What happened after the wedding? We went visiting with a little shopping and dining in Houston. Come with us to my old stomping ground in Clear Lake. (I never thought I’d call it that.) Warning: this is a long blog, so settle in with a cuppa first. There’s lots to tell.

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Hello, again, Dear Readers:

Welcome to our three days of winter in the south. It’s COLD! And it will be for three days or so. Wrap your pipes, make sure you have everything you need in case the worst happens, and stay warm.

I’ve had some nice feedback on the blog post about Rafael and Carmen’s beautiful wedding. I greatly appreciate the comments, and glad everyone enjoyed it—especially Rafael and Carmen!

Raf was a little nervous about what I was planning to write. I mean, the only complaint is there was no complaint, am I right? I told him that it was not going to be a “hit piece.” That wasn’t my intention. Then I had to explain the term “hit piece” so Raf understood what I meant.

So let me tell you about the rest of our trip, finally.

Confession: Our Earlier Trip

In 2019, we took a one-day trip to Willis, TX, north of Conroe. We didn’t mention it because we weren’t able to visit anyone. It was a Saturday, and of course, traffic was typical for Houston any day of the week.

To keep this blog on point, I may describe it more in a separate blog post on its own. There were stops in The Woodlands, and a missed opportunity or two. But that quick trip influenced this five-day trip, including the planning.

So let’s go back to The Bayou City in The Lone Star State.

Friday, November 4, 2022

After a few hours’ drive and a couple of stops for fuel and coffee, we got to Beaumont and stopped in a Stuckey’s.

I’ll describe the snafu over lunch later, but one thing we did get was some delicious Tex-Mex in the Katy location of Chuy’s. First up, hot chips and salsa:

And an eyeful of the incredible colorful décor:

And this:

Because you don’t get this kind of décor in Louisiana. Seriously, nobody knows how to use color, and everything is so BROWN. Everything was a feast for the eyes, including this brown pattern:

This too would make a nice kitchen floor:

This is also incredible:

I wanted to take it all home with me, seriously. There was some lovely artwork around, although I don’t remember exactly where they were hanging in the restaurant:

Oh, what did we have? Me, a salad, BF, fajitas, which is a frequent order when we’re in anywhere Mexican.

Now to convince BF that just a little bit of this kind of color would go a long way in the Casa’s Cocina (kitchen) or anywhere in the house. I’m thinking of a nice backsplash.

Sunday, November 6, 2022

As I mentioned in the last blog post, we had breakfast the next day with one of the groomsmen from Austin. He and BF continued their conversation about the Texas Military before we said our goodbyes. The Katy Hampton Inn had wonderful amenities, and the staff was very helpful.

However, all we had time for was the free Wi-Fi and the wonderful breakfast spread downstairs:

It was available from early morning until about 10:00 am or 11:00 am with all kinds of tasty choices:

And delicious coffee and tea:

BF liked the idea of some freshly made hot waffles, but the seasonal Pumpkin Spice flavor didn’t appeal to him. As much as he enjoys cooking breakfast for us at home, he was happy that someone cooked breakfast for him this time. Well, except for his waffles, which he made himself in a minute at the breakfast bar.

Once we packed up everything, gathered up our luggage, and checked out of the lovely Katy Hampton Inn, it was time to hop back on the I-10/Katy Freeway and move on to Clear Lake, 50 miles away. On the trek down the Katy Freeway to the Gulf Freeway (I-45 South), BF began to understand why I booked the hotels as I did.

Heading South

Although we did get to see Neighbor E on this trip, it wasn’t on Sunday. I knew where our next hotel was, the Extended Stay on NASA 1. It is literally right across the street from NASA, where we planned to be tourists. (More on that later.) We were interested in lunch, and E suggested Rudy’s Real Texas BBQ in the area.

Well, it’s been seven years since I lived in Clear Lake, and so much has changed. This lovely place is in what used to be Pappadeux Seafood Kitchen, a “New Orleans-style” restaurant that was there until Hurricane Harvey took it out. Took a few harried calls with E, but he kindly and patiently told us how to get there. We were not disappointed.

It’s a friendly place with some really tasty barbecue.

Our Clear Lake hotel check-in wasn’t until later in the day, so we took our time at Rudy’s. After making another phone call, we headed towards Manvel, TX.

Visiting Aunt Ruth

Aunt Ruth lives in a little old-fashioned house with a big garage. She has a lovely outdoor garden area with lots of plants.

