Downtown Houston

So, last weekend I THOUGHT I would try and save some money and stay in Houston to save gas/hotel bills. However, it might have been cheaper to have gone out of town lol.

So, Deborah and I started the weekend at the Berry Center in Cypress, TX for the Shop Til You Drop craft fair.

This is one of the more interesting parts of the craft fair. This was the "Bras for a Cause" booth. Different organizations decorated them for a silent auction. The white beads in the middle of the cups said something very inspirational. Forgot what it said though.

So, then I took off downtown Houston to follow one of my travel books called Houston. Nice, huh? This statue was next on the list....at Lyric Center.

Behind the sculpture were these three men. So you're greeted no matter which way you come from. :)

A far away shot of the sculpture and the building it decoates which is across from Wortham Center.

I walked around downtown for a while. Here's Buffalo Bayou. Wish it wasn't so brown, though.

Beautiful view of downtown...

Wortham Center houses the Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet. Will be visiting for both reasons this year! Well, at least for the Nutcracker in December.

The front of Wortham Center in Houston, TX.

There's a great plaza in front of Wortham Center. These lights probably look really wonderful at nighttime. It was a great resting place from the 100+ degree heat.

Part of the fun plaza. Loved the red balls...very unique.

The Bank of America building in the sky :)

Hobby Center...where we saw Wicked! And I've seen Aida here, too. Wonder what else I have seen lol.

Tranquility Park downtown. Love this shot!

Full shot with the tops of buildings...

Closer to the fountains that resemble the touchdown on the moon.

Loved this building hiding in the skyscrapers. Used the zoom lens :)

Other side of the fountain....

Sculptures in front of Hobby Center...

Nice one, huh? It was such a pretty day...

I found this sign under a shaded tree on the other side of the street. Kinda sad, really.

Alley Theatre. Will be here to see Peter Pan and A Christmas Carol!!

Then it just got too hot outside and I didn't have a hat or water. So I headed to the Galleria to see if I could find any good deals :) It was soooo busy on the streets so I just pulled into Dillards and that was it. Good news: I found this one Indian-inspired skirt that I've had my eyes on for months!! for like 75 % off. Yes!!!!!!

But Dillards didn't connect to the rest of the mall. I tried to find the Macy's but there were too many people and I was too confused. You could hardly switch lanes to turn so I just headed home. Sunday was Eat, Pray, Love with my mom and errands. Great weekend!!

This weekend?!? Plano Hot Air Balloon Festival!!!!!!! Will Brandy ride in a hot air balloon?!?! Stay tuned!!

Labor Day Weekend

For this weekend I planned (yet another) Central Texas getaway, this time with my Aunt B. I started Friday in East Texas at the lake house then continued to Waco, West, Austin, San Marcos, and New Braunfels. What a wild weekend! And so nice to get away for another great Labor Day weekend!
At the lakehouse my aunt started feeding these family of deer. So now they come every morning outside the backyard fence. Such a treat to get this close and such good photos.
Yay!

Saturday morning my aunt and I took off for Waco, our stop for the night. We dropped off the dog, Corkie, and watched the UT game so we could hear the commentary. GO LONGHORNS!

Nice looking room...at La Quinta. (Not my choice lol.)

After the game we headed to West Fest, in West, Texas about 15 miles North of Waco. They are most known for their Czech heritage and food. West Fest was a BLAST and I'd love to go back.

WELCOME!

First we saw the tractor pull. That lasted about 1 minute and we left lol.

Then off to the craft SHOPPING!!! Found some cute picture frames and awesome jewelry. Spent too much money though lol.

Also, there was a horse shoe competition. There were some good players here....and some not good players. We watched for about 15 minutes or so while visiting and drinking our PIVO (Czech for........beer lol duh!).

Aunt B and I both studied the West Fest website, of course, so we learned all about the things to do here. One of the main things to do is to eat the Beer Bread Sausage Sandwich. Probably a highlight of West Fest. My first time to eat sauerkraut. I'll never be the same!

The midway all lit up.....we didn't ride any rides though. EXCEPT, I DID do karaoke! Lol in front of about 100 people I saw "That Don't Impress Me Much." I don't know what's come over me but I love doing new things and things I'd never do pre-surgery. It's a fun feeling though.

Now that's my kinda PIVO! Yes, that's me...lol

After looking at everything to do, and singing, all that was really left was the music and dancing. It was fun watching everyone polka. LOVE BRAVE COMBO!!!!!!!!! I even did the Hokey Pokey...rock style. It was amazingly fun. And what a way to burn some calories.....3 HOURS of dancing was had by yours truly. Yes......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK_lIcv7sic&feature=related

Here's the youtube music video of the Hokey Pokey. Now imagine hundreds of people in different circles, after consuming lots of Adult Juice. It was .......... awesome lol.

