Last night we got back from Houston, where we visited my best friend Jackie for her birthday. It was four days of massive consumption: we ate far too much excellent food, and because we booked our hotel through Priceline’s Name Your Own Price — which gets great rates but doesn’t allow you to choose the hotel — we were staying in a hotel attached to the Galleria, the fourth-largest mall in the nation.
I don’t think of our normal life as particularly quiet, but I think it must be. I felt barraged everywhere I went, and it wasn’t until we were about to leave that I realized my cornered feeling came from the ubiquity of the ads, stores, and billboards assailing our eyes, and the crowds of people, tall buildings, and large cars which filled the landscape. Why did I feel that way in Texas but not in Hong Kong? Is it that Houston is flat (question: is Houston flat?)? But Chicago is flat too, and I love that city — but then, downtown Chicago is an architectural wonderland, and it’s on a lake. Probably we just didn’t stay in the parts of Houston we would have liked best. A quick glimpse of the bayou trails almost made me gasp, and I couldn’t help but be awed by the big, magical oaks that grace (parts of?) the city. Well, now we know for next time.
You know I’m not enchanted with a place when I come back from a four-day stay without a single photo to show for it. But it was so good to see and hug Jackie, and now I know a little more about her city, so I’m glad I went — and I’d go again.
A few of the highlights:
- seeing Alison, her dear daughter Isabel, and this painting at their home
- Sinfull Bakery’s vegan Everything Bar
- the graciously proportioned main dining room at Brennan’s (starts at 1:02 on the video)
- the view when descending into the airport at Las Vegas for a connecting flight (I do wish I’d gotten photos of that, but at that point I was tired and didn’t want to take out my camera. Mistake. Should have done it.) — this photo gives some sense of it
- lounging in the hotel room with Jackie and talking about books 🙂
Oh oh, and in other news, this morning we booked our onward tickets from Toronto! At the end of June we will be moving on to stop #2 on our world travels: Glasgow, Scotland!!!
satsumabug.com | Lisa Hsia 
aww this post made me smile. It was so great to see you and Erik!!
To answer your question: Houston is as flat as a pancake. Our highway overpasses are our mountains. You guys did stay in the craziest part of Houston – the Galleria area – it is a super high concentration area of high-end & luxury retail. My friend once said that Houston was a city you had to long-term date to love, and I completely agree with her. I really think that if you guys had gotten a chance to go to the Menil, though, you would have come away from Houston with a different perspective (and maybe a picture or two ;)). The Menil and the surrounding lawn is like a little happy retreat spot for me.
Enjoy your last month or so in San Jose – looking forward to your travels! 🙂
I had so much fun with you too! Good to know that I wasn’t wrong about Houston’s lack of topography. It was a little hard to tell in the rain. 😉 I do wish we’d been able to visit the Menil! Next time we will. I really wanted to see the place and the collection. At any rate, I’m glad we spent a little bit of time in the Heights and in Montrose, so we knew the Galleria and River Oaks weren’t representative of all of Houston. 🙂
I don’t notice how quiet our life is either until I go to visit friends with children, and when my parents come to visit and tell us how quiet our house is. When your parents tell you it’s quiet it must be really quiet! And wow, you’re going to Glasgow! I always think it feels more real when you’ve booked your tickets.
Travel definitely feels more real after booking tickets — though in this case the booking was the planning! We hadn’t specifically decided to go to Scotland; we just found out about an airfare sale, and thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of it!! So an hour or two after seeing the sale, we had decided to go there, and bought our tickets! Fun to do things so quickly when we can. 🙂
Sctoland in the summer….it’s the only time…..
“Sctoland ” ? Doh !
Hahaha, I love it! I’m SO glad we’re going there in the summer because I dislike heat! At first I was thinking Scandinavia might have the kind of summer weather I want, but it seems Scotland will do just as well. Though we’ll see if I still feel that way after we arrive. 😉 I’m California-spoiled, after all, when it comes to climate!