The Real Aviator

Early last Sunday morning, The Aviator came on Starz, so I watched it. It's one of my favorite movies in which Leonardo DiCaprio stars (also including Catch Me If You Can and Gangs of New York). I have also been fascinated with Howard Hughes after first seeing this movie. Although many biographies and profiles of the man say that he was born in Houston, many historians believe him to have been born in Humble, Texas, which is the same town in which I was born.

Having an urge to go on a small adventure (or abenture as Dayna and I call it), I decided that I was going to take Dayna and go see Howard Hughes' gravesite at the historic Glenwood Cemetery near downtown Houston. After she woke up, and not telling her where I was taking her, we got dressed and headed out.

About fifteen minutes later we arrived, she did not know where we had been going until she saw the hundreds and hundreds of monuments welcoming us in among the departed. It was one of the most amazing cemeteries I'd ever seen. I had read earlier that morning the names of the many prominent and well-known figures who'd been buried there: the Allen family, the Westheimer family, the Gray family, etc.

It didn't take us long to find the Hughes family plot where Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was buried. Beside him lay his mother and father. It was amazing to see. I stood at the site for a few moments and thought about the man who'd been demonstrated in The Aviator, what kind of man he was, his achievements. It was thrilling.

We spent another hour or so driving around among the thousands of gravesites, reading the names, and stopping every so often so that I could get out and take a closer look. Other than that of Howard Hughes, my favorite gravesite to see was Dr. Anson Jones', who was the last President of the Republic of Texas before it was annexed by the United States in 1845.

If you're in the Houston area, I encourage you to visit Glenwood Cemetery. Plan on spending a good amount of time there; you need enough time to capture the abundance of history, beauty, and spectacle.