D-o-w-n-t-o-w-n

Went into downtown Houston today, did lots, bear with me. It takes more than 30 minutes in white-knuckle five-lane traffic on a good day, so today felt like a mini-accomplishment. Not my first, but all in all, it was good.

Irony: Wichita Street


Went to the Aquarium. No pictures (p.s. - if you come to Houston, skip the over-priced, sub-world-class aquarium).

Thirty minutes later, I was at the Fine Arts Museum. W-o-o-o-nderful. Had a special exhibit on Afghanistan, including those treasures hidden from the Taliban. And there were some treasures that had been reconstructed, put in full view in a museum, then demolished by the Taliban. And put back together again. I learned much. And I found it ironic that the stupid heart-shape I put so much passion into in my junior high art class, existed centuries ago in the middle-east.

Made my day. :)

I then walked through a sculpture park.


This isn't dead branches, it's all metal. Even the leaf on the ground on the left.

And then I wandered to an area that seemed to be the hotbed of "special moments" as dictated by professional photographers. Noticed a wedding party going to the fountain for pictures.




Noticed within view of the wedding on my side of the street, two different Quinceañeras (I believe)...a Catholic tradition in the Hispanic faith designating fifteenth birthdays. The thing that caught my attention most (besides the dresses), were the fact that both girls had a male entourage. The details I've researched so far mention a male date, but not an entire entourage. One group had the boys in tuxes...



...the other in military attire.


I'm totally curious.

Then, of course, my day includes food. I let the waiter talk me into this, I was expecting my usual chile con carne, they just said it was fried pork with some sides. My camera only caught a portion that came to me. The 3-person portion of pork is on the top of that metal heater thing, with some onions and jalapenos, with...get this...dipping butter in the little tin in the back corner. Like pork needs butter. Then there's the verde rice, beans, etc. This was by far the best mexican food I've had yet, and it'll last me all weekend.

PS - did I mention they make this thing called a cannonball: brisket ball-o-meat coated in an entire avocado coated in cheese coated in breadcrumbs and fried. It's bigger than a softball. And cannonlicious.