Texas Trip 2008

Today Omer and I toured around downtown Houston, climbing up to the top of the Chase Tower, Wells Fargo Plaza Tower, and even the Chevron parking garage, formerally the Enron garage (that was a 13 story stair climb from hell!). It was very hot and humid, so we did a lot of walking via the Houston underground tunnel system which I thought was quite cool (literally). It was like an underground subway system for pedestrians. Some parts were plain - simply walls, ceiling, and lights, while others had shops and restaurants.

We spent two hours downtown, I taking as many photos as I could (though I edited two-thirds of them). From there we had lunch, ran errands, and were home by 6:00PM. We did not stay home long before going out to do some night photography of downtown. It was difficult finding good places to photograph but well worth it in the end. Most of the photos came from around Houston University. I forgot how much of a rush I get by taking night shots around cities. For some reason I really enjoy night photography.

Tomorrow we head to Austin. I'm very excited about the road trip. We haven't done much outside of exploration and photo-taking here in Houston, but I still have many more days here. Things between Omer and I have been ok - we haven't killed each other yet, though he does drive me absolutely crazy. I just focus on my journey and try to keep quiet. Seven more days and it's off to Florida.

This is a view of the Bank of America Center in Houston, taken from the observation deck of the JP Morgan Chase Tower. The building, completed in 1984 and designed by award winning architect Phillip Johnson and partner John Burgee, is reminiscent of the Dutch Gothic architecture of canal houses in The Netherlands. At 56 stories the building is the 49th tallest building in the United States and is the seventh tallest building in Texas.

A view of downtown, showing the all-glass Wells Fargo Plaza in the center. The Wells Fargo Plaza Tower is the tallest all-glass building in the Western Hemisphere. This building is currently the 13th-tallest Building in the United States at 71 floors and 992 feet, and the second tallest building in Texas and Houston. Get this: The building's footprint forms an abstracted version of the shape of a dollar sign.

Some people may recognize this building (1400 Smith Street) as the former headquarters of the infamous Enron Corporation. It is now being leased by the Chevron Corporation. It is 50 stories tall, and has very strict security. We were unable to even get past the lobby of this building.

Another night shot of downtown Houston. This is looking south overlooking Buffalo Bayou.

One last view looking over Buffalo Bayou of downtown Houston.

Omer and I had a relatively uneventful drive to Austin today (Omer got a speeding ticket). We went straight to the university area of the city and explored around a bit. We found a cheap hotel south of the city, unpacked a bit, and went back to the university area to find internet access so Omer could take an online exam for school. While he was doing his exam (we found a nice pizza/bar joint) I grabbed a beer and watched the Celtics game (which they won!! Now Boston can boast TWO world champions - the Red Sox and the Celtics).

Omer and I shared a pizza and left to head towards the Congress Avenue district. It was quite busy for a Tuesday night! Omer and I checked out a couple gay bars in the Warehouse District, but did not stay long - they were both very quiet. Still, it was fun - I would love to come back here with more time. I could spend a week between Austin and San Antonio.

Tomorrow our plans are to explore more of Austin, and then head to San Antonio in the late afternoon. We're going to have breakfast and possibly lunch in Austin before heading south. It's a busy itinerary, and I am very tired.

Heading to bed now - here are some photos from the road trip thus far:

It has been an extremely busy day today. We started by having breakfast at a place called Fliphappy Crepes. This is a place run by two sisters out of an old Avion trailer, with seating outdoors near Zilker Park. The crepes were out-of-this-world, and well worth the long line. We had heard about the sisters on either the food network or the travel channel - I don't recall, but decided we had to check it out when we got here.

After, I took some photos of Austin from Zilker Park, along the Town Lake and Colorado River. We then drove to Bonnell Mountain for some more photos and scenery, but the weather was too hazy for me to capture any good photos. From there we went a shopping area called "The Domain," which is actually a New-Urbanist village in northwest Austin. I took photos of that as well, and we walked around the "village" for a while, checking out the shops and residences. It wasn't a perfect New-Urbanist community - the grocery store was defunct and there were not enough residences to support the high-scale retail that was established, but it was still interesting to see.

Around 4:00PM we headed on down to San Antonio, stopping to take a tour of the Natural Bridge Caverns in the aptly named township of Natural Bridge Caverns. We took a rather intimate 75-minute tour (there were only five of us in the group) and it was well worth the money (just over $16 with my AAA discount). The caverns were breathtaking - better than the ones I saw in Virginia many years ago.

After our cavern tour we finished our drive to San Antonio. The exit we took coincidentally lead us nearly to the front of our hotel (just by chance). We booked a cheap room on Priceline here for $54, and the room and hotel are great. The gentleman at the front desh was most helpful, and even gave us a room with a view of downtown without to inquire (he asked if we had a floor or room preference). For the money you can't beat it. We're a short walk from downtown and a 5 minute drive to the Riverwalk, which is where we went first. We had dinner at "The Republic of Texas Restaurant," which was relatively inexpensive ($30 for two people), clean, had outdoor seating along the river, great food and wonderful service. I was so pleased I actually shook the manager's hand.

From there we walked some more, and I took some night photos with my small tripod. After about 30 minutes we walked to a big gay club nearby called "Bonham Exchange." It was in what appeared to be a large old mansion, and was really quite beautiful. It wasn't busy of course, but the drinks were cheap ($2 for a vodka tonic!!) and the people were friendly. They had top 20 music videos playing, and it was fun but Omer and I grew tired and the club wasn't getting any busier, so we left. I stopped to take a couple photos of the Alamo and am now relaxing here at the hotel, ready for bed.

