The sun rose on a beautiful, windy day on Sunday. In the whispers of the wind, you could almost hear the encouragement, and smell the impending victory. Your valiant Houstonist staff would soon convene to take on the Houston Arts & Media Houston History Road Rally (HAMHHRR) for the sake of honor, historical preservation, and cheap beer.
The starting point for this whole affair was the Czech fraternal hall in the west end of the Heights; if you couldn't pronounce "Pilsner Urquell" correctly, you were barred from entry. The teams were briefed and released to the wilds of Inner Loop Houston in two minute increments. Our mission: solve 15 clues (plus one bonus) related to historical Houston landmarks, and photograph ourselves in front of them, then return to the starting point, within two hours or less.
The clues were funny and the clues were obscure, and we were both very glad for Blackberries, GPS, and Google. Below are our photos from the locations we were able to find. Photography by editor-in-chief Jason Bargas; jazz hands by yours truly.
When the dust settled, and a Range Rover had been raced through the Heights, Team Houstonist emerged as victors with a final score of 61 points, compared to 58 for the second-place team. We like to think that it was the posing that put us over the top.
The Road Rally is intended to be a twice-yearly event, and we'd strongly recommend it to anyone who: wants to learn more about Houston's history, knows a lot about Houston's history, wants to drive like a maniac, or has no shame about posing like a moron in front of monuments. If anyone wants to take a run at our title, you know where to find us.
Thanks again to Houston Arts and Media for putting together this great event, and we'll see you next time. We leave you with exclusive video footage of our team celebrating its victory:
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