Where to begin… I had plans on experimenting during this trip but that is officially on hold. I came to Houston, Texas with a plan, a list of places to see and things to do. It’s day 2 and I’ve done nothing out of the ordinary.
I have learned of three places that would satisfy my BBQ craving though.
So far, today’s been the best day. Why? My husband spent his free time with me. And like any other time that we spend together including alcohol, I’m always left wondering if people are trying to figure out how long we’ve been married. We behave like friends more than a married couple; weird handshakes, cackles, making faces… The list goes on.
I can’t bring myself to do anything sightseeing related without him. We love to people watch together. We love to take in things together because there is such a sensory overload that is just too much to explain when we do see each other. So far we’ve been to Kona Grill in the Galleria mall, Ara in our hotel, and White Oaks Kitchen + Drinks, 51 Fifteen at Saks Fith Avenue (for drinks) and everywhere, except Kona Grill, is somewhere we’d return to.
I spoke to concierge today and I have 3 places to try for good BBQ: Good & Company, Papasitos and Luling City market (which is the one to try if I don’t get to the others). I’m currently typing this post from the Axis Lounge in our hotel with our excellent bartender Michael serving us drinks and food that are making us happier people by the minute. I’m sipping on a really nice prosecco and eating fried shrimp.
I don’t know what’s in store for tomorrow but I was also told to check out The Bayou, which is in or near the theatre district, downtown Houston, if I don’t want to do any shopping. There’s restaurants and just stuff to see around there.
Any suggestions for places to see/eat at? We’re here until Friday afternoon.
I had this lingering in my drafts and forgot I was to post it! Sorry!!
Let me begin by saying I am a very observant person. I often got into trouble for it when I was younger because it led to lots of questions and you know adults get annoyed when you are inquisitive. I also like to people watch because people are interesting! This post is simply about my observances during a three hour layover, as I sat waiting for a flight from New York to Seattle, via Delta, that was practically the boondocks of the terminal.
yes, that is a pigeon under the chair… please excuse my lazy foot
Old Couple
She’s on the phone, well she’s on a call and has the person on speakerphone about one inch from her ear and not speaking English. I’m sorry that I don’t know the language because the call was so lengthy it would’ve been very interesting to hear what was going on. He sat eating something, but I was more aware of him cleaning his teeth. This was brought to my attention because I thought one of them was making a kissing sound to whomever was on the phone but I looked up and saw his mouth going like he was determined to get all the stubborn pieces out! Poor fella!! I later realised they were biscuits hahaha.
Delta staff (on break?)
As I mentioned before we were in the boondocks. I can only assume that these four people, sitting very relaxed across more than one chair were hiding and relaxing until they were needed, for over an hour… But they just reminded me of school kids playing hooky.
The Loud Delta Staff Phone Talker
(Unique titles.. I know :D) this guy sat away from the others and his conversation was for all 15 ppl in that area of the terminal at the time. [It was him who allowed me to know that the others were waiting on a flight to come in to help some people who required assistance.] He spoke of being ill and how his grandma would give them special soups and other remedies growing up and that’s how he got over whatever illness he just had – rest and soups. He hung up and then there was another call… This one was about business and I was HOPING that the person he was speaking to had a bad signal or was in a noisy area. He repeated himself soooo many times!! I knew way more than I needed to. And it didn’t end after that call! No sir! He met a colleague or manager and they stood behind me and spoke about politics and everything under JFK International Airport! My ears were chewed off. I couldn’t zone out if I wanted to :(.
So my question is: why are people so loud?!? I want to say namely Americans but it can be said for people with mobile phones in general. Why must everyone hear your conversation like you want them to be involved? Shall I just get involved next time? I want to… I want to jump in and drop remarks to throw you off because I feel like you are talking to me more than the person on the phone.
I heard “right, right, right” so many times I wanted to say “left” or “wrong” out loud for him to hear and wonder “wtf?” because that is exactly what I’m thinking! Maybe next time I’ll say it loud enough to my husband and have them wonder what’s going on.
[Side note: why do old people have food flying out of their mouth so much when they are eating? Is it the dentures? I think it’s major inspiration to look after my teeth even more than I do now… That’s so scary! Plus I don’t want to do that to my grand kids…]
I love traveling. I don’t always have the best experiences coming and going but my trips tend to be fun. We were in Boston from Tuesday to Friday because my husband gave his first talk at a conference (MonkeySpace) and I went for moral support. I slept Wednesday and Thursday while he was out even though the plan was to sleep Wednesday and visit Faneuil Hall Marketplace on Thursday. I do not regret sleeping. I’ve been going hard for the last 6 weeks or more and I got some much deserved rest.
