Holiday Diaries 6 – Houston

This is the last part. Promise!

05 January 2008 – Houston Day 1

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary!  Yey!  That’s a good enough reason  for an out-of-town getaway, and that’s exactly what we did.   We didn’t celebrate by our lonesome twosome though.  We had 4 (more like 3 1/2) other people join us: my Mom who’s celebrating her birthday, my visiting aunt and uncle, and not to forget, our only daughter, Abby.   Our destination…Houston.

We left the house at around 9:30am and had a hearty breakfast at Denny’s before “seriously” hitting the road for the more or less 3-hour drive to Houston.  For this trip, we had to take the 290, which was totally different from the highway (I-35) that takes us to San Antonio and Dallas.  If in I-35 travellers have the luxury of looking forward to Starbucks, gasoline stations, restrooms and restaurants at practically every exit point (that, of course, is an exaggeration!), that is not the case with the 290, which is lined with green fields on both sides.  So, if one suddenly felt the urge to use the restroom, you’ll have to really hold it in for who knows how long or one can always do his/her thing on the wide open fields.  Not a good idea.

It was already almost 3pm when we reached Downtown Houston and continued driving for a few more minutes until we reached our hotle…the Hampton Inn (yet again!).

 

Abby just absolutely loves staying in hotels.

We gave ourselves just a few minutes to catch our breath before we were off again. Tourist attractions close at 5pm and we wanted to make the most out of our short stay in Houston. Instead of heading to a restaurant for a very very late lunch, we chose to drive off to the Battleship Texas State Historic Site and just snack on our baon of beef jerky and fresh fruits.

The battleship behind hubby and me, Texas, is the first battleship memorial museum in the United States.

Guess who’s feeling “out  of place” in this pic.

Mimi and Abby donning sailor hats.

We really do love to sail.

Far behind us is the San Jacinto Monument, listed as the tallest stone column memorial in the world.  It is dedicated to the “Heroes of the Battle of San Jacinto and all others who contributed to the independence of Texas.

In the evening, my Tita Baby and Tito Ed treated us to a double celebration dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in the Houston Galleria.

My Tito Ed (in his Makisig Morales impersonation….too much TFC) and Tita Baby

After dinner, we walked a little bit around the mall.  Haaay.  I truly miss he malls back home.  Nuff said.

06 January 2008 – Houston Day 2

Mass at St. Philip Neri

The first thing we did toay was hear mass at St. Philip Neri, a church just a short drive from our hotel and one that I found through the internet.  St. Philip Neri is located in a predominantly African-American neighborhood.  Hearing mass there turned out to be such a wonderful experience…and that doesn’t come as a surprise. 

First thing I loved, the deacon’s homily.  What he said really struck me as beautiful…that we should come into the year 2008 with an empty basket, so that God can fill it all up with His blessings.  All worries and even blessings, we leave behind in 2007.  ;)  That makes so much sense, don’t you think?  The second thing I loved?  The music.  The choir was accompanied by no less than a jazz band, which in itself was already awesome!  At the end of the mass, children, people celebrating birthdays and anniversaries were asked to come near the altar for a blessing.  The parishioners were all so warm and friendly.  We all  just love everything about this church!    It was truly a nice way to end the Christmas season, today being the Feast of the Three Kings.  After mass, we walked back to the van (rented!) feeling all good and with big smiles on our faces.  My Mom couldn’t stop thanking me for finding this church!   Then we were off to our date with space.

Space Center Houston

We were a little late for our date with space, arriving at Space Center Houston past noon.  After a quick lunch at the food court, we immersed ourselves with all the “space data” we can absorb.  Hee hee!  The one buildind which houses exhibits, shows, and which the public can explore freely is ony open until 7pm.  So if one is a huge fan of astronomy, it is best to come in early to afford a more leisurely pace in exploring the center.  We, were like headless chickens running from one attraction to another and we did miss a few due to time constraints.  Nevertheless, we all had a blast.  I can honestly say I fell in love with space all over again and was in awe for the entire duration of our visit.

my little space explorer – I believe she got in for free.  Yey!

Practically everything in the Space Center was new to Abby…except maybe for the slides at the chilren’s  playscape and the special interactive circus exhibit. :)

We took a tram tour which lasted for a good hour and half (excluding wait time to get on the tour!).  It brought us to buildings, which are ordinarily off limits to the public.  Take for instance the mission control center.  It is the real deal!  We were only allowed access because it was a weekend and nobody’s working.  When there’s a mission in space, the seating area where all of us tourists got to sit was exclusively for the use of the astronauts’ families.  Not even so-called powerful people are allowed to get in.

mission control center

Watch out for this men…the STS 122 Atlantis crew.  They have a scheduled space date really soon.   How cool is that?!

Astroboy

Not very many people can say they’ve touched a moon rock, save for the people of Houston.  Hee hee!  We have! 

We didn’t leave the Space Center until the official closing time.  Bitin!  We then had dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant after which we drove back to Austin.  I’ll post more photos on Mapped Memories….soon.

There.  That’s the end of my holiday diaries.  Clap!  Clap!  Clap!   Thank you for being very patient with me.  Hee hee!

Have a great weekend, y’all!  God bless!