 

And a cute little kitty!

After reading and hearing about him for seven years, I finally got to introduce Aunt Ruth to BF in person when we visited her.

I haven’t seen her since leaving Boeing, I think, or maybe shortly thereafter. We’ve kept in touch, of course, but it’s just not the same thing.

During our visit, Aunt Ruth gave me a piece of her Hummingbird plant, which I put in a water bottle for the rest of the trip.

She said, “you can’t hurt it.” So far, so good, and it stayed in that water bottle for months. I put it in the kitchen window until I planted it in a paint bucket last fall.

After a nice visit, we made our way back to NASA Road 1, or NASA One as it’s now called, and checked into our room. It wasn’t like the Hampton Inn. There was a Hampton Inn down the road, and we could have booked it there, but BF didn’t care where we stayed. Wish I’d booked there, but, well, next time.

And I finally told her why I call her “Aunt Ruth.” Because she was always like the “aunt” in the office as was Aunt Kathy (who we also visited, keep reading.) So, they became “aunts” to me over time, along with one or two others at Boeing, even though we aren’t actually related. It’s nothing more than that.

Monday, November 7, 2022

We slept pretty well in the new hotel. We’d hoped to make a couple of other visits on Monday, but they weren’t available due to another commitment that week. Breakfast was, well, markedly different than our prior hotel:

There was oatmeal, muffins, coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. Not much else. There was a Starbucks right next door, so I headed there for some egg bites. BF was OK with a muffin, and I got him some hot chocolate packets, too.

This was the day after the Houston Astros won the 2022 World Series. Lots of people had the day off from work and school, but we didn’t realize that at the time. With no other plan, we headed to the Houston headquarters of Swedishness, IKEA. It was about an hour’s drive from Clear Lake, just like I remembered.

BF’s Inner Swede

I wanted to take BF on a trip to IKEA as a “fact-finding mission.” In other words, to see what was there, what kind of thing is available, get some ideas for later, and of course, pick up a few small house things for the Casa de Rurale. It wasn’t a busy day, plenty of parking, and there were about as many employees as customers. If you’ve ever been to an IKEA store, you know how big the place is, and why it wasn’t crowded on a Monday afternoon. The best time to go is on a weekday, middle of the day.

But first, we went straight upstairs for lunch in the café. We had our blue shopping bags with us, but still got the yellow bags and a cart. It was here that BF began his journey into getting in touch with his inner Swede:

That look is everything, isn’t it? And we were greeted by this nice man:

Saw all the wonderful things for lunch:

And the refrigerated case:

And desserts:

Ultimately, BF enjoyed some of IKEA’s famous Swedish meatballs:

While I went with the slightly safer salmon lunch and a salad:

And we might have accidentally picked up some chocolate desserts, too:

 

But we were on vacation, so that doesn’t count, right? Especially with all the walking we did that day.

The Zoo At the Casa De Rurale

The whole time, our hired pet sitter sent us pictures every day of our zoo animals, like this one:

Thankfully, the only thing that happened was that the power did go out on one occasion. She texted us and asked, and yes, it happens. The power was back on in an hour or two, and everything was fine.

Highlights From Our IKEA Shopping

One thing I wanted to look at was the china cabinets to house the stuff I’ve had since the 80s and 90s that’s packed and rarely been used. We didn’t buy one, but we could have, and we will later.

The one I wanted isn’t big enough, and the one that’s big enough doesn’t come in the color I wanted. (The ones I see locally in stores and on FB Marketplace are, shall we say, not to my style.) We’ll get it eventually, right?

I bought my own Tarno patio set about 2006 or 2007, and used it frequently on the back patio at El Dorado Trace:

Nice to know this is still around, and I still have my set, too. When I bought mine, it was $40 for the table and two chairs. No kidding. It’s in the living room, folded up. One day, when the patio is cleared off and it doesn’t look like an outdoor auto shop, we might be able to have breakfast or dinner out there when the weather’s good. I did buy a new set of cushions for it during our visit.

A few years later, I bought an extra chair one day when one of the original chairs lost a bolt. BF says he’ll fix that for us one day.

This had a sign nearby that the dresser you see had been painted–customized, I think it said–and did not come with the Texas design already painted on. But why not?

