of Katrina) the plans have not yet been implemented. Its not clear why not.
So all we can do today is give our thoughts to the lost people of New Orleans. For all those who died here’s an extract from “For the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
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Today’s journey took us 291 miles
from Tuscaloosa, Alabama
through Mississipi
and into Louisiana
To New Orleans, otherwise known as the Big Easy (possibly because it was considered one big speak-easy, or illegal drinking establishment, during the prohibition era when drinking was banned in the United States).
With 51% of New Orleans being at or below sea level (an overall average of 1.5 feet below sea level, with some areas being up to 10 feet below) you’d probably not be surprised that Hurricane Katrina could have caused such a catastrophic effect. However, since the beginning of the 20th Century of 2,000 square miles of coast that had previously protected New Orleans has been lost. Without this loss it is likely that things would not have been so bad.
Anyway, the reports of Tropical Storm Gustav hitting here on Monday (by which time it is expected to be a full-blown hurricane) haven’t caused everyone to leave just yet, especially not in New Orleans’ most famous party venue Bourbon Street (named after the House of Bourbon, the ruling French Royal family at the time of the city’s founding in 1718).
However, evacuation plans are underway here and they will start in earnest tomorrow. We will be continuing on our planned route tomorrow anyway.
As of today we’ve completed 9,799 miles leaving 347 miles to go before we reach Houston.
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Whilst that might not mean much elsewhere, anyone in Tuscaloosa will appreciate you using the rallying cry of the University based there. This is taken from the fight song written by Ethelred Lundy Sykes in 1926:
Yea, Alabama! Drown 'em Tide!
Every 'Bama man's behind you,
Hit your stride.
Go teach the Bulldogs to behave,
Send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave.
And if a man starts to weaken,
That’s a shame!
For Bama's pluck and grit have
Writ her name in Crimson Flame.
Fight on, fight on, fight on men!
Remember the Rose Bowl, we’ll win then.
So roll on to victory,
Hit your stride,
You're Dixie’s football pride,
Crimson Tide, Roll Tide, Roll Tide!!
Alabama’s most famous swim coach was Don Gambril, who was in charge for 28 years. Don Gambril was the 1984 US Olympic Coach and also coached Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi. He should really be remembered for coaching Charlotte Brock (now Mustard) from 1985 to 1990. Charlotte was an National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All American (top 6 in America) in 1986 and 1987.
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There’s ribs and then there’s Dreamland ribs. “Ain’t nothing like ‘em - nowhere” as the restaurant likes to say.
Dreamland was founded in 1958 in Tuscaloosa by “Big Daddy” John Bishop. This was the same year that Bear Bryant started coaching football at Alabama (If you’ve seen Forrest Gump you’ll see him portrayed - look out for the trademark houndstooth hat he always wore:
Bear Bryant died in 1983 aged 70. The Birmingham Post-Herald published a poem written by the American poet Charles Ghinga:
He led his crimson troops
Across two decades on the field;
More than a coach, or a myth, or a man,
He leaned against each goal post,
A proud symbol of his sport,
His chiseled chin catching the sun,
His squinting stare peering out
From under his houndstooth hat
Searching through each autumn afternoon
For the silent pride inside his boys
Who fought for their gentleman general
Who believed in the spirit of man.
Sadly “Big Daddy’ John Bishop senior is also no longer with us (he died in 1997, possibly due to excessive consumption of ribs). Thankfully, his son, John Bishop Junior is still with us and in training to become “Big Daddy” too. Here he is with a small takeout, just to keep him going on his way home. Above him (and Elmer) is a photo of John senior, wearing a hat which presumably contained some ribs.
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Since we’re heading through Alabama towards Tuscaloosa, you were probably expecting the title of this blog entry to be “Sweet Home Alabama” but instead I’ve chosen another track by the band that helped, along with Warren Zevon, give Kid Rock a hit this year with “All Summer Long” (both “Sweet Home Alabama” and and Zevon’s “Werewolves In London” are sampled for the song).
Strangely enough, Lynyrd Syknyrd originally came from Jacksonville, Florida not Alabama but how would “Sweet Home Florida” have sounded? Their name is a deliberate misspelling of Leonard Skinner, their old teacher.
Ronnie Van Zant (founder, singer and songwriter) was always predicting he was going to die young and “That Smell” is a song he wrote about dying whilst driving under the influence of drink and drugs; here’s how the song starts:
Whiskey bottles, and brand new cars,
Oak tree you're in my way.
There's too much coke, and too much smoke,
look what's going on inside you.
Sadly, Ronnie was right with his predictions and on October 20th 1977, just three days after the album Street Survivors came out (with a cover showing the band in flames) he died in a plane crash along with two other members of the definitive band.
Back to the journey then. We are now in Tuscaloosa, Alabama which means we have completed 9,508 miles, leaving 638 miles to go before we reach Houston.
