The bow of the Eagle
Editor’s Note: Because the Austinot’s founder, Eric Highland, is a 20-year veteran of the United States Coast Guard, I was delighted when I first heard the following story. I’m grateful to Richard for sharing his story and aspirations with our community, and for the example he sets for his generation of young Austinites.
This guest blog post is by Richard Barr Dent.
What motivates a high school junior to compete for a ride on one of the last sailing tall ships in the United States fleet?
At four, it shocked me to leave Cincinnati. “Austin is hard,” I told my grandmother. No tree leaves changed colors in Autumn. No snow for sledding in the winter. Luckily, I realized we were only three hours away from the Texas coast. Trips to Galveston, tours of the Elissa, the tall ship that is the pride of Texas, and nights spent aboard the U.S.S. Lexington with my Cub Scout Pack 29 kindled my maritime interest. Before Austin, my only exposure to the sea was the movie Muppet Treasure Island. [Read more…]
This is the story of a man who got what he wanted. Mix one part passionate, one part competitive, one part positive, and you get Tom Gimbel.
There are few Texans who don’t enjoy rubbing in the fact that Texas was once its own country. It’s one of the things that the rest of the country hates about us.
Did you know that the great state of Texas gave away over 3,000,000 acres of land?