Still celebrating Cinco de Mayo in Texas but maybe next year in London!

May 5, 2015May 5, 2015 / The Coastal Crone / 19 Comments

Crone and Son in London, May 5, 1995

Twenty years ago Husband, Son and I spent Cinco de May in London

and celebrated at the Texas Embassy Cantina with margaritas and mariachis.

Since then every Cinco de Mayo I say, “Next year in London!”

Alas, another year has passed without returning to London.

In 2012 I wrote a post about celebrating Cinco de May in London.

Here is the link for those who missed it and may be interested. https://coastalcrone.com/2012/04/15/next-year-in-london/

Unfortunately, as far as I know the Texas Embassy Cantina is closed, but I would settle for another trip to London.

TEXAS REMEMBERS VIETNAM

February 28, 2014 / The Coastal Crone / 21 Comments

The Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument was approved by the Texas legislature in 2005 to honor Texans who served in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. The 14-foot tall monument will be dedicated on the Capitol grounds in Austin on March 29, 2014.

Replica of the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument

Currently a scale replica can be seen on the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay as part of the Texas Vietnam Heroes visiting exhibit. The display also consists of 3,417 hand-embossed personalized dog tags representing the Texans who died while serving the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War.

The interactive exhibition pays tribute to and educates the public about the sacrifices of Texans in Vietnam. Each hero is remembered by name, rank, branch of service, home of record and date of his loss. Black tags represent the Texans who are still Missing in Action. .

A set of identical dog tags will be entombed in the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument as part of the monument to honor all Texans who served in Vietnam.

The Texas Vietnam Heroes Exhibit can be seen until March 24, 2014 on the USS Lexington Museum. Nicknamed “The Blue Ghost,” it is open daily and located on North Beach in Corpus Christi, Texas. For more information go to www.usslexington.com.

The USS Lexington is a floating museum.

For more information on the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument go to www.buildthemonument.org.

Here is a video from that website featuring Joe Galloway, author of “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young.”

A LIGHTHOUSE AND A WEDDING

July 19, 2013 / The Coastal Crone / 28 Comments

Point Cabrillo Light Station

Perhaps because I live on the coast I enjoy visiting lighthouses. On a trip to northern California last fall we visited Point Cabrillo Light Station near Fort Bragg. Today it is a state park. The grounds contain a restored lighthouse keeper’s home and several guest houses set back a bit from the lighthouse itself. Nature trails allow visitors to experience the natural beauty of the rugged Pacific coastline in safety.

The website describes its history this way:

“Although Point Cabrillo was surveyed by the U. S. Lighthouse Service in 1873, construction of the Light Station didn’t begin until after the 1906 earthquake. The demand for lumber to rebuild San Francisco meant that maritime commerce on the north coast was at an all time high and a Lighthouse was critical to the safety of the ships and their valuable cargo. Construction of the Light Station began in 1908, and the lens was illuminated for the first time on June 10,1909, under head keeper Wilhelm Baumgartner.”

Our visit was at late afternoon. Near the lighthouse keeper’s home a large white tent was set up in preparation for a wedding. The tent had a wooden floor and tables laden with white flowers. In front a bar had been set up so that guests could take a drink with them as they strolled down to where the ceremony was to be held near the edge of the bluff . White chairs were lined up for the guests. A cello and violin duo would provide the music. The setting sun would make a dramatic background for the nuptials. This was a wedding California-style.

2012 10 06 Point Cabrillo Light Station 001

Full view

As we were walking away from our tour of the lighthouse, a couple from the wedding party approached us. The man asked Husband if he would take a photo of them. As Husband took the camera the couple moved closer together and tilted their wine glasses in classic style. The late sun and old lighthouse made a unique backdrop for this striking couple. He was tall, trim and dark in his black pin-striped double-vested suit and cowboy boots. Her long blonde hair fell just right as did her short draped skirt that was accented casually with a wide silver belt; cowboy boots completed the polished western look. Think J. R. and Sue Ellen Ewing. They might be from Texas, I thought.

Husband returned the camera and the man expressed his thanks. In my best Texas tourist accent I said, “Where are you all from?”

“New York,” he replied with a smile as they walked away with the California sun highlighting their wine.

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Coastline behind the Point Cabrillo Light Station

Would Ike like Frank?

February 25, 2012August 20, 2015 / The Coastal Crone / 7 Comments

Vintage Campaign Button

A recent article by George Will of the Washington Post titled, “Reasons to Like (and honor) Ike,” caught my eye. Yes, I remember him when he was President Eisenhower, but don’t remember him when he was General Eisenhower!

Will’s article exposed me to the proposed memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower by Frank Gehry to be placed near the National Mall in Washington. I also learned of a new biography by Jean Edward Smith, “Eisenhower in War and Peace.”

As it seems to be with many memorials, what Gehry proposes is not without controversy. Remember the Vietnam Memorial and more recently the Martin Luther King Memorial? And almost anything proposed in Washington these days is up for debate between Republicans, Democrats and undecided!

So what is the opposition? Will writes, “…the memorial will have a colonnade of huge limestone-clad columns from which will have 80-foot stainless-steel mesh ‘tapestries’ depicting the images of Eisenhower’s Kansas youth. And almost as an afterthought, there will be a statue of Eisenhower as a boy.” So far so good. I love Gehry’s building designs which seem like works of art to me. Several years ago I attended a concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. It is magnificent inside and out.

Disney Hall

Members of the Eisenhower family seem to have many objections to the planned project including the background of the sculptor who will provide the statue of Eisenhower as a boy. And they question the endurance of the 80-foot stainless-steel mesh walls.

If you want to see a bigger-than-life-John Wayne memorial, visit the site of his birthplace in Denison, Texas. He was the first Texas-born president. The north Texas town of Denison takes pride in that fact and maintains his place of birth even today as a historical site complete with a life-size statue of him in military uniform on the grounds. Eisenhower’s father had come from Kansas to Texas to work for the railroad, but he moved his family back to Kansas when the future president was only eighteen months old.

We will have to wait for the recommendation of the oversight panel to see if Gehry’s design will be an acceptable memorial for a United States president and lives up to Gehry’s “architectural flamboyance” as George Will puts it. However, I have seen the statue in Dennison and that is good enough for me.