The Family Crest, OR Robert of the Severed Ostrich Legs

We’re a family that loves theme parks. We go to Disney more than anyone we know and have added Universal, Discovery Cove and Busch Gardens. We used to do Sea World until it became an animal cruelty issue. We have done Kennywood, Sesame Street and Conneaut Lake Park in Pennsylvania and Cedar Point in Ohio. We did Disneyland in California and someday I’ll tell you how I got thrown out. (But allowed back in the next day.) And in each of those parks we looked at the kiosks that had the family coats of arms and crests, looking for the Bray name. Was it English? Scottish? Welsh? We never found it. And then. Today. In Islands of Adventure’s Lost Continent. We found the Bray Crest. And it has three severed ostrich legs on a white background, with a black chevron.

This did not sit well with Bob who was justifiably hoping for something more dignified in a family crest. So, we decided to research the crest itself and the Bray name. It turns out that the Bray ancient family history was found in the irishnames.com archives. Bray is the ninth largest coastal town in Ireland. There were Brays who emigrated to Australia and New Zealand and even farmed ostriches in the 1800’s. It seemed to me then, that the severed ostrich legs were part of Bray history, but Bob pressed on.

Finally, we found a site that clarified the meaning of the symbols and colors on the Bray Coat of Arms. White denotes Peace and Sincerity, and I have found the Brays to be peaceful and sincere so that seemed reasonable. The Black Chevron denotes Constancy, and Grief, grief not really being an ongoing Bray trait in my experience. The Chevron denotes Protection, granted as a reward to someone who has achieved a Notable Enterprise, and finally, the legs are of the Eagle, as a symbol of Power and Strength.

Bob was much relieved that his crest did not display severed ostrich legs, but I don’t find severed eagle legs much of an improvement. You may study the crest and decide for yourself. I still maintain they are of the ostrich.

We went to both Universal parks and while it was hot, it was surprisingly breezy, so pretty tolerable. We didn’t ride much, mostly amusing ourselves by wandering around, walked 5 miles, then returned to the hotel to swim and relax. I’m a Harry Potter fan so we spent most of our time in those areas. Penny has been patiently waiting for us in the VIP parking area right in front of the hotel. Apparently they like to park the cool cars in front of the Hard Rock, and Penny is fine with that.

Tomorrow, we move to Disney.