R and J in the USA

For all of the Texas bravado and pride to be found within its borders, there is very little that we found in Texas that can’t be found elsewhere in equal measure, or even in larger or more extreme measure in some cases. Texas, where the climatic ranges of the east and west converge, boasts a tremendous diversity of flora and fauna, and it can be divided into 10 distinct natural regions – each overflowing with its own bounty and beauty. That said, it is hardly the only state to boast such a diversity. Texas has, without a doubt, great barbecue and barbecue that is most certainly worth bragging about. But, again, there are plenty of places that can lay claim to barbecue worthy of respect. There is, of course a passion for music and football to be found throughout. We all know that the center for country music is not in Texas (thought Texans, like any group of people, of course listen to a diverse range of music) and music is one of the most universal passions, not just in the nation, but in the world. And, there is no question that there are states whose passion for football could go toe to toe with Texas, which is to say nothing to minimize the fervor in Texas. There are just some pretty serious football fans across this nation. As for mountains or seas or deserts or any other natural phenomenon, Texas has more than its fair share of beautiful and gasp-worthy spots – but we have not yet encountered a state that doesn’t in one form or another, and most of what Texas has to offer in that area can also be found in other states, oftentimes in bigger forms. As we have reflected on our journeys, we actually realized that there are few states that have something in them that no other state can lay claim to as well accept in the details and particulars of any one spot of course. This is not to minimize Texas in any way shape or form. As a state, she is filled with much to adore and be in awe of. But nature doesn’t draw or recognize the borders between states that we do and so she does not divvy up her wonders to split evenly among them. Even in size and sheer vastness, though Texas most certainly dwarfs any other state in the lower 48, she does not take the crown of the 50 states in the union with Alaska being so much bigger that it could engulf the entirety of the huge state of Texas twice! 

Before anyone thinks we might be having the gall to mess with this proud state, we most certainly are not. We have nothing but respect and appreciation for this state that is big enough to contain a tremendous spectrum of wonders and features of every kind, natural, cultural, historical, culinary. As a matter of fact it is that very Texas pride, the one that we have no desire to mess with, that we have found is, at least to us, in itself, the thing that really puts Texas on the map. 

Now, we haven’t yet been to all 50 states, but from what we have experienced so far, and what we are guessing we might experience, there is perhaps no state in the USA that is so proud of its state identity as Texas. This is not news. The quotes are plentiful throughout history telling the tale of Texas pride. It is not to say that there is not state pride throughout the country. There most certainly is, and we’ve enjoyed seeing it and seeing it in places we had no idea it was there with such a glow (we are looking at you, Iowa) but nowhere have we seen it run quite so deep or quite so pervasive as that of Texas. In many other states, we might call it more a state love or affection or affinity. In so many states, we observe people and culture where you can tell that the state takes up a deep place in peoples’ hearts. 

But in Texas, it seems that Texas, for many, IS their heart. Of course, we are sure this doesn’t speak for everyone as every state has many people that do not conform to the perceptions, images or stereotypes of the state as a whole. But there is no denying that we saw and experienced things in Texas of this nature that go beyond what we have seen in other places. In Texas, in addition to love and affection for the place they call home, there seems to be more of a pride and an identity that runs deep into the bones of a Texan. 

Perhaps the closest equivalent we’ve found to this is New York City pride – where being from New York City is not just a geographical piece of information, but a point of pride and identity. However despite what 99% of people we encounter might think (including a lot of the people that live in New York City!), New York City is NOT the entire state of New York. While it makes up close to 50% of the state’s total population if you include the metro area, there are still another 12+ million people that live throughout the state of New York and live in a world that is nothing like New York City at all. We are some of those people, living our lives in a part of New York that has to be defined by the fact that it specifically is NOT our famous city in our southern tip. When we say where we are from, we say we are from Upstate New York – that means up state FROM New York City. If you don’t say that, and oftentimes, even if you do, the chances that someone will think you live in Manhattan and walk by the Empire State Building on the daily is still fairly high. 

But, having digressed much too far into talking about New York in a post that is supposed to be about Texas, the point is, we have rarely thought of ourselves, before this trip as “New Yorkers”, largely because that phrase belongs more to the proud city that shares the state’s name. Not that we felt anything opposite of state pride – no shame, no embarrassment at all. We have felt a quiet kind of pride that is more like enjoyment or contentment, a feeling of the warmth of home. It is coming on this trip that has actually helped us develop more of a feeling of state pride – not in any sense of comparing our state to others, but in realizing, as we travel each state, that each state has so much to it – its own unique blend of geography, geology, ecology, natural wonder and beauty, culture and history – and, as we learn about that unique blend in each state, we have found ourselves more and more reflecting on the special blend of it that we have grown up in and lived our lives in and realized how much we love the nooks and crannies that we have long called home. But before this trip, even though we would have been able to make lists of places we loved and seen that so many of them were throughout our home state of New York, ”proud” is not a word we would have thought to use and being from New York was never a conscious part of our personal identity. 

Not so in Texas. It seems that here, you are born and raised a Texan. There is something quite special about that sense of stately patriotism and it oozes from Texas in the most subtle and overt of ways. It’s not just all of the quotes that we see on T-shirts and bumper stickers that proclaim this fierce loyalty. It’s also the “where are you from”s followed by the “Welcome to Texas!”s. We’ve met people from out of state in our lives so many times, and while they always were most welcome in our home state of New York, it never really occurred to us to welcome them to the state as a whole. We might welcome them to the town or area, but we just never would have thought to welcome them to the state of New York.

Even just the fact that we have never been to a state capitol that was as much of a scene as Texas’s made an impression. We have been on many state capitol tours where we were either the only ones, or one of a small handful of tourists, and usually all from outside the state, except for the school field trips. We’ve been to many where the tours are by appointment only because there are not enough consistent crowds to merit a tour schedule. Our Texas capitol tour was not only amidst a large group of participants, but our tour guide had to shout at the top of his lungs for his touring information to be heard over the not so quiet din reverberating throughout the statehouse halls by the throngs of other viewers. Only in and around our nation’s capitol in DC, have we ever seen so much activity at a capitol. And, while their capitol building is beautiful and stately as we’ve seen many places before, and most certainly worth visiting, as a destination in and of itself, it is not the most striking capitol we’ve seen. It is not lacking in any way shape or form, it’s just that state capitols the country over are putting their best foot forward and most all of them are playing a pretty big game in terms of impressive buildings and complexes go. But never have we been to a state capitol that had even close to as many visitors crawling its hallways as the Texas State Capitol. Now, maybe that is because it was the holidays, but the numbers are just not even in the same ballpark. 

And it wasn’t just the state capitol. Every single famous spot we went to in Texas was absolutely crawling with visitors, whether it was the space center in Houston, the Alamo in San Antonio, the Fort Worth Stockyards, the State Museum, the State Capitol or Terry Black’s barbecue – everywhere we went in Texas seemed to be the place to be. 

Texas is, in the most literal sense of the word, awesome, in myriad ways. It’s natural beauty and diversity, it’s cultural richness and it’s impactful and storied history. But we found that the biggest thing there is in Texas is Texas pride itself and that’s something we wouldn’t want to mess with at all – rather, something we’d prefer to appreciate, admire and simply tip our hat to as we pass through along our way.