A Drive We Will Never Forget & Virtual Caches 4/17/2010

This morning we headed into Houston, about 35 miles away, to do some virtual caches and see what the city looked like. Well we'll tell you that was a drive we will never forget. At 9:30 on a Saturday morning the traffic you would have thought it was a morning rush hour. If you weren't going at least 70 miles an hour you were going to get run over. There were cars that went by us at at least 85-90 miles an hour and they were weaving all over the road from lane to lane. It was unbelievable and I know I would not like to drive morning or evening rush hour with traffic like this all the time. Once we got off the interstate the traffic was very light and a big relief. Our first cache was at the Houston Police Officiers Memorial which is the site for the annual procession and wreath-laying ceremony that honors Houston's slain police officers. The site is guarded 24 hours a day by on-duty officers. This memorial was commissioned in order to honor Houston's police force and the officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. It is a tribute recognizing the sacrifices police officers make on a daily basis for the City of Houston. The Houston Police Officer's Memorial is shaped like a Greek cross that consists of five stepped pyramids (ziggurat design). The central pyramid rises 12 ½ feet above ground level, and the four outer pyramids are inverted to sink 12 feet into the ground. Every pyramid base is 40 feet square. There is a reflecting pool surrounded by four inscribed slabs of polished Texas pink granite located at the sculptures apex (of the central pyramid). The inscriptions bear the names of over eighty officers that died in the line of duty. A smaller version of the reflection pool is near the parking lot, for those visitors who are unable to climb to the apex, by the way we did climb to the top and it was quite a sight.

Next cache was at Glenwood Cemetery at the grave site of Howard Hughes's parents, Howard R. Hughes and Allen G. Hughes. It was a very beautiful cemetery with so so many huge fancy grave stones.....they always said Texans did everything in a BIG way and we will vouch for that just by looking at some of the head stones there. Glenwood Cemetery was established as a private cemetery in 1871 by the Houston Cemetery Company, which was incorporated by an act of the Twelfth Legislature of the State of Texas on May 12, 1871. After construction, Glenwood opened for business in the summer of 1872. Glenwood shares characteristics of other 19th century romantic garden cemeteries: It was established in a rural area (as Houston existed in 1871). It was built on a site with a distinguishing natural feature. Glenwood’s design takes advantage of the ravines leading to Buffalo Bayou to create a rolling landscape unique in Houston. It was landscaped in a naturalistic style with curving roads and walkways. Newspaper accounts of 1871 compared Glenwood to such well-known garden cemetery parks as Laurel Hill in Philadelphia (1836) and Green-Wood in Brooklyn (1838). Architectural historian Stephen Fox has written that Houstonians of the late 19th century considered Glenwood to be not only a cemetery but a landscaped park. Howard Huhges Jr. is also buried here.

Next stop was at the Beer Can House which was built by John Milkovisch, a retired upholsterer for the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1968, John Milkovisch was just another retired employee of Southern Pacific railroad. He lived in an undistinguished house in an undistinguished suburban neighborhood of Houston. Then John got antsy. He began decorating his patio with pieces of brass, marbles, rocks and buttons. Then he tore up the lawn and replaced it with similar glittery debris. The house itself was next. John took beer cans and flattened them into aluminum siding. Beer cans quickly became John's exclusive medium -- a convenient one, since John drank a lot of beer. He worked on the house for the next 18 years, incorporating a six-pack a day into its adornment -- roughly 39,000 cans. He linked pull-tabs into long streamers to make curtains that chimed when the wind blew. "This curtain idea is just one of those dreams in the back of my noodle," he explained at the time. "John thought beer cured everything," explained Mary, his wife, after John had died in 1988. Mary was still there, welcoming visitors, until her death in 2002. In November 2001, when Mary could no longer live without assistance, the Orange Show Foundation and its army of folk art preservationists purchased the property. By March 2008 the house and property were open again to the public, helped by a $125,000 Houston Endowment grant to repair and restore the Milkovisch's Beer Can home. The cans are a record of John's imbibing preferences -- Coors cylinders are sculpted into whirligigs, while long rows of Texas Pride and various Lite beers make up the walls. Pull tabs tinkle lightly in the breeze, but the only belches you'll hear are your own. The house and landscape are adorned with many different types of beer that John, himself, drank (though his neighbors and his wife, Mary, were always glad to lend a hand!). Did he prefer one brand to the next? His favorite beer was always "Whatever's on special".

Next stop was the Houston Holocaust Museum. Holocaust Museum Houston was created to recall the Holocaust, the murder of 6 million European Jews and millions of others, and the attempt to destroy a great civilization. It was also designed to teach people of all ages, backgrounds and interests that we can resist the worst in humankind. For these purposes, a dedicated site was commissioned and built to gather, teach, collect and preserve the history of the Holocaust. It was a very plain building but a building you will remember.

Next was a stop at the Houston Children's Museum. Rated a 5-star nationwide children's museum by Citysearch.com and the only one in Texas to receive such accolade, the Children's Museum of Houston is the highest-attended youth museum in the country for its size and is dedicated to its mission of transforming communities through innovative, child-centered learning. Housed in a whimsical building designed by internationally acclaimed architect Robert Venturi, the Children’s Museum of Houston offers a multitude of exhibits bursting with action-packed fun that engage kids in the ultimate learning experience. The Museum was founded in 1980 by a group of Houston parents who hoped to elevate early childhood development to a community-wide priority. Since then, the Museum has grown to serve more than 750,000 people annually, focusing on bilingual (Spanish/English) learning programs for kids ages birth to 12 years and workshops in literacy, science, math, health, engineering, civic engagement, culture and social studies.

Next we had to go to the Houston Zoo. We didn't go in the zoo as it is spring break week here and the traffic there was unbelievable also. We got the information we needed for the cache and then left.

The last 2 caches weren't anything to historical as one was at a local home in a very high scale neighborhood where they had 2 fir trees in front of there house trimmed like dancing bears. The other was a work of folk art in a small neighborhood and was called The Orange Show. Houston postman Jeff McKissack created The Orange Show in honor of his favorite fruit and illustrate his belief that longevity results from hard work and good nutrition. Working in isolation from 1956 until his death in 1980, McKissack used common building materials and found objects — bricks, tiles, fencing, farm implements — to transform an East End lot into an architectural maze of walkways, balconies, arenas and exhibits decorated with mosaics and brightly painted iron figures. The outdoor 3,000 square foot monument is maze like in design and includes an oasis, a wishing well, a pond, a stage, a museum, a gift shop, and several upper decks. It is constructed of concrete, brick, steel and found objects including gears, tiles, wagon wheels, mannequins, tractor seats and statuettes. This creation extols the virtues of the builders favorite fruit and encourages visitors of all ages to follow his theories relating health and longevity. This location is considered one of the most important folk art environments in the United States. On-site programs include film, lectures, music, hands-on workshops, dance, and multi-media performances.

Then we waded our way back through the traffic to Wally World to pick up some groceries and then back to the coach for the afternoon. Well that's about all for today so until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick