Houston, Texas.

So Earl and I landed at Houston Airport yesterday morning 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Since it was still morningtime, we couldn’t check into the hotel until 3:00 p.m., so we decided to head up to an area north of Houston called “The Woodlands”. This is a planned community that has a lot of retail and other stuff going on. We walked the mall (which was like most malls) and then went across the main street to what they call Market Street. This area had the same kind of vibe as Main Street of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom; very clean and modern and not entirely what it seemed to be. Nevertheless, shopping was enjoyable and I picked up a few things needed for the trip. We also enjoyed a beverage at Starbucks with our online friend Jay. He was very nice in a person.

Last night Earl and I explored Downtown Houston a bit, which doesn’t really have a lot going on outside of banker’s hours, apparently. It was still enjoyable though, and we walked to the festivities near the convention center, where there were people ice skating (despite 75F weather) and beautiful holiday decorations that put me in the holiday spirit.

Holiday Spirit.

Today Earl and I drove to the Battleship TEXAS. The tour is self-guided so we checked out many of the nooks and crannies of this massive ship that saw action during both World War I and II.

Battleship TEXAS

From there we headed to the San Jacinto Monument, which is 12 feet taller than the Washington Monument. Built in 1936, I LOVED the architecture of this monument.

San Jacinto Monument from Battleship TEXAS

The elevator ride was acceptable because you could see the emergency stairs through a little window in the car, which assured that you were actually moving. I like knowing what’s going on.

After the visit to the battleship and the monument we headed down to the coast to the Kemah Boardwalk, where we had a delightful lunch and a nice walk and then we were on to Galveston, where we watched surfers play in the gulf.

It has been a most excellent, relaxing day. I’ve been chatting more about it on Facebook and Instagram, be sure to check out all the photos there.