Houston: A Love Letter

I love Houston. A lot. You meet a lot of people who live here that do. More often than not, people who visit Houston don't get it, and that's fine. Mainly they are here to go to NASA (not in Houston, btw) or see cowboys. I know this because I used to book trips for people coming in from out of town. The number one request was NASA and cowboys. One group wanted to be driven to the nearest oil well. As a tour. Fun people. 

Just some local flair from the Art Car Capital of the World. No big deal.

Living here gives you the chance to really enjoy all that Houston has to offer. Tons of green spaces, amazing events, fresh farmers markets because we are so close to farm land, fresh seafood because we are an hour from the gulf, and patio weather 9 months of the year. Really if you are a true Houstonian, you likely sit on a patio 11 months of the year. August is not joke. It's ok to sit that one out. Here's an actual Houstonian on the heat:  "A true Houstonian doesn't run indoors when the heat comes out to play. A true Houstonian doesn't just tough it out- a true Houston actually enjoys it, welcomes it, and hugs the warmth whilst sitting on the beautiful tree-filled backporch of a cafe. Small refuges are taken from the sun under canopy trees and umbrellas while grasping a cold beverage. He and his beverage adapt to the heat of the outdoors; he glistens with sweat as his cold beer develops the frequent appearance of condensation Houston diners are familiar with."  Sweating is sexy. Just ask my girl Britney. 

Slave 4 U might have been filmed in Houston in August. Maybe.

One of the very best things about Houston is Houstonians. People here are nice. Like, really nice. I went to the grocery store this morning and said "Good Morning" 40 times in the span of an hour. I feel like Scarlett O'hara when she and Rhett take Bonnie Blue out for a walk. You know the scene. And if you don't, they are basically saying "good day" to everyone they pass.  When I am having trouble with the baby or with my car, or with anything, people stop to help. People stop to help everyone. I am not saying there are not assholes in Houston, I'm just saying there are fewer here than most other places.

The arts community in Houston is out of this world. The museums are some of the best in the country. The Museo del Prado is bringing 100 masterworks from their world renowned collection to the United States... and only to Houston. That's pretty kick ass. And there's something to be said for that. If we didn't have such an amazing museum and art scene, they wouldn't have made that decision. 

Fancy art works coming your way!

 Another fun thing about Houston is actually cowboys. The tourists are right. Here is a quote from the fab book HIWI :  "I often feel a pang of annoyance at people who come to visit and inquire if we Texans still ride around on horses. Then I realize, we do. It's the fourth largest city in the Unites States, and I am never surprised to see someone riding a horse through downtown."

Howdy Y'all! Trail Riders make their way through downtown.

 I could go on and on and on and on and on. The point is I love this city. Is it a place that you take your family for a weekend vacation when you don't know anyone here? No. Go to San Antonio for your family fun and see you later. Houston, like most towns, is the most fun when you visit to see friends or for a specific reason like catching a live band or going on a restaurant splurge. Houston has an insane amount of amazing upscale food, and then you get into the ethnic food. Tex Mex and Latin American of course, but also Indian, Pakistani, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Polish, Russian, and on and on and on. Come for a week and you will eat your face off so much that you won't be able to leave. Because you will not have a face. I'll try and fix it for you though, because I'm nice like that. Of course I'm nice, I'm from Houston!

Daenerys Targaryen is the only one who will be eating fresh horse heart.
But if you really wanted some, we could find it in Houston and you too could create the Stallion who mounts the World.

 I'm on a Houston high because we had a great day today on one of the Houston Culinary Tours organized by the visitors bureau. (more on our tour experience tomorrow) How these tours came about is that the CVB's PR director went to the best chefs in Houston and wanted to get a deal together where groups toured their restaurants. These same chefs had no problem with their pr and getting people in, so they wanted to do tours of the places they go in their off time. The ethnic local places that inspire their dishes. So that is what they did. Chefs here are amazingly accessible to people. On one of the original tours, Monica Pope who was on Top Chef Masters brought 21 tour patrons she didn't know to her grandmother's house to show them how she was originally inspired to cook. It's just crazy the things you can do here and the amazing people making national headlines and not having egos about it. People are accessible here. Arts are accessible. Houston is for everyone. The roaches fly, the humidity makes you look younger, the traffic gives you time to enjoy music or morning edition, the mosquitoes bite (but that's your fault for not spraying yourself down), it's very flat,  but that just means you can see things coming. Houston loves you! We're nice like that. 

Please enjoy one last cowboy. 

-RT