24 Hours In Houston

Over Easter weekend I went to Houston.  For those of you who are fairly new here, that's where I lived my first three years when I moved from Minnesota to Texas.  Originally I had planned on going down Friday morning & leaving sometime on Sunday.  Finances however stopped me.  So I headed down Friday morning & left Saturday afternoon.  Therefore, this post is more of a "typical weekend in my life when I lived in Houston" than a "check out all of the awesome things in Houston"  Regardless, if you're ever down there I still maintain you should check these places out.

What I Ate

My first stop upon arrival was Cisco's Salsa Company to meet my friend Zach.  During happy hour they have the best margarita deals.  You can get a regular, frozen or on the rocks, for $3.  If you want to add a flavor they're then $3.50.  But they are strong & delicious.  They also have a build your own guacamole that I love & my friends hated me for ordering.  Simply because it's obviously made right there on the spot because you pick exactly what goes in it & after a few I would always get annoyed that I'd have to mash it to a consistency of my liking... but I'd still always order it.  I also promise you that when you're not a few in, it's really not a big deal...  They have an awesome patio, usually with live music on the weekends, a friendly staff, & their food is incredible too.

The first place that my friend Meg & I ate at was a bar called Black Jack's. I have no pictures but we shared some deep fried mushrooms & pickles, obviously with a ton of ranch on the side, & so good!  As someone who judges a place by their ranch... I have zero complaints.  Since we were there during happy hour well drinks were $2.  Win!  It's a little hole in the wall bar which are personally my favorite type.  The crowd was super nice!

Next up, Bar Louie. Again with the no pictures.  Bar Louie is actually a national chain so there is a strong chance that you have one somewhere near you.  Go, during happy hour.  In my opinion their drinks, while really good, are overpriced.  All drinks are $9, unless you go during happy hour.  This might actually be standard?  To me that's a lot though.  I have been on both sides of the Bar Louie fence having been a frequent customer when I lived in Houston & a brief employee living in DFW.  Their appetizers are amazing!  This time we shared loaded tator tots, she had a dirty martini (they're known for their martinis) & I had a Mason Dixon which is basically sweet tea with alcohol.

Tacos...these aren't just any tacos.  They are barbacoa tacos outside of a bar Whiskey River.  I used to be so obsessed with these tacos that when I was heading down I told myself "ok even if we don't end up going to Whiskey River, I'm still going to stop by there at some point that night & get tacos."  They have things other than barbacoa, & you can also get things such as quesadillas, but all I've ever eaten there are the barbacoa tacos.  For 5 years...  They are $3 a piece (cash only) & worth it.  I get them with everything on it, which I don't really know what everything entails, but I trust the guy behind the counter.  He'll ask at least 2 or 3 times & all I say is EVERYTHING, & then he'll just keep adding stuff.  They are spicy so that may be why he asks me so much ha.

For lunch I stopped at a place in Tomball that I had never been to before.  It was called Tejas Chocolate Craftory.  It's in an old house with some tables set up inside as well as tables on the porch & in the yard outside.  I knew it was going to be good when the second I opened the door, that's where the line started.  While you're in line to order food, they also sell chocolates.  I wanted to buy some so badly because they looked so delicious.  However, because I knew I'd still be hanging around Tomball/Houston for awhile & it was 80 some degrees outside, I decided against it.  The food though, SO good!  They are mainly BBQ, which I really thought about getting, but the Bird & Bacon sandwich kept catching my eye.  It's turkey, avocado, bacon, & a fried egg.  You can also get that as a wedge salad.  All of their beers are from Texas breweries so I decided to try out a Mama Tried, because The Hag, which is from Brazos Valley Brewing in Brenham.

What I Did

Meg & I went dancing at Whiskey River.  When I student taught in Houston, we lived 3 miles from this place & therefore basically lived there.  It's a country dance hall.  It's where I learned to line dance & two step.  It's where I met Oklahoma.  My favorite bartender in the world used to work there.  This place is always a good time.  Even if you don't want to dance, the people watching is phenomenal, the drinks are cheap, & they have both indoor & outdoor space.

Saturday when I had the day to myself I decided to go check out all the antique shops in Tomball.  Tomball has the cutest little "old town" area where every Saturday they have a farmer's market, they have little antique shops everywhere, & have town festivals all the time.  Seriously, that town is about as close to real life Stars Hollow as you're going to get.  I miss it.  Anyway, I wanted to buy all the things.  Instead I bought none of the things.  Well, I did buy some pickled quail eggs.  Those are good.  Spicy, but good.

My favorite stop of the entire trip was "my" park.  I used to spend hours at this park.  It's Burrough's Park.  It's also huge.  There is a sports complex part with soccer & baseball fields & then the back part has a little lake, swings, picnic tables, grills.  It's everything.  I was so sad to have to leave my park.  And if it hadn't been a 4 hour drive home I probably would've stayed & read my book longer.

Where I Stayed

I don't do many travel recaps, but at this point it's clear that I don't stay at fancy great for blogging hotels.  Why?  Well a)I'm broke b)it's usually just me c)at this point in time I don't care enough.  As long as there aren't going to be bugs crawling on me & I'm not going to get stabbed/run into a hooker I'm fine.  Although all of these have been questionable possibilities in the past...  Anyway, I stayed at a Palace Inn.  I honestly wasn't expecting much because not only was it a Palace Inn, it was less than $60... I was pleasantly surprised.  It was nothing over the top fancy, but it was nicer than I was expecting & it did it's job.  No bugs, no stabbings, no hookers!