Our RV Adventures

We picked up Jim and Debbie at the motel about 10 am and headed downtown to The Heights area to visit Penzey’s Spices.

Penzey’s has pretty much every spice and seasoning you can think of, and some you probably didn’t know even existed. Jan and Debbie had a blast running around looking at and showing things to each other. Jan also had a shopping list from our daughter-in-law Linda, who also loves the place.

Eighty dollars later we were out the door and very well spiced. It was a little early for lunch so we drove around The Heights area for a while looking at all the neat old houses.

Finally, we headed down to the Montrose area to eat lunch at Katz’s Deli, a New York Jewish-style deli right here in Houston. We’ve eaten here several times and have always enjoyed it. They have the best Rueben you’ve ever wrapped your mouth around. And that can be difficult because the sandwich is about 4 inches high. And delicious, too.

Katz’s Deli has been famous in New York since 1888, and about 10 years a family member decided to bring the New York deli experience to Houston. And it’s been a booming success ever since.

A funny tidbit is that the Katz’s Deli in New York was the site of the famous scene in the movie When Harry Met Sally where Meg Ryan proves to Billy Crystal that women can successfully “fake it”, and Estelle Reiner says “I’ll have what she’s having.”

Leaving Katz’s we took the long way home to show Jim and Debbie the Astrodome area and other parts of Houston. Coming back to this area we took a detour through the Kemah Boardwalk before getting back to the rig about 3:30 pm.

Then about 5 we drove up to Webster to have dinner at Genghis Grill, a Mongolian BBQ place that we’ve eaten at many times.

When you’re seated, you’re given a stainless-steel bowl and directed to the food line.

Your first selection is your meat, or meats. They have beef, chicken, pork, sausage, pepperoni, ham, shrimp, scallops, tofu, etc. Take your pick.

Next, you pick your choice of spices, from hot to spicy to savory.

Then it’s on to the Veggie area. This photo shows only about a third of what’s available. You just keep piling everything in your bowl.
 

Finally, you have your pick of sauces, some sweet, some tart, and some very, very spicy. Your sauce selections go in a separate small bowl.

Then you hand your food bowl and your sauce bowl into the guy at the grill, and tell him what kind of rice or pasta you want. He gives you a number and you head back to your table. A few minutes later your meal shows up.

You can either have a single bowl, or for $3 more, you can go back as often as you want. But one bowl has always filled us up.

Heading back we dropped Jim and Debbie off at the motel and got back to the rig about 7:15.

Tomorrow we’re going to take a boat cruise on Clear Lake and then take Jim and Debbie to Outrigger’s for lunch.

More then…

Thought for the Day:
“I don’t like country music, but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do. And, for the people who like country music, denigrate means ‘put down’.” — Bob Newhart

asdfds

Today was a girl’s day out.

Brandi had a doctor’s appointment up in the Memorial City area, so Jan and Debbie rode up with her to take care of Landon, and of course, do some shopping at Memorial City Mall.

While Jim vegged out at the motel, I did some errands, and then finished up some computer stuff with a client.

Brandi, Jan, and Debbie got back home about 2:30, and I showed up a little later. We all got some Landon time until about 5 pm.

Obligatory photo of Landon getting burped.

At 5 pm we drove down to the motel, picked up Jim, and then came back up the road to Floyd’s Cajun Seafood, our favorite local Cajun place. I love their seafood gumbo and boudin, and Jan says their chicken fried chicken with sweet potato fries is fantastic. And as usual, the meal was great. We’ve been eating here for years and have never had a bad meal.

The ‘Floyd’ in Floyd’s is Floyd Landry, one of the Landry boys that started the Landry’s Seafood Restaurant chain. They sold the chain years ago and then went out and started their own new restaurants. Floyd owns two here in the Clear Lake area and one in Beaumont, TX.

And now back to our day trip to San Antonio and the Alamo. We picked up Jim and Debbie at the motel about 7 pm and hit the road. But, on the way, we stopped at the Buc-ee’s at the Luling exit on I-10.

Buc-ee’s goes all out on their stores. They just enlarged this one again, adding to the store inside, and doubling the size of the bathrooms. Outside, they made the parking lot much bigger, and can now accommodate many more buses and RV’s.

Inside, the store has very large gift shop, in-house candy factory, coffee/cappuccino bar, a bakery, a deli, and a small grocery store. On one side they have an outdoor area that sells firewood, and deer and animal feed. Jan loves their kolaches, and I always get a coffee for the road.

Their gas station has 32 pumps, and, everyone had diesel. Their store in Madisonville, TX has 40 pumps.

We got to the Alamo a little after 11 and were able to park only a block away. Luckily it wasn’t a big tourist day.

You always see this view of the Alamo, but if you’ve never been there, it’s hard to imagine that it’s right in downtown San Antonio.

Here’s what’s right across the street.

And here’s a wide view.  Note that there are no tall buildings near the Alamo. By law, no building can be built that ever casts a shadow on the Alamo.

The tower on the right is the Tower of the Americas, built for Hemisfair 68, the first world’s fair in the southwest US. It has a revolving restaurant at the top that Jan and I ate at several years ago.

This is the back side of the ‘chapel’, the front of which is the familiar facade that everyone knows as the “Alamo”.

The Alamo was originally a Spanish Catholic mission, but the chapel was actually just a small part of  the mission grounds.

The well in the center of this photo dates from the mission era, but the large oak tree is only about 140 years old, planted about 35 years after the battle, which took place in February and March of 1836.

Leaving the hallowed ground of the Alamo, we walked across the street to San Antonio’s other famous landmark, the Riverwalk.

Formed originally as a flood control project by the WPA in the 1930’s by concreting and daming the San Antonio River, the Riverwalk has been extended several times to access new hotels and tourist area such as Hemisfair 68.

The city of San Antonio was actually named for the river, and not the other way around. The river was named after Saint Anthony, the patron saint of the area.

This is the display in a window of one of the many high-end shops along, and adjacent to the Riverwalk. It’s all made of glass.

Most of these trees predate the Riverwalk, but were kept for their beauty as it was built around them.

We took a barge tour of the river, which lasts about 45 minutes and gives a lot of history of the Riverwalk and the area. The many vistas are really scenic, with new sights around every bend of the river.

After our barge ride, we ate a late lunch at the Hard Rock cafe right on the Riverwalk, although we ate inside to be a little cooler.

We were back on the road to Houston a little after 3 and got back home about 7:30 pm, with a stop at Buc-ee’s on the way, of course.

It was a long day, but we had a great time, so it was worth it.

More tomorrow…

Thought for the Day:
The past, while much studied, is little read

adsf