A-Z Solomon's Compass Style: Icons

Welcome A-Z bloggers!
And everyone else, of course :)
My A-Z posts are all about my new book, SOLOMON'S COMPASS.
Read the A post to learn who AJ is.


AJ here.

Today we're talking about icons. Specifically, Texas icons.

Although most of these are not a part of SOLOMON'S COMPASS, you may find some of them included in the story. Knowing about these pieces of Texas will help you to understand Texas and Texans, too.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and I'll provide answers. Or try to.

Buckle your seatbelts ... here we go ... Icons A-Z Style!

  • Alamo
  • Blue Bell Ice Cream
  • Cowboys
  • Dr Pepper
  • El Paso
  • Fiesta
  • Gruene Hall
  • Hill Country
  • Indianola
  • Jalapenos
  • King Ranch
  • Lone Star State
  • Mockingbirds
  • NASA
  • Oil
  • Padre Island
  • Quanah Parker
  • Rodeo
  • Schlitterbahn
  • Texas Rangers and Tex-Mex
  • Unique Among States
  • Valley
  • Whataburger
  • Xplore
  • Y'all
  • ZZ Top

I cheated with Xplore.
But I gave you TWO for T :)



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Today Carol is guest blogging with Theresa Milstein and talking about beginnings. Hope you get a chance to stop over and see what she has to say.

AND . . .

Carol's debut novel, IN NAME ONLY is featured today at Michael De Gesu . . . In Time. She's excited because Michael does a wonderful job with the books he features. I'm looking forward to seeing it myself.






Comments

Jan Morrison said…
Oh boy oh boy! I want to go to Texas - went as a kid when we lived for a time in Colorado (Canadian air force dad) so I'm going to go down this list and see what I know - Alamo (who could forget that!) no idea about the ice cream - we, here in Canada, also have cowboys and I'm from Alberta, home of the Calgary stampede - so yup; Dr. Pepper - uh huh and I went to El Paso with my folks when I was an adolescent and remember it well; fiesta - sure! follows a siesta - no idea of the next bunch - jalapenos - wouldn't be my kitchen without them - love a mockingbird - think oil is ruining your and my landscape - then it is on to rodeo (see above) and nothing much but a faint memory of ZZ Top! Ha! Just want to add one - Larry McMurtry!
Dr. Pepper is from Texas? Didn't know that.
Anonymous said…
I've never been to Texas, you have given me the appetite to want to visit.

Yvonne.
Linda G. said…
Man, I used to love going to the Schlitterbahn when I was a kid!
Trisha said…
I am not familiar with a lot of the things on your TX icons list :) But I did recently see ZZ Top in concert! They rocked!
Unknown said…
I was just in Texas on Monday. Here's what I have seen from your list:

Alamo -yes! Beautiful place.
Cowboys - I've watched a game with some friends in Houston.
Dr Pepper - my husband's favourite
Hill Country - beautiful!
Jalapenos - yum!
Lone Star State
Mockingbirds
NASA - this was a fun place to visit.
Oil
Padre Island - Oh, I want to go back to the water park there...
Schlitterbahn
Texas Rangers and Tex-Mex
Unique Among States
Valley
Whataburger - if you don't know what this is, you're not from Texas. They have huge milk shakes.
Y'all
Unknown said…
I've never lived in Texas, but I know all about Blue Bell ice cream. Yum.
Luanne G. Smith said…
Ooh, I'm reading Ride the Wind right now, about Cynthia Parker -- Quannah Parker's mother. Such a gripping story. Learning lots about Texas and the Comanche.
Carol Kilgore said…
Jan - Larry McMurtry is a Texas legend for sure. Lots of other things, too, plus the ones we share with Alberta and others.

Alex - Created by a pharmacist in Waco.

Yvonne - Lots to see and do in Texas.

Linda G - Lots of fun!

Trisha - Maybe you can come 'xplore' Texas sometime.

Clarissa - You listed more than half!

Raquel - Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla. Makes me smile.

Luanne - Yes. Lots of interesting history here.
LD Masterson said…
I gotta ask - what the heck is Schlitterbahn?
nutschell said…
one of these days I'll have to go to texas and buy me a cowboy hat:)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Julie Flanders said…
I'm now dying for jalepenos and Tex-Mex. Yum.

Heading over to Michael's now, I love his intros!
Unknown said…
Blue Bell Ice Cream-- now there is a reason make a state its own country if ever there was one.
Robin said…
One of my all-time favorite books is Ride The Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson, so I actually know who Quanah Parker is... Woohoo. Last free Chief of the Comanche Indians. Great List.
Carol Kilgore said…
LD - Schlitterbahn is a major waterpark on the Comal River in New Braunfels. It's been there for years and years. They've recently built others at South Padre and Galveston.

Nutschell - Plenty to choose from!

Julie F - I had fajitas for lunch!

Julie L - You've been reading our propaganda: Texas. It's like a whole other country!