I did purchase these for the kitchen, although they are no longer available at IKEA. They are a wrapped pair of canvas wall hangings, and  I just love them:

They were a pair for an inexpensive price. Like many things in IKEA, they’re there and gone, so you need to get it while you’re there or you’ll miss out. I only found one pair on eBay, and they are much more expensive, especially since the seller is outside the US.

There were room settings and displays like this throughout the huge store:

But there were some utility things I bought, too, like a few more of these small bowls and one of the medium-sized:

The smaller ones are great for storing little things in the fridge and for mis en place. Finally I have a few more.

I’ve had one of these small Koncis roasting pans for years, and finally, I have a second one:

We also found a small steel roasting rack for the barbecue so we can roast vegetables too.

I really, REALLY thought about getting yet another French press:

But I didn’t. Nor did I get one of these, much as I wanted it and knew I’d never use it:

With rows and racks of wonderful Swedish kitchen and home things, it’s easy to pick up lots of wonderful things on your way out:

Nevermind how much we spent.

More Lovely Things

My eyes just couldn’t get enough, as I did before when I could go to IKEA regularly.

This wouldn’t last long at the Casa de Rurale with two prowling cats and a huge, rambunctious dog:

Nor would this, lovely as it is:

This is actually a wall hanging, part of a set of five, I think. Much as I loved it, I passed, because I don’t think we’ll ever have a place for all that.

Still, I keep hoping that the neat, organized appearance of IKEA’s many rooms and room settings would inspire BF to become more of a neatnik. It hasn’t worked yet, but we keep trying.

The living room area could benefit from a credenza like this, maybe even two of them:

The dresser would look great anywhere:

Finally, BF embraces his inner Swedishness:

In all seriousness, it was indeed a long visit to this place, but he now understands why I think IKEA is a big deal. BF’s sister and her husband live in the vicinity of Atlanta’s IKEA and brought back many things for their father’s house, including furniture and supplies to do a modern renovation to the kitchen several years ago. Now, having visited and seen an IKEA store for himself, he gets it.

Guess what? I can go by myself one day, to either Houston or Memphis, no kidding. From the Casa de Rurale, I can drive five hours in either direction, right to IKEA, buy whatever I want, and drive back when I’m done. I can, but I just prefer not to go alone. It’s an all-day affair and involves driving ten hours if I don’t book a hotel. But knowing I can do that is great, even though it’s for another day. I’ve never been to the Memphis IKEA, but The E-Man has.

After 3.5 or more hours in the Houston IKEA, our purchases in tow, (just some small house things, no furniture) we walked out and back into the parking lot. Everything we bought fit in this bag, which they no longer sell.

Stashing our purchases under the back seat, we considered our next move.

Top Brass Military

After that long visit to IKEA, BF decided it was time for him to do some manly shopping. A quick Google search told him that we were just a few miles from a military surplus store, which is his ideal shopping trip. So off we went.

You can imagine how much of a 180-turn this was, but I didn’t mind. BF likes to remind me that he took me to see both Downton Abbey films in the theater, watched one or two other movies he wasn’t interested in, and took me to other places like:

• Sur la Table (in Baton Rouge, once)
• Trader Joe’s (multiple times to Baton Rouge, once in The Woodlands, TX)
• Whole Foods
• Joann Fabrics
• HEB
• Five Below
• The Container Store (in Clear Lake, we went there, too, keep reading)

As well as other places unrelated to automotive parts and services, hunting and fishing, military surplus, high-end restaurants, and Walmart. Therefore, I owed it to him to take him somewhere he wanted to go. After departing IKEA, I agreed to this condition. Somehow, he knew it was there. A little while later, we pulled into the parking lot at Top Brass Military on the I-45 North Freeway, soothing his yearning for some manly shopping.

It was a bit of a ride from I-10 to I-610 North then I-45 North to get there, but we made it safely. I had to drive, because, well, it’s still “my turf.” Not only was it a different kind of treat, but it was also most interesting from the moment I put the truck into “park.” Top Brass is a place that is, shall we say, eclectic.

It’s that kind of place.

The Parking Lot

This is what they have hanging around outside:

And this:

And this:

Inside was an eye-popping display of all kinds of wonderful things, like this:

And this:

And this:

Mind you, these wonderful wall hangings were a bit out of our range this time around. I know BF wants to go back and get at least one of them. For now, we settled for a cloth Texas flag, which hangs on my office door, and a cloth Gadsen flag, which is currently without a place. But we almost bought a couple of these, too:

We found some great Navy Seabee things, too, which made BF as happy as I was in IKEA.

