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February 06, 2016 - 10:14 p.m.
"houston highlights"

February 06, 2016 10:14 p.m. CST
February 06, 2016 10:14 p.m. EST

Hey Journal!

Greetings from Houston, Texas! It's my first ever time being in Texas and in so many ways it doesn't feel any different than anywhere else but there have definitely been some signs that we're not in New York anymore!

I'm super exhausted right now because last night, we didn't get to bed until about 2:00am and we had to get up at 4:15 to leave for our trip! We only got about 2.5 hours of sleep! When I woke up, all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. Even though I was looking forward to vacation, I just wanted to cancel it all and crawl back into bed!

Of course, I didn't! I got up and ready and my mom came to pick us up at 4:45!

We packed up the car and hit the road at about 4:50! We made good time and, of course, there was no traffic at that time in the morning. When we got to the airport, we wound up going to the wrong terminal! Dan and I almost got out at Terminal C but then we realized that our flight, on United, was at Terminal B! It was Terminal B, Concourse C! Really? Couldn't they have use two different systems to label the Terminals and the Concourses!?

So, we got checked in, through security, and then we headed to our gate. We were early and had plenty of time to sit. FInally, they started boarding. The flight was full so we didn't get to keep the middle seat empty. Dan had been assigned the aisle and I was in the window seat. We were hoping that nobody would select the middle! When he got there, Dan swapped with him and we sat next to eachother.

The flight was good, it went by fast because I slept most of the time. I guess because I had gotten so little sleep last night I was really able to sleep a lot of this flight. I also had my little eye cover thing which helped block out the light. I think I probably slept for a total of 2.5 hours. It was great! Not only did I catch up on some of my missed sleep but I also didn't have to find a way to pass the time on the flight. On United they have TVs in the back of each seat but you have to pay if you want to watch anything. $7.99! No way! What a ripoff.

Anyway, we landed at about 10:20 in Houston at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport! Dan had literally just been in Houston at 7pm last night and in this exact airport a few days earlier.

First thing off the plane I went to the bathroom. I had to pee for over an hour and a half and the guy on the aisle was asleep so I didn't want to bother him and THEN they put the seatbelt sign on because we had some turbulence, and THEN we were coming in for a landing. So, I had to go.

Before going down to baggage claim, we got a little snack at Starbucks. We weren't that long but by the time we got down there our bags were two of only a handful still going around on the carousel!

Next, I got an unexpected text from work that there was a problem with the phone system. I was shocked because that phone system has NO CONTROLS. It's literally on or off. It's such a simple thing and so hard to get messed up. I called Jackie and walked her though resetting it which really was just a matter of turning it off and back on! Clearly it must have been related to yesterday's outage but it's got that everything is working again. Why does this stuff ONLY happen when I go away!

One time while we were on a cruise an entire rack-mounted network switch just DIED. No explanation. Those things never cause a problem but sure enough... I try to get away and I always get haunted with something.

So, after that crisis was resolved we had to figure out our next move. We had no plans for the day, no idea how to get from the airport to the cruise terminal, and no idea what we wanted to do.

We had looked up some shuttle prices and then compared when we got to the airport. Most of them were LOTS of $$.

We found the Carnival shuttle and it was actually one of the most reasonable, surprisingly! We decided to go to Galveston on tomorrow's shuttle and TODAY we would rent a car at the airport, do something around Houston, and then stay overnight.

So, I booked a La Quinta for tonight on Hotels Tonight and then we booked the shuttle with Carnival. The people at the shuttle desk were so friendly and nice!

Next, Dan booked the rental car using his National app. It's so easy and great. You literally pick the classification of car you want using the app and then go to the row of cars, pick your car, and drive away. On the way out of the lot, you check with the person in the booth, and you're good to go!

The girl in the booth was named Deza? Something like that. Anyway, she was really nice and friendly, too. She asked us to send an e-mail about our experience so that she could win a contest and we wrote a really nice review of her services. I hope she won her contest!

So far, so good! We decided to get lunch at Buffalo Wind Wings so we found one nearby and then went to eat. BEfore eating, I put my contacts in in the bathroom. It's becoming a tradition. We did the same thing at a BWW in LA!

The food was a little weird at BWW. My naked tenders were really bland and they are usually not like that at all at home. Dan's carrot sticks looked like they were dried up and shriveled! It was okay, but just not the best.

