Girl Heaven

(Written Feb. 18 - 20, 2010)

I love to travel. I'm not too picky about the destination. I do require clean drinking water, breathable air and limited mosquitoes. So that leaves about 1/1000 of the world available to me for exploration.

The first night is always the most exciting. Driving through a city with it all lit up, checking into the hotel, anxiously hoping that my travel companion is ready to go out. Last night was one of the few times that I was anxious my travel companion would want to go out. That has to be a sure sign of aging. Score! I just found a mango Starburst in the bottom of my backpack!

Right now I am staying in Houston with my mom while she is attending a women's conference. I had originally thought I would be spending lots of time in a nice hotel watching movies and ordering room service while Mom took care of business. I was totally wrong. Hee hee! But I really should not log her attendance. After all, I was her accomplice.

I tried searching Texas Monthly online & also Yahoo Local for some clue as to where we should have dinner. There are so many lovely restaurants here, & I wanted to take advantage of our time. So of course we ate at the Yambo Chinese Buffet. If you go there, skip the sushi, get the glazed chicken wings. The steamed rice is at the end of the buffet & the good shrimp is next to the watermelon.

It's been years since I have eaten at a Chinese buffet. It felt so naughty and yet so right. I think I'll wait another 5 years before I do that again. Maybe 10. This afternoon we went to the beach and it was fabulous. I haven't been to Galveston since the hurricane and I was quite relieved to see that everything looked relatively unchanged. Just freshly painted. We started the outing by having gumbo at a place that has totally inspired me to be a better cook. I've definitely been slacking in my 'Nawlins skills.

We found one of our previously visited stretches of beach, and again, it was in seemingly perfect condition. I tried to find a few precious shells and then let small cool waves wash over my hands while Mom fed the seagulls. It wasn't long before I had to get in on that action. She was tossing crackers up into a crowd that I thought might actually try to land on her. Every crumb was caught.

I guess I should admit that there was one last stop on our way out of Galveston. We were going to pass by it anyways, and I was concerned for the well being of the restaurant owners... at the very least I needed a pit stop. Thankfully, the Cajun Greek was still in business, and since I was already inside, I decided it would be a good idea to make sure that the sandwiches were just as yummy as I remembered. Holigoodness they were! That shrimp and oyster po' boy is my favoritist!

That evening we went to the Houston Museum of Fine Art. I remember that I enjoyed the artwork, can't remember whose work was on exhibit. I do remember that in the lobby an exclusive welcome party was being held for some other group, and we were invited to enjoy the wine. Afterwards, we had another wonderful meal out (now I know that I am also slacking in my Guido skills) and then enjoyed getting lost in Houston. Again. Sometimes I really hate GPS.

The next day we came back home. Comfortable home, whose only drawback is that there is no room service. Just as well. I wouldn't feel right spending $20 on 1 waffle.