Remember The Alamo

Chris and Jay continued their journey through Texas like a stone skipping across a pond as they hopped from Houston to Austin to Wimberley and finally to San Antonio.  They took a chance at not making a reservation and were able to secure a campsite for two days at the Lackland Air Force Base RV Park.  They leaned that Lackland is the Cape May of the Air Force; a boot camp training base.  When they went about their shopping and sightseeing travels through the base, they encountered companies of children – sorry, recruits, marching in formation as they made their way from class to class.

The Alamo was originally built across the river from the town of San Antonio and served as a mission in the 1700s to convert the native Indian population into Christian, Spanish citizens.  Chris and Jay felt very strange driving past high rise office buildings into the heart of downtown San Antonio to find the six acre Alamo shrine.

The famous façade.

Many of the home and commercial buildings in Texas are constructed of a cream colored limestone and the tall stone wall surrounding The Alamo grounds appeared to be made of the same material, only weathered, aged and mottled with darker hues.  They learned that the church, known for its infamous, round-topped front facade, was only a small part of the compound where the battle for Texas liberty was waged.

A portion of the stone wall surrounding The Alamo grounds.

When the structure was abandoned by the church in the 1790s the Spanish Army moved in and built a huge drilling compound surrounded by a protective stone wall.  It is in this enclosure that the 189 brave men gave their lives to protect Texas from the self-proclaimed dictator, General Antonio López de Santa Anna. 

A 3 dimensional sculpture depicting the entire grounds

of The Alamo at the time of the battle.

The chapel is at the upper right hand corner.

Some were born in town but most migrated from almost every state in the Union at the time.  European immigrants from Ireland, Germany, England and Scotland joined them, coming months and years earlier to start a new life and buy land for a mere 12.5 cents per acre; a price the Spanish government had used to entice settlement of the Texas territory in the early 1800s prior to the Mexican independence war.  Among them were two famous frontiersmen – James Bowie and David Crockett.  Bowie had married a local girl and, as was the custom, they lived in her parent’s home in town.  Crockett had been a member of the Tennessee legislature but left the State for Texas when he became dissatisfied with their politics.

Flags representing the states and countries from which the volunteers

came stand around the perimeter of the church interior.

General Santa Anna, Mexico’s elected leader, decided to change the governing structure from one modeling the United States, of individual States, to a centralist government with all power emanating from Mexico City – meaning Santa Anna.  (Sound familiar?)

Taxes and other restrictions were imposed and over time the Tejanos decided they wanted to become an independent territory.  They seized The Alamo and other military encampments racking up some early victories.  But the 189 volunteers were not enough to defend The Alamo against over 2,200 of Santa Anna’s men.

Beginning on February 23, 1836, the Mexicans bombarded the compound with cannon fire for 13 days.  Then, before dawn on March 6^th the Tejanos fended of two charges before succumbing to the third.  The volunteers took over 600 Mexican soldiers with them in their struggle.

Their deaths were vanquished several weeks later when General Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto near present day Houston.  A treaty was signed and Texas became TEXAS thus proving the saying “Don’t Mess With Texas!”

The San Antonio River runs through the city of the same name and along its banks is the “River Walk” a menagerie of restaurants and shops that border a broad, paved walkway immediately adjacent to the water.  In fact if one was distracted from their intended path, one could easily fall in!  Next to the Alamo, it is THE attraction in town as it meanders five miles in an immense horseshoe.

A stairway leading from the street level to the River Walk.

Chris and Jay took a mid-day break and dined at The Rainforest Café; a restaurant Chris had always heard about but had never patroned in the D.C./Baltimore area.  The interior was elaborately decorated with faux stone walls, whose surfaces and ceilings were covered with artificial flowers, vines and greenery.  Life-sized chimpanzees and a tiger nestled amongst the foliage near them periodically came alive as they moved, chattered and roared during the meal.  The food was surprisingly good and thus fortified, Chris and Jay continued their exploration of the city and planned their departure to Fort Stockton the next day.

Messin' With Texans

The thing one sees the most, when in Texas, are signs stating; “Don’t Mess With Texas!”  Our intention on going to Texas was specifically to do just that – or at least mess with some Texans J

Jay last flew Coast Guard helicopters at the old Air Station on Ellington AFB near Houston, Texas.  He was there from 1978 to 1982 and has always said it was some of the best and worst times of his CG career.  He was the Operations Officer (possibly the best & most demanding job in aviation) and promoted to Commander while there but also divorced from his wife, Jo, of 18 years.  Jay was eager to show Chris, who has never been to Houston, his old stomping grounds.  The original plan was to spend 6 to 8 weeks there, during the winter, to avoid the colder northern weather.  Faithful readers of this blog know that their plans are rarely completed and to keep in this tradition Chris & Jay were only able to schedule 7 full days there.  So many people to see, things to do and so very little time – like life…

Arriving in cold weather on the 10^th of February, Jay could only recognize one landmark as they drove through the south-eastern portion of the city to get to the RV park.  When Jay used to fly over the area immediately south of the Air Station there was only Clear Lake City (where he lived) and the Johnson Space Center.  Route 45 continued south through a very sparsely populated area to Texas City then continued over a long causeway to Galveston Island.  In the 29 years since Jay left the area it has grown to fill the entire void with people, malls, highways and TRAFFIC!!!  Now he knew where all the people from the decaying parts of the rest of the country have gone – Houston…

The few days passed quickly with warm weather arriving and Chris worked feverishly catching up the blog while Jay found his shorts, T-shirts and waxing equipment to make Big Red all bright and shiny again.  The evenings were spent having dinner with friends.