We planned to go to the Space Center in Houston and stopped at a nearby hotel to pick up $5 off coupons! Nice! We headed there with our coupons and were excited to see what this place was all about.

The Space Center had really good reviews on TripAdvisor but we were REALLY surprised at how not good it was. First off, there are two parts to this thing. First, the Space Center is a small museum of space related items. The problem is that barely any of them are authentic. Most of them had plaques that read something like "This is the model of tape recorder astronauts used when they were in space to record their notes during experiments." or "Astronauts used a tool similar to this to..." Very few of the items on display were REALLY USED IN SPACE!

Continuing with that, the giant spectacle out front is a Boeing 747 with a GIANT Space Shuttle on top of it. You can go inside. You can see all the controls! It's so cool. But wait..... It's just a replica. It was never used in space, it never flew anywhere or did anything cool. What a scam.

For that -- I could just go online and look up pictures. I'd rather see pictures of the real thing than see a fake in person.

All of the exhibits and things were very old looking. It looked like the place hadn't been updated since the early 90s. In fact, that reminds me that I think kids used to wind trips to this place on Nickelodeon game shows!

Now for part two of the Space Center. They have a "Tram Tour" of the Johnson Space Center which is where the Mission Control is housed. We went to get on line and they give you no idea of how long this could possibly take. The line was long but not insane. Well, it took OVER AN HOUR AND A HALF! The reason is that this place is so disorganized. Everyone on the line was complaining about how terrible this system was and how it made no sense. We barely moved for long periods of time. I was this close to bailing several times.

Once we were FINALLY on the tram, we crossed over to the actual Johnson Space Center. Pretty cool. This complex is the real deal. Unlike the dated feel at the museum, this place has a 1960s, 1970s vibe that's AMAZING. BECAUSE IT'S AUTHENTIC. It feels very much like a college campus and all of the buildings are numbered and labeled with these amazing 1960s letters. It's like stepping back in time.

Then, when we got to the building with the Mission Control we had to walk up to the floor it was on and we sat in this viewing room behind it. The seats were so old. They had cigarette ash trays in the backs of them. It was a blast from the past. I thought it was great. The guide explained that everything in the Mission Control room was just as it was in the 60s. It's designated a national landmark and it has been preserved that way.

Alas, after that, we poked around at looked at more of the disappointing things they had on display and then we left.

On the way back we stopped at a Target! Yes, the homeland. It was a Super Target and we got some snacks and drinks for the cruise. They sold wine and beer at this Target and the wine selection was incredible. I don't like wine but they had a HUGE aisle of JUST wine. New York really needs to get out of the Stone Age. Liquor stores can not control the market.

Anyway, we got what we needed and then headed back to go to the hotel and check in. I put the La Quinta near the airport into my Google Maps and we arrived. We got to the lobby and the woman couldn't find my name in her system. Then we realized that we were at the wrong La Quinta! There was another one, just on the other side of the airport! REALLY? Oops.

We proceeded to the correct hotel and then we checked in for real. I think we lucked out -- this one looks nicer anyway!

We went to the room and got settled in. We were only in here for about 30 minutes or so but Dan looked up some places to eat dinner and I recharged my phone a little.

For dinner we decided to go to a place called the Saltgrass Steak House. It was actually a really cool place. When we got there, there was a 40 minute wait. We took a buzzer but then a seat opened up at the bar and we decided to take it. It had been a long day and it wasn't worth waiting an extra 40 minutes to sit in the dining room.

We both got the chicken fried steak. It was REALLY good. I got steak soup with mine. The restaurant had a really cool decor and I was a big fan. I wish we had a restaurant like this at home. Our waiter was very nice and, I guess that's really been a pattern today! Lots of helpful people.

It would have been nice to eat in the dining room because it was cool, but...oh well!

Anyway, before coming back to the hotel we went to Kroger to look for Cranberry Juice. I wanted to bring some on the cruise but you're only allowed cans and cartons - no plastic bottles. They had Sparkling Cranberry Juice -- I don't know if I'll like it, but we got some and I'll find out soon enough!

We came back to the hotel and showered up and now we're ready for bed! It's been a LONG DAY! I can't wait for the CRUISE! I love cruise ships and I can't wait to start making names for the wild people we encounter on this trip!

We're going to get up at about 7:30 so we can have breakfast at the hotel and then get back to the airport at 9 for the shuttle. It's about an hour to Galveston from here!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)