"Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will." -- George Bernard Shaw

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." -- Winston Churchill

Friday, May 6, 2011

Houston

James is completing his last residency for Walden University this week in Houston and I got to come with him. We've been to Galveston Island, played on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico, driven across Pelican Island (not much there), attended the Houston Temple, eaten dinner at Chilo's Mexican Seafood Restaurant (which is an interesting experience), and James has enjoyed his sessions of the residency at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Houston and I've enjoyed my quiet days in the hotel room. We'll be going home on Sunday.

Chilos Mexican Seafood Restaurant- We were hungry when we finally got to Houston, so we looked around for a place to eat and our GPS turned up the name Chilo's. I called to find out when they closed and was informed they didn't close until 2 am, although I could hardly hear them because there was a lot of background noise. It was close, so we ventured out and entered another world. We were the only Gringos there that weren't there with a Hispanic companion. They had live entertainment that was good, but LOUD. The food was so dang good. We decided to go back the next night because it wasn't expensive and it tasted so good. I'm pretty sure we had the waitress we had because she spoke the best English. The second night I decided to try something new and I ordered Tilapia. I tried to disguise my reaction when they brought me a whole fish that had been breaded and fried. I wish I had a picture of it. It was very good, but still through me off a bit.

Galveston Island-
We went to the visitor information center that is in the carriage house of the Ashton Villa. The lady there directed us to a great little local place to eat "Shrimp-n-Stuff". James of course enjoyed his fried oysters and I enjoyed way too much catfish and I even ate one of James' oysters (something I've never done). Then we went to the beach.
I should have known it would happen. It had rained on us about 80% of the way down to Houston and the lady in the visitor center had talked about how much they needed rain. As soon as we got the beach, it started raining. We went into a shop that was along the beach and wandered around for a while. When we had decided we'd go out in the water anyway and went to put our stuff away in the van, it started raining even harder. We sat in the van, finally had decided to just drive around for a while, and it stopped raining. We went, played in the Gulf of Mexico, buried each other in the sand, and just had fun. We went back again for a bit last night, made a small sandcastle, of course I didn't have the camera with me. As we were gassing up the van to head back to Houston, a man approached James and said, "Here, give this to your lady and tell her it was made by a real Galveston beach bum."
He proceeded to make me a palm rose. James and I both want to bring the kids down there for a vacation someday.

Houston Temple- It's been a long while since I've been to the temple. I'm always amazed by the feeling inside and how simply beautiful everything is.
I'm glad we were able to go. We performed the sealing for Linda's parents, which is a neat experience. I can't wait for them to finish the Kansas City temple so there will be one a little closer.

James' residency is being held at the Hilton America's in downtown Houston. We were luck enough to find an inexpensive hotel about a mile and a half away from the downtown area that is quick and easy to get to and from. I drive over and drop James off and then go pick him up. I will say, I kind of like driving here. James thinks I'm a natural city driver. It's always important to communicate clearly about when and where I'll be picking him up. There was some misunderstanding the first day and I spent about 2 hours driving around and around and sitting in an abandoned parking lot a couple block away and then driving around and around. It doesn't take long to get pretty familiar with an area.

Our hotel is a pretty nice stay. I was impressed with the appearance of the room, especially considering the price we are paying.
After we'd been here a couple days, I noticed there was a black light above the bed. The pictures will explain the rest.Just wait, there's more
All in all, it's been a fun trip. I'm glad I had the chance to come with James. I can't tell my in-laws thanks enough for taking care of the kids and letting me come.

For additional pictures of our trip click here.

1 comment:

down in the valley said...

It sounds/looks like you are having a good trip! Thanks for sharing. :)