But if we’re going to Top Brass again in the future, there will also be a trip to IKEA. No getting around that, I don’t care if we do go to Top Brass first. That will be the day we go in a U-Haul, or rent one of their lockable trailers.

The Container Store

After leaving Top Brass, we headed south to our hotel. Back in Clear Lake, I asked for a trip to The Container Store in Baybrook Mall for a few things we needed. Yes, we did.

Clear Lake never used to have one, and I ended up going to the one in town or The Woodlands. The Baybrook Mall location opened two months after I moved away. I keep asking them on social media to open a store in Baton Rouge; nothing yet. (The Sur la Table store in Baybrook closed during the pandemic, along with Baton Rouge and others.)

BF walked around a couple of other places while I visited CS and met me when he was finished. Next door to CS is REI, the outdoor store, and Duluth Trading is at the end of the building, so you know where he went. (I didn’t make it into Duluth Trading but have bought from them online.)

BF’s only experience with CS was seeing Jay Leno talk about it one day on TV. Leno’s routine went something like this:

“My wife took me to the Container Store the other day. Have you ever been to one of these places? They sell empty boxes. No kidding, they sell empty boxes. I saw one woman opening different boxes. I said to her, ‘Ma’am, I’m pretty sure that one’s empty too.’”

This is what BF had in mind when I told him I wanted to go. He had no exposure other than that routine and some things I ordered online three years ago for the house.

While BF was elsewhere, I looked and soaked in all the storage and organization solutions, picking up a few small things and sending him pictures of the storage solutions. But there was one item we needed and I’d planned to get from Amazon: a container for spaghetti with a built-in portion measure. I asked for it, and they showed it to me.

 

Really, it was a “shut up and take my money” moment. BF had a huge round container in the pantry since long before I got here. It took up way too much room, was not airtight, and he cooked too much spaghetti at once, usually the whole box. Then he wondered why he was out of spaghetti again. THIS fixed that problem.

It’s easy to measure and make one, two, or three servings, you see what you have, and the top gives you exactly what you need.

This one also holds a few boxes of spaghetti neatly with a small footprint in the pantry. Immediately, I washed it, let it air dry completely, and filled it with his spaghetti. Now, BF cooks just enough for one serving, or two if he’s making some for lunch the next day.

Of course, my honey did not initially see this as a necessary purchase. But since I brought it home and deployed it, he understands why I bought one and agrees that it’s a good thing.

I also got this Angry Mama microwave steam cleaner (which CS no longer carries.)

And, honestly, it works great. I thought I picked up the one with red hair, but got the blonde model by mistake.

Lucky me, the cashier in CS was a very nice lady, and after talking about my accounts (I had two), it turned out that I had a $10 coupon available to use. Nice! When you’re signed up for their loyalty program, both online and in-store purchases are recorded in one place.

Back to the Hotel

Once we made it to base camp, I contacted Aunt Kathy, and we arranged to meet up for dinner at. . .Denny’s. No kidding, Denny’s on Bay Area Boulevard, near the Boeing building. I thought of Denny’s because it was close, and we could probably hang out there for a while and nobody would care. I was right, they didn’t care, and we had plenty of time to catch up. There were only a few folks out that night, and the place closed at midnight, so we stayed and chatted for quite a while.

I haven’t seen Aunt Kathy in many moons, and I was so glad to see her. And, Aunt Kathy also got to finally meet BF, who was his usual jovial self. We talked about everything, just like we did before. Very glad we got to meet up, even if it was Denny’s. Never discount places like Denny’s, you know?

Before we returned to the hotel, we ducked into Kroger on El Dorado, a couple of miles from Denny’s to grab some frozen breakfast for the next morning. Oatmeal packets weren’t going to cut it this time.

Incidentally, I still have an active Kroger account, and I can order goods to be shipped here. There is even a record of that grocery trip on their website, including everything we bought that night.

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

We decided to go across the street and be NASA tourists. I’ve been to Space Center Houston a couple of times myself, but BF hasn’t had the opportunity.

We were ready! It was right across the street from our hotel, too.

Well, it will have to be next time. There was a power outage in the area, which included NASA and our hotel. So, we had to pass up being space tourists. But we took a few pictures:

It was warm that November day.

 

We had already arranged to meet with Neighbor E later in the day, so we had some time on our hands. Lost for ideas, I took BF to my favorite Half Price Books store off NASA Road 1.

