Anniversary Weekend ~ Part Dos

And that ladies and gentlemen is how you start a Saturday morning.

We found this great little place, walking distance from the hotel called District 7 Grill and it was delicious, so delicious that we went there the next morning for breakfast too! It kinda looks like they took an old train car and made it into a diner. There’s lots of outdoor seating, and they have great coffee. I highly recommend.

Then it was off on the bus to Discovery Green where I thought they were having their monthly farmers market and beer garden but I got the days wrong. Instead they were having a race and showcasing green alternative energy vehicles. I think this one was hydrogen powered, Bill would remember better.

Discovery Green is this great park/venue. They have musicians, a pond where you can rent remote control sail boats, a small dog park, a restaurant/coffee shop, and tons and tons of things to do (like Yoga in the park). In this photo in the background on the left is Minute Maid Park (where the Astros play) and on the right is the George R. Brown Convention Center. When I had my high school graduation at the convention center we stood in this park in our cap and gowns afterwards…except the park was a parking lot, not at all what it is today. Houston has come a looooong way since my high school days and I’m so excited to be back here calling it home again.

A swift train ride landed us here, under the jowls of a T-Rex at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. They are currently adding a whole new building to the museum and redoing many of the displays. I overheard a museum…guy…attendant…worker…dinosaur man…say that this was a replica of a T-Rex but they had a real one in storage and it would be on display in the new building (my heart went pitter patter for a moment). I’m not a huge dino lover but I am fascinated by them as well as all things that are as mysterious.

If I were a chemistry teacher, I would take my students here. Meet the life size periodic table of elements. Each cubby shows a sample of something familiar for each element (save for those few nuclear ones). For example under ZR (zirconium) there was a stick of deodorant. If I had seen this when I was in high school chemistry I probably would have done a lot better.

Upstairs are all these displays of stuffed animals…like the actually animal stuffed, not teddy bears. This one made me giggle.

Oh mighty Texas, how I heart thee. There was a special “TEXAS! Find Out Why You’re So Dang Proud” exhibit. We didn’t have time for it, actually we missed a whole floor of the museum, but we’re members now so we will be back!

There was lots of proud Texas paraphernalia around. I also learned that Davy Crocket once said, “You can go to Hell, I’m going to Texas.”

There was also an Orchid show going on, I got really distracted from the main part of the museum and took about a thousand pictures of them all.

And of course we played around in the gift shop for a while. I mean, how can you not?

When we were done there we walked across the way to rest our feet in the cool water at Memorial Herman Park.

Have I mentioned how much I love this city. So much of it reminds me of my childhood, and it brings such joy to my heart to see people enjoying everything it has to offer.

We were going to end the evening with a free showing of Hairspray (the musical, not the movie) at Miller Outdoor Theater, but once we got back to the hotel to change and get our picnic blanket we just about passed out so we ordered pizza and watched cable and fell asleep. Also, I guess Bill sounds like Phil on the phone…TeeHee.