Robin - I can barely imagine what Cynthia Parker's life must have been like. And what she would think of Texas today. L.G. Smith (above) is reading that book now. I haven't read it.
Laura Eno said…
I'm glad somebody already asked about schlitter...so I wouldn't have to look how to spell it. ;)

Didn't know Blue Bell ice cream was from Texas. Yum!
Nas said…
Hi Carol,

Oh, I would certainly like to xplore Texas!

Nas
Unknown said…
I LOVE ZZ Top!!! Billy is my guy. And I know all about the fierce love of the Cowboys or are you talking cowboys? :) Both are awesome!

What is Blue Bell Ice Cream? Brand or flavor?
Christine Rains said…
Yeehaw! I was done at Blue Bell Ice Cream. Yum. Need some now.
Texas is such an awesome state. I just wish I lived closer to it. Visiting would be easier. : )
Carol Kilgore said…
Laura - From the little creamery in Brenham :)

Nas - Come on over! It's a big state, so may take a while to xplore all the nooks and crannies.

Melissa - Love that Texas blues. Carol says she is not a Cowboys fan, but she does love cowboys in Wranglers.

Christine - Blue Bell is a brand. Homemade Vanilla is my favorite.

Cynthia - Hope you can visit one day soon.

Stina said…
I needed this list when I moved from England to Texas when I was 11 years old. It might have helped. :D
Glad to have you on my blog today, Carol!
Michael Di Gesu said…
A lotta Tecas going on! Lol..

Carol, I'm glad you liked the intro! It really looks like a very exciting story.
Gwen Gardner said…
I recognize about half of the icons - I didn't know about ZZ Top - I love them!
Helena said…
I have no idea what a Schlitterbahn is. And I'm probably the only person commenting (and only person I know) who cannot stand even the slightest flavor of jalapenos.
Golden Eagle said…
I just watched a video about Texas on BuzzFeed's YouTube channel that mentioned some of these things. Learning a lot about the state today. :)
Unknown said…
I read about your book on Michael's site. Very interesting.
Now I am curious, what about the Jalapenos? Do Texan eat them a lot?
Carol Kilgore said…
AJ's on a break. This is Carol.

Stina - Hang on while I stick it in the time machine for your 11-year old self. Fix you right up :)

Theresa - Thanks for hosting me, Theresa. I'm having a great time!

Michael - Oh, yeah :) I really loved it. I was reading and like 'wow, is this my story? it is!' Great job!

Gwen - ZZ Top hails from the Houston area, if I remember correctly.

Helena - Schlitterbahn is a huge waterpark that's been in New Braunfels for years. I love the jalapeno flavor. I like green chile, too, and they're very different.

Golden Eagle - Very cool. Texas is a great state to learn about!
Miranda Hardy said…
I've never been to Texas, but I'd sure like to go once.
VR Barkowski said…
You had me with Alamo and ice cream. :)

~VR Barkowski
You had me at ... Schlitterbahn.

What?

Heather
Nick Wilford said…
An A-Z within the A-Z! Kudos for that.

Whataburger, eh?
Bish Denham said…
Great list! I'd add HEB, Camp Verde (home of the camels) and the River Walk.
Carol Kilgore said…
AJ again.

VR - LOL! An easy catch :)

Heather - I guess you're not a Texan. Huge fun waterpark. You can read about Schlitterbahn at these two places:
http://www.schlitterbahn.com and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlitterbahn

Nick - Thanks. Whataburger = Texas style hamburgers. See www.whataburger.com

Bish - Then we would have to lose Hill Country, Cowboys, and Rodeo. We have a lot of icons here!
AJ/Carol. I will be happy for you to explain almost all of these icons to this foreigner but have had some questions answered for me already. Gruene Hall, has me intrigued though...
Anonymous said…
I knew most of these, but some were new. Schlitterbahn wasn't what I thought it would be.
LR said…
Ahh zz top. :) Good old 80's.
DWei said…
How exactly is Dr. Pepper related to Texas?

Then again, I have no idea about any of Dr. Pepper's origins...
Carol Kilgore said…
EC - Gruene Hall (pronounced Green) is an old dance hall in Gruene, TX just outside New Braunfels between San Antonio and Austin. They say it's been in continual operation since being built sometime in the 1800s, but I don't know if that's true or advertising. Many of the settlers to south central Texas were Germans, and each little town had a dance hall. Not too many remain. Those that do are popular. Gruene is in a favorite summer spot for tubing on the rivers.
Carol Kilgore said…
Medeia - Texas is full of surprises!

LR - Yes!

DWei - Dr Pepper was created by a pharmacist in the Central Texas town of Waco way back when.
What a list!
Y'all (love the sound...) and jalapenos (great taste...) captured my attention!

Writer In Transit
Unknown said…
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!! Lived in El Paso for a short while years ago...
Carol Kilgore said…
Michelle - Same for me!

Shayla - Oh, yeah. That's true! Welcome to the Tiki Hut!
Tui Snider said…
What a fun post. It's right up my alley!

I can already see several things on your list of icons that I need to learn more about.

Think I'll start my research with some Blue Bell ice cream!

~Tui
Carol Kilgore said…
Great place to begin, Tui!

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