Oh, the hours I’ve spent in that store, and in its previous location on Egret Bay Boulevard, where they had a resident cat. We prowled through the shelves of books, DVDs, and music, picking up a few things to take home. That included one of their branded reusable shopping bags.

Since moving here, I’ve bought some books from the website, including recently. But it was great to be there in person and spend a little time looking for new and interesting things. Not much has changed except the people and the stock.

We also stopped in the shiny new HEB located on Eastfield near I-45 in Webster, just a couple of miles from El Dorado Trace. We made two trips here during our stay.

Darn it! I always wished they would put one closer to us in the twelve years I lived there. When I moved there in 2004, that tract of land was grass. Now it has high-end apartments, a Costco, lots more stores, and of course, this new HEB, along with a large increase in traffic. I wanted to see the place and do some shopping for the Casa de Rurale.

This store is smaller than the one up the road on Clear Lake City Boulevard, but just as fantastic. Oh, the lovely things they had this day:

More cakes:

And one for the Astros:

All manner of tasty things:

TAMALES!

All the coffee and tea you could ever want:

Have you ever seen a six-pound round of queso fresco?

The most I can get here is a three-pound round if you’re lucky.

You have no idea how close I came to buying $36 worth of cheese in one piece. And I’m sure Aunt Kathy is laughing at me as she’s reading this.

We have new baskets at Winn-Dixie but they’re definitely not like this:

I know, I know. . .it’s getting better here, slowly. But I really would do a grocery run at least to Orange or Beaumont to shop at HEB more often.

Texas Decor

HEB also has wonderful Texas décor:

It’s made by a company called Timber Image, and I now follow them on Instagram.

I can’t tell you how much I wanted to load it ALL up in the truck, along with these lovely things:

I’m not sure who makes the rest of these, but I would definitely make room for them:

Because Texas. Of course, I couldn’t leave without this very fashionable item:

To wear every Christmas until either it falls apart or I’m gone. (Yes, I wore it this past Christmas, too.) The picture doesn’t show the true color, it’s a bit off. In front of you, the color is absolutely beautiful.

Of course, being in an Extended Stay, we also had a small but complete kitchen. We bought some of HEB’s ready-to-heat meals, including breakfast. This way we could have meals at the hotel instead of heading out to Starbucks or somewhere. It was perfect. Hampton Inn also has a fridge and microwave, but not a full kitchen like Extended Stay.

Lunch with Neighbor E

We finally got to visit Neighbor E today after seven years of being away. Since (reluctantly) moving here in 2016, E and I have talked on the phone, even had a Zoom call once, emailed, texted, and messaged on Instagram. We can do that anytime and do that too. But after seven years, BF and I were very glad to visit with him in person.

When I called him, Neighbor E suggested meeting at La Madeleine, which, thankfully, is still in the same place on Bay Area Boulevard, right off I-45.

BF has never been to La Madeleine, but he acclimated just fine. But the best part was getting to hang out with Neighbor E for a little while.

We had lots to talk about. Didn’t get pictures of what the guys had, but I had this wonderful cool salad:

E’s retired now, sort of, and he goes out to different Houston eateries with his sister D. I’m thinking about a blog post on their travels.

I hugged him before we left, hoping we’ll get to see each other again one day.

Before heading back to the hotel, I took BF on a short tour of a few places in my old stomping ground, like the Freeman Library I loved to visit:

And a quick trip by the Boeing building, which I’m told is quite less populated than it was when we worked there:

We also stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts on Bay Area Boulevard, where used to enjoy visiting for free and discounted iced coffee after they opened. I even rode there on my bike occasionally, putting the cup in the  attached cupholder. But as E said, they aren’t a great place to visit anymore. The kid at the counter said they didn’t do decaf iced coffee. Even the ones here make it, but. . .I guess he was busy with something else. We left and never returned. I’ll stick with the one in Covington, if I ever go down there again.

I was disappointed to discover that Café Express was gone from Clear Lake, and only the in-town locations remain. They had curbside delivery back when I worked at Boeing. I’d occasionally order online and pick up on my way home when I was just too tired. You just ordered on the website, paid for it online, drove there, called them from your car, and they brought it out to you. They had the best sweet potato fries and a Ceasar salad that was just awesome with grilled shrimp.

Starbucks on El Dorado and Gatebrook

Then there was another Starbucks visit, this time in my old neighborhood. It’s fairly new, and opened in the last year or so I was there.