Guitarist/pianist of Brave Combo, Carl Finch. Got right in front of me and was totally just singing and playing for ME. ALL FOR ME... lol

Now he's just showing off...lol Overall, it was an amazing night. We stumbled back to the hotel around 1am and passed out of exhaustion.

Sunday we left Waco and drove to San Marcos, south of Austin. Saw the most cops we've ever seen in our life. We stopped at the (horrible) Motel 6. I did NOT want to stay here but Aunt B insisted. The service was horrible (and I'm trying hard not to use profanity) but no wi-fi, no early check-in, all that were promised on the phone. Their new "renovation" meant cute designs for a still small room, and still crappy service. Free breakfast? NOPE just a cup of coffee from 6am-10am. Hampton Inn serves coffee ALL DAY. Whatever, I'm over it lol.

So, after dropping Corkie off at Motel 6 and waiting forever we went to New Braunfels to tube the Guadalupe River. Wow, is about all I can say. This is a family show lol.

We used the Rockin R for our tubes. Seems fair. We initially thought we were going to tube for four hours but got off at the 2 hour stop. At one point the rapids were so bad I lost the drink tube lol and everything got SOAKED. It was a mess. But I'd love to go back with a big group...

Because we finished so early we headed to Austin to see the bats on Congress Ave. Now, this was try #2 for us, as two Easters ago we tried, but after waiting for TWO HOURS on the bridge, until 9pm when it was dark and all good photos would be ruined, we left empty-experienced AGAIN. After hours in the sun from tubing, it wasn't a pretty picture from where I stood lol.

But I got some beautiful shots of Austin!

Sunsetttttttttttt

Lots of kayakers. Will be me one day :D

Yikes, this shot looks scary but I was just holding my arm out. People lined the bridge but the bats were having no part in us being there.

Another shot of all the people lined up for our batty friends. But, like I said, no such luck. So Aunt B and I went back to the Motel 6 and ate Sonic for the second meal in a row (gross). After that I watched a couple movies on TBS and fell asleep. I WOULD HAVE been on here but noooooooo wifi, and not even a Denny's in San Marcos, and Ihop didn't have Wi-fi. San Marcos.....get it together....please!

But, what's in San Marcos????? OUTLETS. Yes, for the second weekend in a row. This morning, Labor Day Monday, I hit the Coldwater Creek outlet. Two nice jackets for $40. I'm not passing that up. 30% everything in the store...it was fate. LOL

The Premium Outlet mall shots were much better today. Didn't get any last weekend.

Since it was only 10am I decided to go see historic downtown San Marcos. The Courthouse was nice. Nice shot, huh? :) Lovely little square. Everything was restaurants and I wasn't hungry so I just kinda walked the square and left for home. Wasn't really dressed for anything else and with it being a holiday I didn't want to spend all day finding something that was open. Plus I figured I'd work on school stuff (which I have NOT all day lol). But it was another great weekend!

Texas State University building. Isn't it beautiful? Need to find out what it is...

Then as I was driving home I was in Giddings on 290 and saw this mural on a building. Thought it was cute...

Well, next weekend I'm not sure if I'm going to go to San Antonio for my mom's military blood drive or go to Eastland and explore. We'll see what the week brings! Here's to more travels in the future!! :)

Welcome September

So, I've been pretty stressed with school starting. There's always a million things to do. I've had a hard time getting labels made and just prepping simple stuff. I know, however, that eventually I'll get this done and things will start getting easier and just about TEACHING. Because of my stressful nights I decided to get the Houston Chronicle and try one place a day. I haven't had the time/energy to do this yet but I decided today was the day to start! So, I opened up The Good Life (Travel section) of the Houston Chronicle and set off.

Sandi and I went to the Onion Creek Cafe in The Heights of Houston. The article was about a beer named Sumthin' Sumthin' Ale. I ordered the ale but .... they were sold out. NOT IMPRESSED Onion Creek Cafe, not impressed. However, I ordered a light ale and a burger.
Sandi and I were both in appeal of the burger. The bun appeared to be whole grain-type bread and the toppings kept slipping off. However, it really seemed made-on-sight and that's refreshing. Not really Wendy's/McDonald style here. No fries here but the Louisiana chip company Zapp's were served. There was also a side of potato salad or a regular salad. We both consumed only half our burgers so I'll take the other half for lunch tomorrow. The ale was definitely different. It had a different taste to it, somewhat stronger than a Budlight or Miller Lite that I'm used to. Overall, I'm glad I got out for a night, although I totally could have fallen asleep at 6pm. Looking forward to Labor Day!!!!