Jeff Reeves was with Jay on two of his three Icebreaker deployments and lives with his wife, Debra, in Galveston.  Thankfully they weren’t badly harmed by the recent Hurricane.  Dinner was great fun.  It always amazes him how quickly the years between visits disappear and the conversation picks up where it left off decades before. 

The next night Dan Huber and his new wife, Nina, joined them.  Dan was crew aboard Jay’s sailboat when nearly every weekend was spent with members of the Crabtowne Ski Club, sailing the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis back in 1983 & 84.  Remembering good times is always fun. 

Bob Newlin and Dave Dickey were both young (oh, so young) enlisted guys at the Air Station and they remained in the area in civilian jobs.  They came over Monday night for several hours of serious laughter as the years faded away and discussions of badminton games, won and lost, were remembered.  Chris made her wonderful Chili but was somewhat intimidated by serving it to “Texans” so put a bottle of Tabasco Sauce on the table so they could season it to taste.  She was pleasantly surprised when they didn’t have to do anything to her Chili and even asked for seconds.

While Jay lived in Clear Lake he saw a local Chiropractor for his recurring back problems and they established a long and lasting friendship.  In fact, they always had so much fun telling each other jokes that when Jay was scheduled for an appointment the Doctor always blocked out the time for two appointments because he knew they would spend so much time talking he would exceed his time limit.  It was wonderful to spend some time with Ron Slaughter and his new wife, Blanka.

As the short time in the area was drawing to a close Jay was able to rally his aching muscles to get some wax on the front of the RV so the bugs would have a clean spot on which to splatter.  Meanwhile, his old friend and flying buddy, Bob Sainlar, recovered from a bad cold so he and his lovely wife, Suzanne, could meet for a ceremonial lunch at Frenchies, which was just about the only restaurant still left  from the old days.  Thankfully the food was as good as Jay remembered it and another enjoyable reunion with dear friends was had.

With firm plans to return next winter, for a much longer visit, Chris & Jay left on Friday the 18^th with Chris still not seeing the Air Station, Space Center or much of anything else the area has to offer.  The Blog was caught up and Big Red and Sonny looked much better than Jay’s muscles felt…

Tom Shallue was another one of these “young enlisted” guys who worked and played with Jay in Houston.  He left the Coast Guard, married the loveliest Texas girl in the whole State and stayed in the area.  They eventually moved near Austin so Jay HAD to take a detour to see them.  Over the years Tom and Barbara had bought 5 acres in the “Hill Country” near Lake Travis, NW of Austin.  They assured Chris & Jay there was plenty of room to park Sonny on their property for the weekend visit.  What Tom neglected to mention was the trivial detail that the road access to their property could have been used as excellent training for all-terrain vehicle driving qualifications!  Now that Chris & Jay have gotten in and out of there they have a whole new respect and appreciation for Big Red’s 4-Wheel Drive and raw diesel power.  Aside from that minor “thrill” the weekend was most enjoyable.  

The house that Tom built – literally with his own two hands.

They got to meet some new, neat friends of Tom & Barb’s (Robert & Shari Duncan) and all 6 of them went dancing on Friday Night.  Jay lasted only 2 dances before the smoke and loud music drove him out.  The term “Fuddy Duddy” comes to mind but being in the quiet out-of-doors is much preferable to large noisy crowds in smoke-filled rooms.

It is a little unusual to find “Coasties” in the middle of Texas but Jay also had another guy he was stationed with in San Juan, Puerto Rico way back in 1972 who retired just a few miles from Tom & Barb.  Don (Abe) Lincoln and his wife, Kathy, came over Saturday and they all ate too much, laughed and talked well into the late night hours.

When Jay lived aboard his boat, MOOREA, in the Caribbean he had 20 cooks in the 12 years he chartered his boat.  One of those cooks, Suzy Denby, lived in Austin and Jay met her and her very impressive young son, Wally, for lunch on Sunday.  Jay has to be one of the luckiest guys in the world to have so many wonderful people to hang out with.  He loves keeping up with old friends and meeting new ones.  Life is so good…

Suzy and Jay in front of Jay’s favorite fast food restaurant – Schlotzsky’s.

Sunday evening was spent with the 4 of them quietly chatting on Tom & Barb’s very comfortable porch then watching a movie in their imitation IMAX theater in their basement.  Tom beams with pride when he tells people he got that 80-something inch, huge TV on Craig’s list for $400.  What a wonderful weekend but it all had to end with our Monday morning departure heading to San Antonio.

Tom and Barbara Shallue on their front porch.

But wait, there’s more…  About half way between Austin and San Antonio there is the little town of Wimberley.  Guess who lives there?  Yep, another Houston Air Station Coastie.  They had just moved into their lovely retirement home on 5 acres complete with a covered RV parking spot next to their outbuilding (somehow barn just doesn’t do that beautiful facility proper reverence).  Milton (Uncle Milt) Thompson and his new wife, Karen, treated the weary travelers to the hugest steaks Chris & Jay had seen this side of the Pecos (a little TX lingo here)!  One can imagine that by this time Chris had heard just about all the Coastie war stories she could stand.  Thankfully, she and Karen could insulate themselves from the two “old farts” and talk about something more interesting than when Milt threw Jay over his shoulder, when Jay was promoted, and carried him to the helicopter wash-rack, strapped him into a litter (used for hoisting patients into the helicopter) and hosed him down after Jay had been thoroughly drenched with several large buckets of ice water.  Oh, the joys of military life…

Milt and Karen Thompson with Jay.

Deer that frequent their yard.

The next morning came all too soon and again promises of return visits next year for a longer stay were made.  A pleasant drive to San Antonio completed their whirlwind tour of catching up with dear friends.  One may think that driving about, seeing friends and eating vast amounts of food is easy but Chris & Jay were exhausted and needed a little rest.  You, dear reader, may feel sympathy for them at any time.