Long before I moved here, I wanted to get the Houston version of Starbucks’s “YOU ARE HERE” cups. A stop at the Starbucks on El Dorado at Gatebrook, a couple blocks from El Dorado Trace, took care of that wish.

They only had the “Texas” mugs on display, and the nice barista dug into the cabinet to find a “Houston” mug for me. Greatly appreciated, and I got exactly what I wanted. That location was great for the occasion that I wanted to get out of the condo but not really go anywhere. Free refills on coffee, and I could camp out at a table all afternoon.

I’ve used the cup only once but kept it in the box out of reach for safekeeping. Many thanks to the nice barista who went and found it for me.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

BF and I began packing everything up Tuesday night, leaving out just what we needed for the next day. Before heading back to the hotel that night, we got some dinner and frozen breakfasts from HEB. We made our plans, and after breakfast and checking out, stopped to see my friends Dave and Holly, about three miles from the hotel. I sent Dave a picture of us and told him we would see him in the morning. This was unplanned but necessary.

Tuesday night I got a message on Facebook Messenger from Dave. He liked to occasionally send me messages just to say Hi. I met him in about 2008 or 2009, and then after he married the very nice Holly, I visited them occasionally. Dave had cancer a couple of times, and this time, it wasn’t letting go. He had been ill for a while, and made repeated trips to MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Somehow, I’d forgotten to get in touch with Dave and Holly beforehand to see when we could visit. Well, he must have known to text me, and I’m forever glad he did.

So, I told BF Tuesday evening that before leaving Houston, we had to go see Dave. “Dave who?” I explained briefly, and that he would understand when we got there. Their house was on the way, and we would see them before heading to HEB, Buc-ee’s, and eastward on I-10.

Visiting Dave & Holly

After texting Dave that we were en route, we rang the doorbell and he answered. BF understood immediately. He had an oxygen tube, which I knew about. We were also greeted by their three Dachshunds (aka “wiener dogs”) and they took over BF’s lap. We stayed a couple of hours with Dave and Holly, who gave us some old dog toys for Broccoli Stirfry to destroy. (He did, one at a time, we didn’t give them to him all at once.)

Dave didn’t get many visitors anymore, and he couldn’t go anywhere. Except the hospital of course. In December he went back to the hospital for a couple of weeks and was released right before Christmas.

On our way out, we chatted with Holly on the front porch for a few minutes, then saddled up for the trip home. Holly thanked us for stopping by to see him and said Dave was glad to see both of us. I wanted to bring something to everyone, but I didn’t know what. Especially for Dave. What’s he going to do with a package of jambalaya mix?

On January 6^th Dave posted on Facebook that he would be going into hospice. Three days later, Dave passed away on January 9^th. Holly posted the announcement on Facebook. It’s been a year since Dave passed.

I’m really glad we made that visit.

Leaving Houston: The HEB Stop

The main purpose of stopping at the new HEB near El Dorado on the way out was to get some pantry staples and two delicious dinners for when we got home. That is, some of their wonderful chef-prepared Meal Simple dishes to heat and eat after driving for 6 hours.

Both were equally good, and there were no complaints. Besides, it’s less or equal to what we would have spent in a restaurant, and we could eat at home in less than half an hour. We don’t get this kind of thing in rural Louisiana, that’s for sure.

Because we like tamales, I also picked up a package of their Mi Tienda brand beef tamales, which we enjoyed later.

There are a couple of cold bags in the truck to keep things like that from spoiling, and they worked perfectly for the trip.

But being in HEB, I could not resist walking around and looking at everything–again. It’s a much smaller store than the big Clear Lake Marketplace. We had some delicious samplings, talked to the in-store sommelier (no Red Truck Wine anywhere), and bought mostly dry goods. I finally got more decaf espresso to make cappuccino, too. (It’s in the freezer.)

We talked to so many nice people in HEB and saw all kinds of lovely things. Many of those were also available on my recent trip to Orange in August. But I couldn’t take the whole store home, just enough to get us to the next visit.

Buc-ee’s on the BEAST

That’s the Baytown East Freeway if you’re not familiar with the area. It’s also known as I-10 east towards Beaumont. Houston’s freeways all have alternate names, and you must know them to get around the city. If you ask directions, someone’s going to mention the Katy Freeway, (I-10) the North Freeway, or the Gulf Freeway. (I-45 north and south, respectively.) Don’t forget the Sam Houston Tollway, aka Beltway 8, one of three concentric circles around the city.

