Imagine the scene: vrooming down The Strand in Galveston, a sparkling, shiny, all chrome and leather black Harley Davidson bulked up with panniers and a wide black saddle, sat astride by an aging hippy with droopy grey moustache, long grey hair straying out from under his bandana, his head helmetless, wrap-around sunglasses on and music blaring out from his built in bike speaker system. What do you imagine he was playing – Born to be Wild? Highway to Hell perhaps?
No, it was Girls Just Want to Have Fun – the original squeaky Cindy Lauper version. Many questions remain unanswered about that fleeting glimpse of daftness which we witnessed while being tourists on the coast.
We’ve had visitors. First to arrive for a whirlwind visit was cousin Joyce. This marked another first for me – driving to the airport on my own to collect her as Maurice was away. And I managed! The thought of doing it was much scarier than the actuality of it and once the sweaty palms dried up a bit, I was fine.
Joyce stayed for a brief but packed weekend. We walked in the park while it was dry then visited NASA on the cold and very wet Sunday. Lunch was spent in Galveston with barely a view in the low cloud before heading back to the house to relax for the evening.
Joyce left on the Monday and once again I drove to the airport. It was lovely to see her and I think she appreciated her very brief glimpse of what Houston has to offer. Hopefully she’ll have better weather the next time.
The rest of the week passed uneventfully until the next visitors. Maurice’s girls plus one boyfriend, arrived on the following Saturday, very late due an inevitable flight delay. This was the start of our holiday week and we became temporary tourists.
After a leisurely start on Sunday we ventured down town to Maurice’s office to survey the views from the high rises. It was a lovely day so the views were amazing and it was good to see where Maurice works.
We had a traditional South Shields lunch of panachalty, made with the heart stopping ingredients bought from the British Isles (the shop up the road at Rice Village) and the British Isles (the country) by the girls who squirreled a couple of tins of corned beef in their luggage. It was much appreciated as the start of the ‘big birthday’ celebrations.
A walk was obligatory after this feast and we headed over to Hermann Park to work off the calories. The weather had really improved and the park was crowded with day trippers enjoying the sun at the start of the local ‘Spring Break’ for the schools here.
After a bit of r and r at home, we set out for a wee ‘imbibement’ in the bars of Rice Village – which were quite busy for a Sunday evening. The girls and Leigh were still in a state of mild culture shock. Leigh especially – this was his first ever trip abroad so Houston was proving to be a tad different from Aberdeen. It was wonderful to see Houston through his eyes – everything so new, fresh and huge!
Monday had been trailered as a showery day, but actually brightened up and it was decided that half would go to NASA and I would give it a miss this time and visit Kemah boardwalk with Sarah. We headed out for a bay tour on a pleasant hour long cruise and wandered around the boardwalk area, passing the time until we got the call that the others were ready to leave NASA.
Then on to another tourist first for the girls and Leigh – Hooters for a late lunch. It had to be done I guess. This was a slightly disappointing Hooters. All attention was perfectly adequate, as was the food, but the service was without a smile rather than with one….
We headed to Galveston on the coast to take in the sights – ageing hippy on Harley being but one. Another was a very cute English Bulldog puppy called Lola who lolled at our feet and at 10 weeks old,, obeyed her owner’s instruction to ‘sit’ most perfectly! We all wanted to take her home.
Back to the house for some zeds and then another trip to Rice Village pubs. This was St Patrick’s Day eve so unsurprisingly the bars were quiet.
We had thought about a visit to San Antonio on St Patrick’s Day, the Tuesday, but the weather was so unpredictable we decided to stay closer to home. I got on with a few chores and the others eventually decided on a gun club! This proved to be an impromptu hit (pardon the pun) and they all came back a few hours later quite gun drunk and ready to take on the world. T-shirts with guns had been purchased and many, many photos and video clips taken of various poses with guns. Oh dear. Becky even picked up an admirer who proclaimed her the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. A few texts and ‘whatsapps’ followed but she firmly but politely advised him of her relationship status. He’ll get over it. Here’s hoping he’s not a mad stalker type since he knows how to wield a fair few guns it would appear.
Now, being as this was actual St Patrick’s Day, we had to go up to Rice Village again to the bars. But it was absolutely jumping. The place had come alive with parties, greenery everywhere, crowds of people sporting green t-shirts, hats, beads, and all manner of St Patrick’s Day paraphenalia. We were not prepared for just how busy it would be, and were glad we managed to find a seat in the Ginger Man which seemed less mad than everywhere else. Music of various genres swirled around outside, for once drowning out the noise of the grackles squawking, or they may have all shipped out for the night to bother another neighbourhood. Rap mingled with Irish and with folk rock and generally it was extremely noisy.
We had a great night, picked up a few St Patrick’s Day souvenirs for ourselves and generally had a fun time.
The next day was the BIG BIRTHDAY! To be continued… in Part Two.
Whole Other Country 
You must be logged in to post a comment.