Yes we do 🙁 , my trip is running out of days, time is up to its usual nefarious practices and is slipping away like sand through my fingers.
After a great day of sightseeing and music yesterday in San Antonio , I had do some some admin this morning and then I headed off to the trusty old Greyhound bus station again. A fairly quick 4.5 hours to Houston and we were there. Although not before someone annoyed the driver, who made an unscheduled stop to lecture us all. As I had my AirPods in and was watching a movie, I was a bit surprised to see him walking up and down the bus wagging his finger and telling us to behave! It’s was like being on the school bus.
I’m staying slightly out of town, but near a beautiful park, that I will explore tomorrow. The options are a bit limited here and so I ate at a place next door, which was a bit canteen style, but with better lighting. I had the chopped steak, with some salad and potatoes. Actually very good,
I’m staying in this evening, so I thought I’d buy some wine. All the liquor stores were shut as it’s fairly late on a sunday, except for one. So I hopped in an Uber to go there. Talk about a dodgy neighbourhood, broken down old cars, groups of people loitering in the shadows or under street lamps. The shop keeper was behind bullet proof glass no less. I made a very quick stop, while the Uber driver did a quick U-turn for a fast getaway!
The next morning it was raining, so out came the trusty umbrella that I bought back in the early days in downtown Manhattan.
Hermann park is just a short distance away and has several lakes, a rose garden, a Japanese garden and lots of statues. There is a huge amount of wildlife here, ducks of many varieties, geese, some wading birds and several other species I didn’t recognise.
There is a statue of Confucius, Ghandi and Martin Luther King, who seems to pop up, statue wise, on a regular basis. There is also a line of busts of various Southern American dictators (sorry leaders) below a mount with a waterfall that gives some excellent views from the top.
The dedication to Confucius was quite amusing. Normally when you see a statue it will be in commemoration of their centenary. With Confucius it said in commemoration of the 2560th anniversary of his birth! Talk about taking a long time to commemorate him.
There are roses blooming in the garden as it’s not cold here. It’s about 12 degrees today and will get progressively warmer as I head eastwards.
Like Oklahoma City, there is a network of tunnels underground, although they are much more extensive. There are a lot more businesses down here as well.
I stopped at the Flying Saucer Emporium for lunch. A superb burger again. You may remember I was there at their Memphis branch last week and that the walls are covered in plates of various designs from porcelain to silver and gold.
I asked a waitress what the story was behind all these plates and apparently you can join their UFO club for $18. Once you have sampled 200 beers (remember they have around 20 beers on draught that are always changing) you get your first plate on the wall. The manager will announce your plate receiving ceremony to all present. As the beers clock up you earn a silver plate, then gold etc.
You are only allowed 3 beers a day to count towards your total though. So even if you managed the maximum every day, it would still take you months to get your first plate. No point me joining then.
That was basically it for the day, I ate at the hotel and prepared for the 7.5 hour bus trip to New Orleans tomorrow.