DAY FIVE – 12 SEPTEMBER 2013: THE MEMORIALS OF SAN JACINTO
Our draw today at “The Egg and I”
was another free beverage. The staff enjoyed seeing us every day, as we
were “short-time regulars.” Getting someone to come into your business
the first time can be tough, but keeping them coming back is something to be
strived for. In addition to good food at a reasonable price, the
cleanliness of the place and the positive attitude of the staff were big parts
in our continued patronage. The manager, Athena, also took notice of us,
and treated as well as any of her regular “long-term” customers.
I’d looked at the Houston map, and found something of
historical significance on the east side of the city. I plotted a course
which would keep us on the outside of the Sam Houston Tollway, and through the
suburb of Pasadena .
I remember Lee (who lived in the area for a while) referring to this as
“Stinkadena” because of the all the refineries.
I envisioned a grey industrial landscape we’d be going through, and a
potential rough area. Part of the fun is exploring an area you don’t
know, but also be smart about it too.
The AAA Tour Book described Pasadena as “looking similar to an area in California ,” hence the
same name. We had to admit the area we went through was pretty nice, with
the University of Houston at Clear
Lake Armand Bayou
Nature Center La Porte )
and were in the vicinity of our destination, the refinery area really wasn’t as
much as the urban blight as I’d expected it to be. Sure we saw the
refineries, but we didn’t smell them.
Our destination was the San Jacinto
Battleground State Historic Site. I’d seen the San
Jacinto Monument
before, but only in the distance when looking south travelling on IH-10 during
the trips to Baytown .
This was where the battle for Texas Independence culminated in an
eighteen-minute battle against surprised Mexican forces. The site itself
has walking trails to show you locations of specific events, and some side
roads in order to get views of the Monument. Seeing it from the main road
coming in was good enough for me.
Next to the Monument is a
reflecting pool, and flags of the six nations which have flown over Texas . Inside
there’s a museum dedicated to the battle, those involved, and some of the
events which happened on either side of the time when Texas was it’s own country. We watched
a short film on the battle which gave a lot of details about the event.
Mum noted after having been to other places mentioned in the War of Texas
Independence (like Washington-on-the-Brazos, and Gonzales), this was a great
way to cap the other historical places we’ve visited.
Standing
at over 560 feet tall, the Monument is made from the same shellstone that the
museum at Gonzales was constructed from. Like there, here it was
interesting to look at all the shellfish fossils in the blocks. Yeah, for
a long time this area was a sea floor, but I wonder if any more intricate and
interesting fossils were ever found when carving out these blocks. At the
top of the Monument is a star, which is designed to show five points from
whatever direction you look at it.
We took the ride to the viewing
section at the top of the Monument, and it was nice to be able to look at the
area from all the compass directions. We could see all the refineries to
the south and north, but it was interesting to see Houston far off to the west.
Whenever I visit a high place, it’s
always fun to get pictures from every direction. The glass of the windows sometimes causes the
flash to reflect, or I want to make sure the farther destination is the focus
(not the edges of the window I’m looking out), so I might take a couple of
different test shots. It was then I noticed there was a penny sitting on
the window sill, on the outside of the glass. Okay, I figured that was a
pretty random event, considering how high up we were. But I noticed on a
sill facing each compass point there was at least one penny hanging out there.
Now there had to be an interesting
story behind this. These pennies were worn and weathered, but they were
the “newer” design (having the log cabin visible). The elevator operator
told us the AC unit had gone out once, so all the windows were opened, and some
smart-arsed students put the pennies out there. They weren’t hurting
anything, so they were left when the windows were closed up again.
Another reason for us coming out
here was what was parked right next door:
Battleship Texas.
Berthed in its own little harbor, this decommissioned military vessel was
open to allow visitors to wander above and below the decks. Battleship Texas (also
known as the USS Texas) was placed
into service in 1914 for World War One, but it was used far more extensively
during World War Two (it assisted in both the Normandy Invasion, and the
landing at Iwo Jima ). This is one of the
few vessels to have served in both conflicts.
After its combat service was over, the
ship was decommission and scheduled for use as target practice. Texas
citizen started a campaign to save the ship from becoming scrap, and brought
here in 1948. Other than a few new coats of paint, the battleship looks
pretty much as it did when it was an actively-used vessel. The lowest
deck (where the engines were) didn’t have much area for visitors, but the decks
above (which contained the living and operational facilities) had much more to
see.
Some places (like the officer’s
quarters, medical bay, and radio room) were sealed behind glass to protect the
historical nature. Other areas, like the mess hall and crew bunks were
open to all free wandering. While some crews actually had rooms, there
were many bunks which were up against the wall in the main corridors.
It’s hard to imagine how crowded this must’ve been when the crew was
full.
The stairs which took us from one
deck to another were the same as when the ship was still being used. They
were narrow, so watch your step, but it was worth our time to go below decks.
We also wandered around outside on
the main deck to see the gun batteries, and other secondary weapons. The
central structure where the bridge is located wasn’t open to the public, but
there was stuff there. We passed a gentleman (who wasn’t part of the Park
Service) leading a lady through “No Admittance” doors, as apparently this
vessel was going to be used as the venue for some gathering she was planning.
We overheard them talk about how tables were going to be set up on the
main deck and such.
While we couldn’t enter the central
structure, we could access the stairs and catwalks around it. This was
very interesting, as these little ledges were where the signal light operators
and other defensive batteries were. These are traverse at your own
ability, but the views you get of the ship, the decks, or the surrounding area
are worth it.
There weren’t any informational
cards inside the ship or placed on some of the weapons, but there was a sign
near the gift shop. That’s one thing which I thought was needed, if only
to let you know what caliber some of the weapons were.
One many of the defensive
batteries, there was nothing to prevent us from climbing on them (which
afforded picture opportunities). The pedals and the hand-cranks still
worked (and were nicely oiled), so we could see how quickly and effortlessly
these could be repositioned. In a combat vessel, speed is everything.
The rear of the ship (the aft,
using nautical terms) was having some refurbishing being done, but normally
that was open to the public. There were a couple Park Service officials
hanging out on the ship to answer questions, and they’d found the best shady
place which was open to wind flow.
For more information on the places visited or mentioned:
Battleship Texas : http://www.battleshiptexas.org/
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