Of course, no trip to Texas would be complete without a stop at the world’s most expensive rest stop: Buc-ee’s.

“If you know, you know,” or as they say on social media, #IYKYK. It’s right there on I-10 in Baytown, and there was no way I would pass it up, anyway. Well, we needed petrol anyway, and, well, maybe one or two other things, too, plus some lunch, and I needed coffee for the drive.

These are not available here, but their Super Coffee product is. I haven’t pursued finding any since we returned. It is made in Austin, is keto, and contains MCT oil. It was great, but I couldn’t get any to take home. Next time.

If you’ve never been in Buc-ee’s, well, it’s big:

We needed some food for the road, and there was plenty:

Yeah, well, we actually did have real food before we started looking at this stuff, honest. We got some delicious Texas brisket.

There was more Texas décor:

If you want to learn more about the FM Roads in Texas, a/k/a the “Farm To Market” secondary highway system, there is a short explanation on Galveston County’s website.

Many incredible paintings:

All kinds of Texas things that you know you need:

Souvenirs from El Arroyo, Austin’s last queso stop before a bunch of yoga studios:

I see their funny signs posted on Instagram, and was thrilled to get a coffee cup and fridge magnets:

I’m still regretting not buying one of these blankets:

I’m sure there will be another time and another trip, right? Or we can just make a day trip to Baytown to shop at Buc-ee’s. Because there’s nothing like it, anywhere. Again, IYKYK.

Heading Home: Back to the Casa

Leaving Buc-ee’s, I said goodbye to my home of 18 years. It’s now home to so many others that I hope appreciate Texas as I do. We had an uneventful trip after that and stopped a couple of times for petrol. The rest stop on the Louisiana side of the Sabine River had some coffee for me and Coke for BF and included warnings about alligators. That’s OK, I stayed inside the building.

We pulled into the Casa de Rurale driveway at about 7:00 pm, and it was much chillier at home than Houston was that morning. I didn’t mind that part after a few days of summer heat in November. The dogs were happy to see us, and the cats were, as always, indifferent. The pet sitter left the key on the table by the door, and we gave her a good rating. We picked up several days of mail and looked around at the damage from Broccoli Stirfry, which was considerable. Other than that, everything was just fine.

I called my “aunties” and let them know we were home safely back at the Casa de Rurale, and texted Neighbor E as well. BF’s brother stopped by a little later, and they had a chat about everything. He looked in on the dogs in the evening, let them out and kept watch while we were gone, in addition to the sitter we hired. They talk and text all the time. But after we got everything out of the truck, well, then it was time for unpacking, laundry and cooking our delicious HEB dinners. I let them have their conversation while I took the laundry to the back room. That was when I took the fringe off my designer cocktail dress, set it aside, and tossed the dress into the wash.

The next day BF went back to work with plenty of stories to tell. I posted on Facebook the next day that we’d gone and that we made it home.

Downsides

A few things kind of went sideways, none of which had anything to do with Rafael and Carmen’s wedding. The weather was beautiful and cool for the wedding. But being Houston, it warmed up the next day, and I was a bit overheated. Especially in IKEA, where they didn’t seem to have the A/C running. I was in long pants and sleeves, but took some summer things too, thank heavens. I drank plenty of water, that’s for sure.

The intent to visit a few other folks didn’t happen, and we couldn’t visit everyone. Two intended visits had other engagements and were unavailable. Another is one of BF’s Navy buddies from his Iraq tours. For years, he’s told me that this man lives in Katy. So, we made plans to have lunch with him at a local restaurant on the first day. Unfortunately, over the roar of an engine at 75 mph on I-10 West, I didn’t hear the man say he lived in Baytown, which we could have made easily. BF didn’t speak up, either, until we got to Katy and landed at the restaurant there. Next time, we get an address beforehand.

We Still Had A Great Time

Our hired pet sitter kindly sent us pictures like this:

It was overall a good trip, and I’m so glad we finally went. Thanks to everyone who agreed to meet up with us, and apologies to the ones we didn’t get to visit. We’re hoping for another Houston trip one day and to meet with folks we didn’t get to see the last time. Maybe we’ll even make a stop at Central Market. And if all goes well, we will visit Rafael and Carmen, too.

Still, there’s more to come on the blog, with a few posts in the draft folder now. Here’s to more informative food topics in the new year that shape our world and keep us fed.

Happy New Year!