H town

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I have made it to houston texas. The lone star state. It took longer than i thought...even though i knew i was in for a "drive".

To get here i drove from nashville to memphis. Memphis has lots to offer to say the least. But first let me start by saying....a few chains from Nashville to Houston are ooc. Shoney's, cracker barrel, Arby's, hardee's...oh my goodness.

Better chains...krystal burger, waffle house, chic-fila...and in texas..taco cabana, whataburger, ninfas to name a few.

Memphis is right on the mississipi river and is one of the principal birthplaces of rock and roll, the blues and music from and for the soul. From Jerry Lee Lewis to BB King to Elvis. Memphis is a very historical city in terms of civil rights. Martin Luther King spent lots of time in Memphis and the national civil right museum is there where he died. Beale street is where the blues, jazz, and soul are ever present. So many places with live music...all throughout the day and the locals say that friday and saturday nights must be spent there. There is an old cable car that still transports many people too. I can say that people are def more open and friendly when you first meet them in the south. Especially in Nashville and Memphis..where people from the northeast tend to have their guard up and will not open up as fast....so i enjoy that very much. I even made it to Graceland...home of elvis presley....He really changed music when he started girating and moving the way he did. No one had ever done that before and he could sing a little too! I was looking for the red headed elvis for a while and found him when i looked int he miror with my hair all slicked back as the great entertainer sported and became so well known for. I left Memphis and decided to finally buy a road atlas. I had a decison to make...and their is no direct route to houston. You can go south all the way throgh Ol Miss, then louisiana and into texas form the east or u can head more west through Arkansas and then northwestern Louisiana and into eastern texas and down. I choose the Mississipi path and ended up getting to jackson, and then into baton rouge and then eventually lafayette for the night being only 3 hours away.


Now on to houston....i arrived thursday morning....and went straight to goode company. Oh my goodness....it came highly recommended by numerous texans. And i was in barbacue heaven. Honey ham, pork, sausages, chicken, brisket, jalapeno cheddar bread, beans, rice, best bbq sauce ive ever tasted etc etc Sooo good. Then I drove around rice village, rice university and eventually made it to the Galleria all the way west on westheimer. Very upscale and nice shopping, places to eat, hotels etc etc and people watching of course. Then I met Falk and his french wife Elian and their freinds for dinner in the alternative Montrose neighborhood and for drinks afterwards as i was being shown the scene. The old texas bars are fun and rustic....they have character and they also serve shin boc, lonestar and other texan brews.

I woke up today and went for a nice run. It has been 90 and humid humid both days. Too much humidity. It gets so humid that there are tunnels in downtown houston that allow anyone to eat, shop, etc underground...imagine when it is 100 plus and alomst 100 degree humidity. It was crazy because everyone downtown in underground and it is like a mini city down there...and even today there were very few people above ground....opposite of say nyc. I also met with criminal defence attorney Brian Wice...watch court tv etc...a good family friend from CT and he is very well. I went back to goode company for a snack....crusied around for a little while all over houston and now im off to see Pam Becker and her little ones.

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