It is always interesting to see and meet people in the tech industry because of the different personalities you encounter and I just find it very intriguing. I have a soft spot for nerds so I like to see how similar or different they can be in these settings. Always a treat for my inner psychologist lol!
Anyway the end of the year is almost here! And I’ll be working out with our old trainer soon again but at a different gym and we have all of the holidays coming up. Busy time again! But I’ll save that for another post :).
Trips home are never about relaxing. One would think so but that’s never the case. Days after I return to Bellevue from a trip home, I’m guaranteed at least one person telling me off and asking why they didn’t get to see me. You have no idea how much this irritates me.
I currently live over 3000 miles away from Barbados and every other trip we try to stay by each other’s parents. Sometimes we have a car, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we do not want to do anything because we’re simply no longer used to the heat and are extremely exhausted and other times you just don’t make that list of people we have to visit. We’ve discussed the option of sneaking in and staying somewhere for a few days of relaxation (not even immediate family would know) and then alerting people that we’re here after feeling a bit refreshed. But it just hasn’t happened as yet.
On the trip we just came back from, the primary purpose was for our best friends’ wedding. We were home for 12 days and I can tell you it wasn’t enough. The first week was spent helping them out and simply hanging with them (they live in England now) and then we used the last week to stock up on stuff to bring home and spend time with a few people. They had a mini-honeymoon in one of the top resorts in Barbados (The Crane) and the views from there made us want to find out the staycation rate (of which I forgot to get before leaving the property and the island). It was simply amazing, beautiful, peaceful and breathtaking. Yea, I just used all of those adjectives because they are exactly what come to mind when I think of it. I posted a picture in my last post from the same hotel. Yep! That one!! Wasn’t it lovely? Here’s another view.
Anyway, I would love that one of these years David and I can return home and not feel obliged to go and see anyone except our grandparents. That everyone would come to us. Would this mean not getting a car again to use an excuse? But then we’d not have our own transportation when we need to get somewhere… I told him, we have to have a date night while home to just calm and enjoy ourselves from the mad rush, but again, that never happened. It’s not that we do not like seeing our friends or anything, but everything is such a mad dash that it becomes exhausting and we feel like we need another vacation after to relax from that one! I know there are plenty people out there who know exactly what I am talking about. And I hope that this doesn’t offend any of my friends because we always see the ones that really matter or they make an effort to come and see us, which is always appreciated. Hey, I’m just keeping it real…
Now on to promoting Barbados! I really wanted to visit Harrison’s Cave this trip and as you can tell from that line I didn’t. It was to be something touristy for Dave and I to do but we never got there. We’ve both been as kids but they have since remodeled the cave and it would be nice to go and see it again. So mark that as something to do when you visit as I have to as well.
Dinners are a way of us meeting up with groups of friends that we can see all one time and every time we go home, we’re trying different restaurants and enjoying some amazing dinners. This trip, we went to two new restaurants: Lemongrass (Thai food) in Limegrove mall (with hubs’ parents) and to Shakers (a bar; with a bunch of our school friends that we are still very close to). We had breakfast a few times from The Coffee Bean, a coffee shop I had the privilege of working at for three weeks yeeears ago and David was just wreck when he found out in the last 3 days of the trip that they had Jamaican patties (his favorite). So I can tell you with confidence that if you visit, pull up this post and look for these places to eat. And how can I forget Chefette? Just go there, I demand you do!
On our final night, my parents took us to Oistins. For the whole night David kept saying we should’ve gone earlier in the trip because it was truly the highlight and it would’ve been nice to go twice (hehe nice rhyme!). By day, Oistins is a fish market, but on Friday and Saturday nights, the party truly comes alive. You can buy arts and crafts from local artisans, dine of fresh seafood and other meats, enjoy the ballroom dancing to oldie goldies by Lexi’s Bar, or go over by the stage with the more modern music and everyone is up on the stage dancing. It was so much fun to see the characters and enjoy some grilled mahi-mahi and sweet potato pie.
All in all, it was a good trip even though we were dying from the heat. Our friends had a beautiful wedding; it was nice to have my nephew request that we pick him up from school at least twice and my niece actually came to me when I picked her up from the nursery (she can be indifferent sometimes :(). We spent some time with our grandparents, and again got a chance to meet up with those who really matter and meet new people. Trips aren’t guaranteed to be relaxing but I still get excited knowing that I’m going and whom I will see. Family first and fun after!
Barbados will always be homeno matter where I roam.
Just a Dash 