ONE MORE DAY IN THE BIG CITY

Monday, April 17 – Monday was a work day for many Houstonians, so we took a walk among the towering skyscrapers enjoying the hustle and bustle of downtown. On one of our visits, Marsha wants to take the architectural walking tour. There are so many neat building designs in the city.

 

Well before the 1913 completion of the building we know today as The Rice, the land at 909 Texas Ave. was the site of the old Capitol of the Republic of Texas from 1837 to 1839, before it moved to Austin. The Rice is now a luxury apartment community which rents from $700 to $3,500 a month.

A gorgeous chandler in the main lobby.

We had hoped to visit the observation deck in the Chase building, the tallest building in downtown Houston, but the building owners went and closed the viewing area because it was disrupting daily business. We are glad we were able to visit the viewing area last year.

Instead of visiting above ground,  we visited the underground area. This maze of tunnels is full of eateries and shopping venues mostly used by the men and women working downtown. These miles of underground sidewalks make a wonderful alternative to walking outside when temperatures top 100 degrees and the humidity approaches 100 percent. We were there during lunch time, so we enjoyed the workers heading off to their favorite lunchtime stops for a quick bite to eat.

We enjoyed the remainder of the day walking downtown and enjoying time together on Carrie's roof patio. A little cards and a few beverages was a fun way to relax and enjoy some “family time.” I should note the boys need to brag about their card playing powers. Dave won the game of cards, and Paul placed second. (Marsha says…Who cares!) The girls settled for the bottom three places. (Marsha says…That is not nice!)

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

MORE FUN ON EASTER DAY

Sunday, April 16 – After our Easter meal and some relaxing, we all joined in for an evening/early night stroll along the Buffalo Bayou Sesquicentennial Park, a river walk flowing through downtown.

We also checked out the Aquarium area, the Theater District, and the Seven Wonders.

Lots of colorful carriage rides.

In Buffalo Bayou's Sesquicentennial Park are the seven 70’ tall pillars “Seven Wonders.” The columns highlight Houston's history through the themes of agriculture, energy, manufacturing, medicine, philanthropy, technology and transportation. Each column is constructed of 150 individual children's drawings, etched in stainless steel plate. Each column has a 30-foot high brick base.

What looks like lace from a distance is actually laser-cut steel. To honor the park's concept, Chin, the artist,  asked schoolchildren born in 1986, Houston's sesquicentennial year, to submit drawings depicting each of the seven themes: agriculture, energy, manufacturing, medicine, philanthropy, technology and transportation.

Selecting 150 for each pillar, he and artists Rachael Splinter and Helen Nagge translated each drawing into a computer image, which was then cut into stainless steel. Our photos just don’t do it justice. You need to see these for yourself.

All seven of the columns.

Not a bad “urban hike” for one day!

After four long days of driving, we have arrived back in Canton, Ohio. Stay tuned for the drama of our drive to Ohio.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

EASTER DAY

Sunday, April 15 – We did so much on Saturday that we forgot to post that we colored eggs too! Marsha insists we carry on this tradition from when the kids were younger. We did have fun.

Easter Sunday began with the Easter bunny stopping by Carrie’s place.

Our son-in-law is always trying to suck up to Marsha.

After opening the baskets and playing with some of the toys, it was off to Hermann Park, another Houston Park. This park has everything: a zoo, art in the park, playground, Japanese garden, trails, paddle boats, etc., etc., etc. This is another beautiful park, and boy were the locals out enjoying the beautiful Easter holiday. Picnickers were here by the thousands celebrating the day with family and friends. Our goal was to cover 3.2 miles in honor of the 32 Virginia Tech students killed ten years ago on this day by a deranged killer. Carrie was a student at VT during this terrible time.

McGovern Centennial Gardens

The display of flowers was gorgeous.

Japanese garden.

The train is a huge attraction. It goes around the 445 acre park. The cost is $3.50 and all proceeds go to MD Anderson Cancer Hospital Children Ward.

Because the park is so big, there is a Pedicab that a person can hire to see the park.

Hundreds and hundreds of people everywhere.

We returned to Carrie's to enjoy our family Easter dinner. With the help of mom and her sister, Carrie served a delicious dinner of pork loin, potatoes, and asparagus. Yummy! Of course it was time for naps for the boys, so Kelly and Carrie took a walk around downtown covering another four miles.

This is getting long. We will finish Easter day in the next post.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

FUN FILLED EASTER WEEKEND…CONTINUED

Saturday, April 15 – After our visit to Discovery Green, Carrie had made plans to meet up with several of her friends at a local patio bar to introduce her sister and brother-in-law. So off to McIntyre's Pub we went. This was one of the many times we relied on Uber to get around town. What a nice and inexpensive alternative to driving ourselves. We enjoyed a few beverages and a little lunch while visiting with Carrie's friends. This is Crawfish season so the “southerners” enjoyed eating there nasty looking treat. Yuk!

Carrie, Kami, Kelly, Stephanie. The “crawfish” girls.

Paul, Virgil (from Ohio), Dave (son-in-law).

