Texas - Houston Part 1

I have never eaten a meal so devoid of vegetables in all my life. 

We arrived in Houston and, after a harrowing experience trying to navigate "the Loop" (a highway that circles Houston), we met up with our couch surfing host. He promptly took us for Texas Bar-B-Q at a place that gave me honest to goodness hasn't-been-updated-since-the-seventies, struggling roadhouse vibes. The food was delicious but I think all my memories have been replaced by an abundance of meat so I can't list a single thing I ate or tell you the name of the place. 

I think I'm still sweating brisket. 

After we rolled our engorged bodies out of the BBQ joint, we ended up at a bar that was back near our host's house called The Tall Texan. Upon entering, several drunken people shouted "Happy Texas Independence day!" at the top of their lungs and then chugged the rest of their drinks. The special was $1.75 for fishbowl glasses of beer, and I don't know if it was the price, or the quality, but I honestly didn't hate the taste! This is a huge thing for me to say because generally I think beer tastes like feet. TJ queued up a long like of CCR songs and we sat back and enjoyed the revelry. 

The night, however, was still apparently young and our host asked us if we wanted to go see some "giant heads". 

My face must have looked quite vacant and confused at this because he quickly elaborated. He said that this artist had created these giant presidential busts for an exhibition and for some reason they'd been moved to this open area behind a Target and if we wanted to we could go see them. 

We obviously wanted to see them. 

Why am I doing a Nixon impression?

Our second day in Houston, our host had to work so we ended up in the funky part of town on the hunt for party dresses to wear when we're in New Orleans. First, we ate some delicious food at a place called The Empire Café where I fell victim to...The Benny Curse. I have never, not once in my entire life, been able to resist the call of an Eggs Benedict. I don't know if it's the hollandaise, the combo of everything together, or if some kind of egg wizard has hypnotized me without my knowledge, but if it's on the menu, I will be ordering it. 

I'm also not complaining for one single second; bennies are delicious always. 

When we finally ventured out to the clothing stores in the area we realized quickly that there was a sea of American Apparel and Gap stores, and nothing really fit our style or budget in those stores. However, hope was not lost! We finally hit pay dirt when we came across a vintage clothing store. I found TWO vintage '50s style dresses for about $40 dollars total and it might have been the best deal of my life. 

When we got back to our couch surfers place he suggested we pick up his Canadian friend and head to a bar he knew in Houston…called The Maple Leaf. 

I shit you not there is an entire bar dedicated to all things Canadian in Texas. We walked in the door, and my eyes teared up a little and the sight of a neon Molson sign. There was hockey playing on the televisions, a foos-hockey table next to a penalty box that housed a bar table and chairs, and a stuffed beaver on the wall. I sat down at a table, took a sip from my Molson and for just a minute felt like I was a little closer to Canada. I never thought I’d say that I’d be able to distinguish brands of beer, but regardless of whether or not Molson Canadian is a good beer, it has its own distinctive flavour that somehow tastes like Canada. 

So far, Houston has been very good to us, as has our host these first few days. TJ has some contacts for some friends she met last summer when she was working in Jasper that said to look them up if she was ever in Texas - here's hoping they're up for a visit!