Some more photos from our trip:

Omer and I saw a feature on the Travel Channel for Fliphappy Crepes, and when we were in Austin we had to stop there to give it a try! The line is long (as you can see in the background), but well worth the wait! This is a place run by two sisters out of an old Avion trailer, with seating outdoors near Zilker Park.

A view of downtown Austin from Mount Bonnell.

The riverwalk is choc full of shops and restaurants, and for a Wednesday night is very busy!!

This is "The Torch of Friendship" by Mexican Scuptor Sebastian and was commissioned by the Association of Mexican Entrepreneurs of San Antonio to celebrate the connection between the city and its neighbor to the south. The Tower of the Americas is in the background right.

The infamous Alamo. I don't have enough room here to type out the entire history or significance of this building, but I recommend you look it up and read about it! www.thealamo.org

Yesterday Omer and I spent the afternoon in beautiful San Antonio. We had a lovely stay at our hotel (the Holiday Inn at Market Square) and started our day at Market Square itself. Parking was cheap, but the shops were mostly souvenir stores. There was really nothing I wanted to buy, though I admit - I love browsing nic-nacs and souvenirs. If I was not here on a budget I likely would have bought a bag full of stuff.

Omer and I had Chinese for lunch and went over to the Tower of the Americas. It was a bit more than I remember ($11! Of course, I found a $2 off coupon in a pamphlet later that day), but I still enjoyed the view. It brought back a lot of memories for me. We spent about an hour at the top, reading the exhibits about Texas history and snapping photos before heading back down in to the oppressive Texas heat.

From there we went to the Rivercenter Mall and browsed around for a couple of hours (it was air conditioned so we were in no rush to leave). The mall is beautiful and has many good stores. The food selection is poor but with the Riverwalk close by, I would eat there anyhow.

From the mall we came back to Houston and met up with Omer's friend Nicole down in Midtown. We ate at Cyclone Anaya's which was very good, though a bit loud. After dinner we all came back to Omer's condo for pina coladas and television. It was a good time, and we wrapped things up around 1:00AM.

Today Omer and I decided to make an hour drive south to Galveston. We explored the shops along The Strand, and took a tour of the incredibly beautiful Moody mansion on Broadway. From there we walked along the seawall for a bit while I snapped some photos, and took a ferry over to Port Bolivar. I wish we could have gotten an earlier start because I would have liked to of taken photos of the historic neighborhoods in Galveston. The city reminded me a lot of Savannah, GA. Omer and I did drive through some of the old neighborhoods, but the sun was too low in the sky for me to take any decent pictures.

We made it back home after having dinner at a gay-owned cafe called The Mosquito Cafe and were happy to find out upon arriving home that Omer's internet had been turned on (we've been without). Now I can start updating my blogs and uploading my photos.

Our plans for tomorrow don't consist of very much - laundry, rest, and relaxation. Later on in the evening we will likely head over to South Beach. I'm looking forward to it - both the rest, and the club later on. It's been a very busy few days!

Some pics from San Antonio and Galveston:

This is Market Square in San Antonio.

The 750 foot tall Tower of the Americas. The top of the tower houses a revolving restaurant, lounge, and outdoor observation deck, and it was designed by renowned architect O'Neil Ford. The steal frame of the top of the tower was actually constructed at ground level and jacked up to the top.

Another view of downtown San Antonio from the top of the Tower of the Americas.

A view down I-10 heading back to Houston.

Next stop was Galveston, where Omer and I took a very informative two-hour tour of the Moody Mansion on Broadway. The 28,000 square-foot, four-story structure was completed in 1895 and was purchased by W.L Moody Jr. from the heirs of the original owners soon after the great hurricane of 1900.

Seawolf Park across Galveston Bay at sunset.

The sun setting across Galveston Bay with oil refineries in the background.

Yesterday was a day of rest for Omer and I. We slept in, ran some errands, had lunch, came back, and surfed the net and watched television. We made dinner here and I made drinks with some left -over cachaca and other ingredients. Around 9:00PM I took a shower, got dressed, and we went on over to Montrose for an evening of clubbing.

We started at South Beach where we got in for the free cover charge (only between 10:30 - 11PM), got our hands stamped for re-entry, and left to go out to a couple other bars.

The first bar was Meteor, which was okay, but not really exciting. JR's was the 2nd bar, and that was a little more fun. We were with a few of Omer's friends who were nice, though I did not speak much to them. We spent the rest of the night dancing and hanging out at South Beach. I had a lot of fun, but didn't meet anybody interesting (thought there were many hot guys!).

We came home around 3:00AM and went to bed. I slept in until noon and Omer and I took it easy again today. We drove down to see the San Jacinto monument and museum, paying to take an elevator up to the top. I took many photos, and after we had dinner at Kelly's Country Cookin'. Dinner was terrific. We came back here after and went for a walk around the neighborhood. It's my last night here in Hedwig Village, and I am going to bed early.

Some pics from the San Jacinto Battlefield Park:

The San Jacinto monument weighs 70,300,000 pounds. It is 125 feet square at the base, tapering to 30 feet square at the top. It is faced with blocks of cordova shell stone weighing 500 pounds apiece. This shell stone is over 100 million years old and was quarried from Burnet County north of Austin. The shaft walls are 4 feet thick at the base of the monument and 2 feet thick at the top.

There is an observatory at the top.

This is Battleship Texas, also in the San Jacinto Battlefield Park. The Texas is the last of the battleships, patterned after HMS Dreadnought, that participated in World War (WW) I and II. She was launched on May 18, 1912 from Newport News, Virginia. When the USS TEXAS was commissioned on March 12,1914, she was the most powerful weapon in the world, the most complex product of an industrial nation just beginning to become a force in global events.

A view of the Houston Ship Channel, officially opened in 1914.