Houston, TX

Recently I have visited Houston, TX. What a different world from Grand Rapids, MI. Houston is absolutely enormous. It is like a whole bunch of smaller cities surrounding one huge city. I decided to stay right downtown nearby Main Street. I was there for training and to visit vendors so Downtown Houston was nicely centrally located.

Where to begin.... The weather was great. It was mid 70's and sunny with a warm breeze. The people were warm and welcoming also. The majority of the people were helpful and friendly.

The Flying Saucer: On Wednesday night I stopped into a bar/restaurant called The Flying Saucer. Immediately I knew I would like the place for two reasons. 1. There was a handwritten sign at the entrance stating "Sit any damn place you want". 2. The waitresses were required to wear tiny school girl skirts. I sat down at a long bar in the balcony overlooking the entire scene of people enjoying food and spirits. One thing I found very interesting and like able was the seating included tables, numerous bars, couches, and easy chairs. There was room for anybody and everybody to be comfortable. Next when I attempted to order a Shocktop beer my waitress kindly suggested I grow up and drink a "good" beer. She suggested a German import called Spaten Franziskaner Hefe. So I tried it and it was the best beer I've ever had. I actually love this beer now. I liked the place so much I decided to stay for supper. I ordered some Chicken Wings to get started and they were Excellent! Next I ordered some smoked Gouda and Black Pepper Salami, this came with some good crackers and peppered sauerkraut. Again this food was Excellent! I would strongly recommend anybody traveling to a city with a Flying Saucer give it a try. http://www.beerknurd.com/

Angelo's: On Thursday night on my walk back to the hotel from another evening at the Flying Saucer I met a fellow having a drink outside of Angelo's. Angelo's is an Italian Pizzeria with 85 beers on tap. They have live blues on the weekends. The people in Angelo's are real. You can sit with the Operations manager and have a drink along with a good conversation. I don't know how it happened exactly but several shots and two beers later it was after 2:00 AM. I had an early Friday AM appointment so I stumbled back to my hotel.

Club Quarters: Speaking of the hotel, this place was awful. I hated it there. It was designed as a private club with snooty waiters and Valet parking. I'm not sure why it was so cheap on Travelocity.com. The first day I was there I discovered a used bloody bandage stuck to the floor in my bathroom. I kindly asked the desk clerk to have it cleaned up before I returned, this gave him approximately 8 hours to complete the task. I returned and it was not cleaned up. My room had been cleaned but the bandage was still there. Disgusting. I had to go back to the front desk and more persistently ask that this be taken care of or that they move me to a different room. Also the wireless Internet was ridiculously slow. I couldn't work efficiently because there was about a 10 second delay. I had to actually crawl under a desk to plug my computer into a hardwired connection. I asked the waiter at the in-hotel restaurant how long it would take to get one egg over easy with some white toast. He looked at me and said in a bitchy tone " I don't know, I guess as long as it takes to cook it". Eff you waiter. Eff you Club Quarters with your bloody bandages and slow Internet. Eff you $18 valet parking.

The Taste of Texas: On Friday evening I met with a vendor at a local steak house called The Taste of Texas. Absolutely amazing! This was the steakhouse of my dreams. We had Quail for an appetizer, it was marinated and stuffed with Jalapenos. This also was served with a side of Jalapeno Poppers, but not like the kind frozen in your local grocery store. The poppers were also amazing. I ordered a hand-picked New York Strip. By hand picked I mean you actually get to pick it from the butcher. Before getting to the steak we hit the salad bar, yes with a $40.00 steak you get a trip to the salad bar. Amazing, they had every lettuce and topping you could imagine. They also had about 8 kinds of dressing -- I chose something cactus, it was good. Next the cheese, on the salad bar they had these huge blocks of cheese. They had pie servers to cut a hunk of cheese off. Then the bread, many different kinds of warm homemade bread -- I chose Jalapeno Cheese Bread. We ate our salads and the wonderful bread. Our server intentionally had our steaks prepared just in time to serve them as we completed our salads. The steaks were served sizzling on a hot plate covered with sizzling butter. Unbelievable, the whole place was an absolutely perfect experience.

Homeless People: I "helped" or "enabled" depending on how you view the homeless community several of these people while staying downtown Houston. One fellow claimed to work at Exxon Mobile, he was wearing an Exxon uniform and he had an ID badge. He claimed he was short for the bus ride home. True or not I decided wasn't my problem. I handed him enough cash for many bus rides and off he went. One day while walking back to the hotel with leftover chicken wings I noticed a homeless man sitting out of the way trying to watch TV through a tavern window. He wasn't begging, he wasn't belligerent, he just looked lost. I asked him if he needed some chicken wings. He quickly stopped muttering to himself and agreed that would be a fine idea. I explained that I had not touched the wings only moved them from a plate to the container with a clean fork. Off I went. Something about this guy seemed very real and very sad. He just seemed broken and lonely. After visiting The Taste of Texas on Friday I walked around downtown for a long time before finding the same homeless guy. I gave him 3/4 of a New York Strip. It was probably the best steak I had ever eaten, but I really wanted this guy to enjoy life even if only for a few minutes. When you hear about homeless people you think of them as rude, dirty, stinky, etc... I can tell you this guy did not rip open the box and start eating like a wild animal. This guy wanted to know where I was from. He wanted to talk about U of M football, etc... The guy was just lonely, hungry, and tired. I wished him well and off I went. I will keep this guy in my prayers.

Airport: The airport was huge, giant, enormous, huge. It was an adventure in itself eating a burger at Chile's and watching people bustle to and fro.

Summary: If you haven't been to Houston you should go. The weather was great, the food was great, and the people were nice.

Later,