BEGINNING OF A PLAN
Since I’ve moved to Texas back in 2002, my
parents have been coming down on a fairly regular basis to visit me (originally
it seemed to have been every other year, it’s now become a yearly event).
Each time they’ve come down, we’ve tried to go to “someplace new” to see
interesting things. When they were down in 2012, there were a lot of
“revisits” of places they’d seen on the first visit in order to see how much
has changed over the decade. That was also indicative that we’d kinda
tapped out the Austin
area for things to do. Sure there’s some minor smaller things which might
fill an hour or so, or some venues which we have no interest in, but for the
most part we’ve seen everything there is in Austin . That also has begun to include
the surrounding areas, a reasonable driving distance from Austin .
As I had a week off coming up in
September, and that’s when my parents were planning on coming down, the
question was what to do when they’re here. I’ve always wanted to go to Houston to see NASA, and
that was high on my list of things to do when I first arrived.
Unfortunately, due to job loss, lack of funds, and other factors, it
wasn’t something I could reasonably do. When I was with Lee, we traveled
to Baytown (east of Houston ) a number of times, but going to NASA
wasn’t high on the list (as we were there for “family purposes’). For a
period (due to the shitty nature of the way my company changed their policies),
Lee and I couldn’t always take our vacations at the same time. It was
because of that I took my solo Arizona
trip, and on different weeks Lee took other trips with the kids. Had to
be part of a family when we can’t even do family vacations together. One
of the trips that Lee had taken was out to NASA, and I enjoyed seeing the pics
she had, but this was something I wanted to see for myself.
So in the planning stages for this
upcoming September, I made the suggestion to my parents that we should visit
NASA. That was met with a resounding yes. After going
back-and-forth with Mum a bit on how I thought the overall execution of this
should be done, we finalized the plans. I’d rent a car here in Austin (as my own,
Argent, was nearing 130,000 miles, and I didn’t want to put extra miles on it.
Renting also means paying for peace of mind). I’d drive to southern
Houston , pick Mum & Dad up at Hobby Airport
We’d look over the maps of the
area, and thumbed through the Houston Tour Book I got from AAA in order to find
some venues we’d want to check out. Of course, we’d look at information
posted in visitor’s centers to help find other things we might not have been
aware of. I MapQuested the location of our hotel to figure out how to get
there, and it was very different to tell what type of area this was. I
couldn’t see NASA being located in “the hood,” but it was difficult to tell how
“nice” the area was. The information I sent away for from City of Webster Visitor ’s Bureau
was not helpful in that regard. I’m expecting things to look grey and
industrial, due to the closeness of the oil refineries. (The section of
IH-10 Lee and I would go through to get to Baytown was not the prettiest place, so I
keeping that in mind as a possibility.)
Since I’d ridden with Lee the many
times we’ve gone to Baytown ,
plotting the route should be easy, as I’d be familiar with most of the route.
My parents would fly into Hobby early Sunday morning. That left me
the prior day to complete laundry and errands, secure the rental, and whatever
other last minute things I needed to do before being away from home for a week.
DAY ONE -- 8 SEPTEMBER 2013: ARRIVAL IN WEBSTER
I got up at about the same time I
normally would to go to work during the week.
My rental was a grey Mazda 3 sedan (which was named “Trey,” a play on
the French word for “three”). I picked up State Highway 290 and headed
east towards Brenham. It’s nice to drive roads I knew well in those
predawn hours, but soon enough I’d be watching the sunrise, and hoped it
wouldn’t be in my eyes. Upon reaching Brenham, I turned south onto Route
36. I saw the sign that said Sealy was some-many miles ahead, so this was
the way I wanted to go, but this section of the road was absolutely
unfamiliar. I figured perhaps I just
hadn’t paid attention in this section when Lee and I were going to Baytown .
Before reaching Sealy, I came to a
place called Bellville. There was a small park on the outside of town
with a huge bust (about twenty feet high) of Stephen F. Austin. Yeah, this was not the route Lee and I had
gone; this was a brand new area. If I wasn’t on a time schedule (as I
wanted to arrive at Hobby about the time my parents’ flight would be in), there
wasn’t any opportunity to explore. I wasn’t lost, mind you, as I’d be
coming (eventually) to a place that I knew; I just didn’t know where I was.
I stayed on 36, I soon came to
Sealy, which was a small Texas
town. While both Bellville and Sealy were nice to look at, I’d hoped to
stay on highway for this leg of the trip. I was still “on time,” so no
worry about Mum and Dad waiting around at the airport for me to get there
(besides, it takes a little bit of time for them to get their luggage anyway).
On the other side of Sealy I was able to grab IH-10 (like I’d planned),
and continue eastward. Ah, it was nice to back into an area I recognized.
As I passed the city of Katy , I’d wondered how much of the congested Houston traffic I’d hit.
I figured since it was late morning as I was cruising through, I’d be
pretty good. And the worst traffic I recall on IH-10 was because Lee and
I had been going through the center of Houston
(as that was the easiest way to cross the city). My plan was to be in the
actual Houston
city limits as possible, so I’d pick up the Sam Houston Tollway (aka Route 8)
to skirt the southern portion. An advantage of this was that Hobby Airport
The rental agency had told me I’d
be responsible for any of the tolls, as there wasn’t a toll tag on Trey.
Six lanes of traffic are easy to navigate when everything is moving at a
nice 60 mph, and it was easy to make the switch on to the Tollway. I had
to zip into the “cash lanes” and pay the $1.75, but after that, I could ride
the Tollway as long as I needed to (unlike the Austin Tollway, which after
you’ve paid to get on, you’ll still be charged again every few miles).
