Houston, we have a problem. That is what I repeatedly said to my husband and son while on a whirlwind weekend trip to Houston a couple of weeks ago. I said it usually when I had to go to the bathroom. A number two. Somewhere in public. It never got old for my son, but I assume that it did for my husband, particularly when we were at NASA and he said, “You need to see a damn gastroenterologist.” Hmpf.
So yeah, we went to Houston a couple of weeks ago*. We got there on a Friday night and left on a Sunday and honestly, for it being part of Texas, I was pleasantly surprised. Now, would I go again? Uh, probably not. Once you’ve seen that many concrete highways, strip malls, and chain restaurants in one place, you are probably good. But I am glad we went. I am glad my son got to go to Texas (his first time) and I am glad that I gave Texas another shot after the fiasco I had in Amarillo many moons ago. (Let’s save that for another post shall we? Just know, I am not a fan of Texas.)
But Houston felt different. It certainly felt WAY better than anywhere in West Texas, and it certainly smelled better too. My son was slightly disappointed because I had told him that you sorta of know when you cross the Texas state line because you can smell the cow poop. He was sniffing, but there was no cow poop in sight. So that was a plus, but it also made me look like a liar. So now I have to take him to Abilene. Which sucks. There is never a good time to go to Abilene.
Anyway, we went to NASA, toured the Johnson Space Center (until we got rained out and had to take the tram back early causing us to miss Mission Control, #SadFace) then tried some of that awesome chain restaurant food that we have never been to (Chuy’s and Shipley Donuts), stopped in to the Art Car Museum (which was a big hit), and took a stroll to Houston’s own version of Chicago’s “Bean” which is lovingly called, “The Refried Bean”. We even met up with our cousin Britny, and her sweet doggo Willow, who have called Houston home for several years now. It ended up being a nice, little weekend, just jam-packed. Then again that’s how we usually do things.
Anywho, here are some pics for your enjoyment. As always, have a great day and remember, Houston—not bad, Amarillo—very bad. Mkay. Bye.
M.
We decided that if this was when a Civil War were to break out, and Texas tried to secede from the Union, we would stay and fight with Texas because: carbs.
You take a tram to get to a tram tour. Hmm…
Tram! I promise there was more excitement than a tram. But maybe not for the lady behind us.
Rocket Park. I can only assume they were considering how to jump start these engines.
Saturn V was a BIG hit.
More Saturn V.
We took a tour of the astronaut training area. No worries, he’s not interested in going to space, just being a rocket engineer…
Husband getting rained on during tram tour. He actually got soaked, it was pretty funny. Well, maybe not for him. But it brought us much laughter.
Independence Plaza, the airplane that carried the rocket from California. Way cool.
A little sleepy from all the running around.
Shipley for the win!
Fields and fields of oil. So pretty…
Dog park with our cousins!
The “Refried Bean”.
Dukers was not allowed in the art museum, weird. So we took shifts. He was pissed.
Cool little find. Car Art Museum.
This car was designed by a group of high schoolers. It took them six months!
Fruits and veggies!
On the way out of town we stopped by Buc-ees (upon recommendation from my MIL). It did not disappoint. But it did scare me and make us ask, “Da fuck, Texas?”
Da fuck, Texas?
*This trip was before the sadness and madness that unfolded in El Paso. I feel so sorry for what happened there. And while I am steadfast in my distaste of Texas as a whole, I know there are a lot of good people there, just trying to get by. And a lot of them are immigrants. And that was some crazy, racist-fueled bullshit, and if you want to see how I feel about that you can check out a vlog I made here: https://missygoodnight.com/2019/08/06/right-to-bear-a-tomahawk-thrower/
Melissa Goodnight 
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