Yesterday was a 10 out of 10 day – days like that don’t happen often, even when travelling. I woke up today with a decision to make…
I’d seen probably 95% of what I wanted to see at Space Center Houston yesterday. In fact, the only thing I had not gotten to was the Independence display.
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The Independence is not a real Space Shuttle – it’s a mock-up with displays inside of some of the design features of the Space Shuttle. But it’s on top of a real 747: the 747 that actually did carry the real Space Shuttles. So it would have been great to get inside and have a look.
However, was that one display worth the US$29.95 (plus tax) entrance fee? Given that I’m about to spend two days at Kennedy Space Center followed by two days at the Smithsonian, I decided to give the Space Center a miss and have a low(er) key day, especially that this would probably be my last opportunity to have a low(er) key day for at least a week.
Instead, I decided to do what Texans do on a Sunday…
This being Texas, there are half a dozen Churches within walking distance of my hotel. I decided on Nassau Bay Baptist Church.
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I walked in and the first person I saw was a uniformed security guard. It goes without saying that it’s sad that Churches in America require uniformed security guards.
I took a seat and within a minute someone approached and welcomed me. He introduced himself, asked me why I was visiting Houston and, when I told him, he told me that before he retired he’d worked at Johnson Space Center. He used the word “director” to describe his role there; I looked up the Center’s website afterwards to confirm that he had not been the (chief) Director of the Center but from what he said he’d had a senior role. He called up the Pastor to come and meet “the visitor from Australia” and I had a nice conversation with him too. He told me that probably a quarter of the Church members do, or did, work for NASA. Soon afterwards another man approached and welcomed me; he was a retired army Colonel who left the Army to take up a job as the Nassau Bay City Manager, though he had retired from that job some years ago.
By the time the service started there were maybe 300 people seated across 2 levels. This probably isn’t the place to write about the service itself, apart from this one space-related coincidence that I can’t help relating. In the movie Fly Me to the Moon, there’s a scene (at about 1hr 15 mins, if you’re interested) where the main characters visit a US Senator who’s been holding back funding for the Moon landing because of his religious beliefs. Cole (the character played by Channing Tatum) then quotes Psalm 19 verse 1: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands”, and persuades the Senator to not withhold funding by asserting that the space programme actually helps people to grow closer to God.
I’m sure you can see where this is heading. Yes, the Bible reading today was Psalm 19.
After the service, the retired Army Colonel and Nassau Bay City Manager invited me to lunch. He and his wife, and another couple from the Church, took me to their favourite Mexican restaurant: a family-owned restaurant called Red River Cantina. Needless to say, the food there was so much better than food at the average Mexican restaurant in Australia. I had started eating before I remembered to photograph my serving, but I had half of it for lunch, and will have the other half for dinner!
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It seems to be accepted here that people at restaurants ask for take-away boxes when (not if) they can’t finish their food – the servings are so big!!
Afterwards they drove me back and gave me a little tour of Nassau Bay on the way. The suburb, especially the waterfront parts of it, is a flood zone. There’s a common practice here which I hadn’t heard of called “elevating”, whereby entire houses are literally lifted up in their entirety and a new floor level is constructed underneath (with people still living in the “old” house on top)! You can see it in this house – notice the different construction material on the bottom level.
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… And here’s an example of an “elevation” in progress:
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Because of the flood zone, I was told that whatever is on/in the lower level is uninsurable.
I was also driven to Clear Lake and saw the water for the first time, before being dropped off at my hotel.
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So it was a great morning! And it was such a blessing to meet, and spend time with, some genuine Texas locals.