I’d made such good time, that it’d be another hour before the parents’
flight would arrive.
Using the clock face as an example,
I entered the Sam Houston Tollway at the nine o’clock position, and was
travelling counter-clockwise (as Hobby would be at about the five o’clock
position). But as I passed the exit for Almeda Road (roughly at seven o’clock),
all traffic had to exit the highway because it was closed due to construction.
I had to sit through stop-and-go traffic through all the lights on the
frontage road. That gave me a chance to stop and use the facilities (Trey
didn’t need to be fed yet, as he was just under a half-tank now). The
construction phase ended right before the Mykawa Road intersection, and by that
time I’d be grabbing the very next exit to get off. It was only as few
minutes north of the Tollway to get to Hobby Airport
Getting into Hobby was very easy,
although the multilevel parking garage (which had to be entered by driving up a
corkscrew) was oddly laid out. Once I’d found a parking space, it took a
few moments for me to get my bearings (so I’d be bringing Mum & Dad on the
most direct route to the vehicle). The open area that you’d drive up to
drop people off at the terminal is actually directly above where baggage claim
is. Once I figured that out, and got the layout of the waiting area down,
I just spent time people-watching. Ah, we’re still in the season of
summer fashions. >grin<
The flight came in on time, and
once Mum & Dad had gotten their bags, it was a quick drive from the airport
to pick up Interstate 45 south (aka the Gulf Freeway), which would bring us to
Webster. Mum commented this section didn’t look any different to her than
Austin did.
I had to admit this section reminded me of driving on the IH-35 frontage
road in downtown Austin
trying to get on the highway. The area became much nicer as we got to
Webster, as there were more shopping plazas and such around. The city of Webster reminded me more
of Round Rock, a nicer smaller area next to a large urban sprawl.
We located the Days Inn where we
were staying, which was just off the NASA
Parkway , and then got checked in. One of the
reasons why Mum had chosen that place because it said it had a pool and breakfast
was available (that cuts down on what we end up spending). The pool was
present, but there was no hot tub (strike one). And it was clear the
breakfast would be more of a “continental” variety (toast and juice), as
opposed to light grill items (like where my parents usually stay at; strike
two). Still, the hotel was relatively inexpensive, and we’d only be
spending the time there necessary to sleep.
We’d make do.
I’d nibbled on Kashi bars and some
trail mix as I was driving over, because I’d figured we’d have lunch once we
got checked in. Mum & Dad pretty much hadn’t eaten all day, and were
pretty starved. While I like to frequent “local” or “regional”
establishments as much as possible, at this point we wanted to find food which
was close to the hotel. There was a Chili’s nearby. The service was
a little slow, but acceptable. There was
a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake on the desert menu which we shared. Mmm,
very yummy. With the hunger beast satisfied, we went back to the hotel
and got unpacked. I’d brought a bag with a bottle of Llano Riesling wine
for Mum, and a six-pack of Lone Star for Dad (plus a sixer of Woodchuck for
myself) which we’d enjoy in the evening. We when took advantage of the
empty pool, which happened to be very warm (as it was located in a room which
received the afternoon sun). With the water temperature like that, we
really didn’t need the hot tub then.
Since my parents had been up
earlier than me (plus the way long flights seem to sap your energy), I hadn’t
planned anything for this day. This was the day to relax, unpack, get a
feel for the area, and plan the attacks for the coming days. There were a
bunch of visitor brochures at the hotel lobby which we picked up, and perused.
Mum commented there was one here for a place called “Round Rock,” and we
should visit there at some point. I followed through with the joke (as
the hotel desk person was within ear shot), and responded that I’d been there,
and it wasn’t a very nice place.
The section of Webster that we were
in had a lot of hospitals around, so that added to the affluent feel of the
area. Near where the hotel was, our eyes noticed a sign for the local
elementary school, and it was something we needed to stop and get a picture of.
Okay, the name was quite spelled the same way, but we were sufficiently
amused by McWhirter Elementary (and the marquee which talks about how “where
superstars learn!”)
We wanted to get a light dinner,
and this was an opportunity to explore some of the local venues. The hotel
manager had made a couple of suggestions of places to try, and they were marked
on a pamphlet he handed us (just like the one I got from City of Webster Visitor ’s
Bureau). His recommendation was Mario’s Flying Pizza, which was on the
opposite side of the build just across the street. The décor was nice for
a small scale Italian place, and there was no “dinner rush” we had to wait
through. We got to watch someone hand-toss the pizza dough in the air,
which was cool to see. Instead of individual entrees, we decided on
getting a cheese pizza to share. The pizza was acceptable, but not
stellar. The crust was thin and chewy (not cardboard-like). It was
filling and economical, and that’s what we were looking for.
After the short walk back to the
hotel, we then cracked open our individual bottles of booze (I brought the
corkscrew also) and had some relaxing drinks. We’d all want to be rested
up for tomorrow’s objective, the main reason we came to the Houston area in the first place … NASA.
For more information on the places visited or mentioned:
Bellville: http://www.cityofbellville.com/
Sealy: http://www.sealychamber.com/
Katy: http://cityofkaty.com/
Webster: http://www.cityofwebster.com/
McWhirter
Elementary: https://sites.google.com/a/staff.ccisd.net/mcwhirterelementary/
Mario’s Flying
Pizza: http://www.ilovemariosflyingpizza.com/
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