7/12/2012
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The drive through Louisiana into Texas was uneventful except that we took a quick lunch break to meet our friend Stephani that we haven’t seen since we lived in Detroit. After the quick lunch we arrived in Houston about 5:30 in the evening. Neither of us knew that the city was so huge! (5th largest in the U.S.). We made our way across the goliath metropolis to stay with Kim’s good friend Josiah. It had been almost a decade since they had seen each other, so it was a very heartfelt reunion. As it turned out, Josiah was getting ready to move from Houston to Sacramento and that night was his going away party. So after getting settled in and a little time getting reacquainted we walked over to a big restaurant to meet up with a group of his friends for drinks and dinner.
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We got a big table on the patio and the beer flowed as people arrived. All of Josiah’s friends were very friendly and fun and made us feel right at home. Being that it was a school night, most people had to head home before it got too late, but a few of us ended up going back to Josiah’s place and sharing a bottle of liquor made from the Coco plant. When chased with Coco-cola you can actually really taste where America’s favorite soda gets its flavor. The drinks were delicious and the company outstanding…we didn’t turn in until about 3:30 in the morning.
7/13/2012
When they returned, Josiah, unfortunately, had some work that had to be done. So we took off for some lunch and a visit to NASA! We drove back across the mammoth city that is Houston and had a delicious lunch at a recommended Mexican restaurant just outside of NASA before entering the compound. This was another one of Kim’s all-time-must-see spots, so she was very excited. We didn’t have a ton of time, so we went through brochure and mapped out the things that we absolutely had to see. The first being the tour of the entire NASA complex, the facility where they build new spacecraft, rovers, and robots to work in space, and the warehouse that contains the rockets formerly sent into space. Like Graceland, NASA was much better than expected. The tour was informative, but actually being that close to the ships that carried people into space was really overwhelming.
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After the tour, we watched a demonstration of what life would be like on the space station…including how the astronauts use the bathroom. Then moved onto the museum. We watched a film about the history of the space project, getting to relive all of the launches, even the tragic ones. Next we wandered around the museum, getting to touch moon rocks and peek inside the old cone shaped spacecraft. By the time we finished it was almost closing time, so we just headed back meet up with Josiah.
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Jesse says ghost, Kim says staff
That night he had a treat planned for us. He took us to The Spaghetti House, a famous spot among the locals, not only for it’s outstanding food and amazing atmosphere, but because it is claimed to be haunted. The place seemed to deliver on all fronts.
When we arrived, we were blow away by the size and décor of the place. Apparently, the owner has been collecting the antiques that decorate this two story building. There was everything from pinball machines from the 20s to richly ornamented highback chairs from the previous century. It was full of gorgeous paintings and posters, and an actual trolley car on the second floor that had
been converted into a dinning area. Needless to say, the look and feel of the place was amazing.
After exploring, but before our food arrived, Josiah took some pictures of Kim and Jesse. In one of them, there is clearly a black figure in the background. Wait staff or spectre?
When we arrived, we were blow away by the size and décor of the place. Apparently, the owner has been collecting the antiques that decorate this two story building. There was everything from pinball machines from the 20s to richly ornamented highback chairs from the previous century. It was full of gorgeous paintings and posters, and an actual trolley car on the second floor that had
been converted into a dinning area. Needless to say, the look and feel of the place was amazing.
After exploring, but before our food arrived, Josiah took some pictures of Kim and Jesse. In one of them, there is clearly a black figure in the background. Wait staff or spectre?
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Next came the food. We decided on getting the family platter, which came with soup or salad, 9 layer lasagna, spaghetti with marinara, in house meatballs, home made sausage, garlic bread, eggplant parmesan, and 3 cheese ravioli in cream sauce. We topped it off with a jug of sangria. Everything was really delicious.
When we could move again Josiah took us to another part of town for some tea and shisha; an excellent way to help our bodies digest the massive meal. Over tea we had some really good and intense conversations about life and after a few hours we decided that we should head back to Josiah’s for some sleep before we had to take off for New Mexico.
When we could move again Josiah took us to another part of town for some tea and shisha; an excellent way to help our bodies digest the massive meal. Over tea we had some really good and intense conversations about life and after a few hours we decided that we should head back to Josiah’s for some sleep before we had to take off for New Mexico.