There is always a corn hole game going on.
 

One of Carrie's long-time friends, Nick, brought his parents along. There are also here for a weekend visit from the Virginia Beach area. Paul had met Nick's dad back in 2006, when Carrie and Nick were arriving for the first of three internship semesters of employment from Virginia Tech. They both were working for Exxon.

After another Uber ride back to downtown, we strolled the streets a bit enjoying the night-time excitement of Houston. There is sure a lot going on after dark!

That completes our first day with Kelly and Dave visiting Houston. Yes, it was a long day. We were exhausted and knew that there would be two more days exactly like today.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

FUN FILLED EASTER WEEKEND

Saturday, April 15  – Kelly and Dave, our oldest daughter and son-in-law, flew into Houston, TX, on Friday to spend a long Easter weekend with Carrie, our youngest daughter, and us. They stayed at Carrie's downtown apartment. We visited all day, each day! What a blast we all had!

The “youngins” enjoyed Friday night on their own in downtown Houston having a bite to eat and enjoying a few beverages. Only the first of frequent happy hours we spent over the weekend.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a cruise together on the Sam Houston Boat Trip in the Houston Ship Channel.

This boat can handle 100 visitors, but on this Easter weekend, it was only about half full. The trip is free. They offer beverages at the beginning of the tour and at the midpoint also. We've enjoyed this cruise several times in the past, but it was special to have the entire family with us this time around. Carrie is a great tour guide. Carrie’s company has several loading docks along the channel. She was at one time in charge of all the docks.

Our Captain greeted us as we boarded.

First time for Kelly and Dave on the tour.

This waterway is not open to privately owned pleasure crafts. Only ships doing business with the Port of Houston are permitted on the water. And busy it is! It is the #1 port for exports in the United States, much of that based on the petroleum industry.

Very busy indeed!

After our cruise, we drove back to Carrie's place and walked to Discovery Green, a downtown Houston Park. This is located in the heart of the city next door to the basketball arena, baseball stadium, convention center, and many downtown hotels. They hold weekly events at the park. This week was the SpringWorld IFEST which promotes awareness understanding of other cultures represented in our communities. We had the best time watching all all types of international dance and enjoying the activities around the park.

These guys were a hoot.

Kelly, Dave and Carrie enjoying the many art pieces.

Our day isn’t over yet. Tell you about the rest of the day in the next post.

We will be several days behind in our posting. Please continue to stop by and see all the fun we had.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.

2017 HOUSTON ART CAR PARADE WINNERS

Saturday, April 8 –  Houston Art Car Parade Weekend honors the DRIVE to CREATE and the ARTIST IN EVERYONE! It shows the creative, energetic and fun side of Houston, the Art Car Capital of the World! This year, the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art awarded $19,000, using these criteria: Overall theme, Craftsmanship, Design, Originality, Transformation. (Taken from the website.)

The crowd was huge. They estimate between 300,000-350,000 people watched. The parade was led off by the Soul Band of South Texas State, which pretty well set the mood with their great music and dancing routines. Everyone seems to be having a great time – even the Mayor was in a car and received shouts of support from the crowd.

 

Here are some but not all of the winners.

MAYOR'S CUP - Grand Trophy and $2,000
"Purple Reign" by Heights High School, Rebecca Bass teacher.

HALL OF FAME - Grand Trophy and $2,500
"Sashimi Tabernacle Choir" - Richard Carte
This one is a hoot. All the fish sing.

FIRST PLACE ART CARS: 
"Boney Whipman" by Andy Hazell
 

"Char Car" by Mark "Scrapdaddy" Bradford

BEST YOUTH GROUP:  FIRST PLACE (TIE) - GRAND TROPHY & $1,000 EACH
"Hyppalectryon's Candy Dreams" by Frank Black Middle School, teachers Julon Pinkston and Sarah Reavis

"Fins and Needles" by Shadow Creek High School, Courtney Werden teacher
They used needlepoint to make the entire cover. Must have taken days and days to complete.

BEST PAINTED CAR: FIRST PLACE - Grand Trophy and $500
"Homage to the artist Pedro Linares Lopez" by Mary Anne & Charles Fried

BEST CYCLE:  FIRST PLACE - Grand Trophy & $500
"The Mardi Craw - Crawfish Scooter" by William Workman

BEST POLITICAL STATEMENT:  FIRST PLACE - Grand Trophy and $500
"Tweet Tweet" by Shelly Buschur and The Birds
This one was great. Had all of Trump’s famous quotes.

BEST MUSIC:  FIRST PLACE - Grand Trophy and $500
"Green Goblet and the Tribal Lillies accompanied by the Rear Trailer Band" by Mitchell Clemons

  The following cars did not win, but we thought were pretty cool!

 

The water on the roof of this truck kept time to the different songs that were played.

It was a great way to enjoy a beautiful day in Houston. We capped it off with a happy hour at one of the nearby taverns with an outdoor patio. Thanks Carrie for spending the day with your parents and sharing your “life in the big city” with us! It was a blast!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!