August 2003

We spent the next couple days winding down at John & Lori's house. Peter and John got out for golf a couple times, I walked the deserted streets of Indian Shores. Even though I (or we) went out early or late in the day it still felt like an invisible hand had you by the shirt, holding you back. Very humid.

I was trying to get a picture of Princess, J&L's cat. It was amazing how she'd run each time she even glimpsed my camera. John said she didn't want to be exploited on my web site. I finally snuck up on her lying in the garage and got a nice close-up. But no! My lens had totally fogged as I brought it from the AC into the heat. I never got close to a good shot again. You can see the foggy pic in the Store slideshow below.

Mom, Peter & I went to Old Humble one day, in search of antique shops or anything of interest. That would be Humble with a silent "H", and Old meaning an older section of regular Humble. Of course we were there on a Monday when most shops were closed, but we found one nice combination restaurant/antique shop, and an old book shop. And because it was yet another steamer, I was on the lookout for snow cones. We found a roadside truck, and in Texas, these are drive ups. We found that out only after standing in the scorching sun to get our cones.

Lori has a seafood store in Humble, which is also a cafe where she serves her seafood specialties. The store was closed on Monday and we were invited for a private dinner. Along with Mom, Helen, Auntie Da, Auntie Edith, Mark and John ...

I was surprised how big the store was ... a large area in front with tables, and lots of fresh seafood selections and specialty items. Lori's partner Robert was there to help prepare the main course: a fried turkey. Yes, injected with marinate then fried in a large vat of boiling peanut oil, outside on a boiling Texas day. Fried turkeys are big business for them on the holidays; we were getting an off-season treat. More store photos here.

It was a feast. Lori kept bringing food out: salad, corn, potatoes, frog legs (yes, they taste like chicken — very good), fried oysters, boiled crab, stuffed jalapeno's and the turkey! She made Mark a special Po-Boy fried oyster sandwich, and we had Bananas Foster for dessert. Lori is a master chef ...

It was also a real pleasure talking to the Aunties and Helen. Very interesting ladies and they came right back at us with questions. Mark has been around the world on his job so I was asking about his travels. A great meal with good people. Thanks, Lori!

The next day Kurt & family arrived at John's house after a good time in San Antonio. They were ready for the long-promised trip to an Astros game. Uncle John had been hyping this for months.

John should be a PR guy for the Astros and their new stadium. He's been telling us how much he loves going to games, how easy it is to get there. Well, we'll see. A back story here: when Peter was reserving a rental car for the trip online, he got a good weekly rate. Then he scrolled down to see the totals and almost fell off the chair. What with the daily customer facility charge, concession recoup fee, property tax license fee, Harris County sports authority tax and vehicle rental tax, the price went up almost $100!

We found that most of these fees were unique to the Houston area and the International Airport. And the sports authority fee was what was paying for nice new Minute Maid Park, not local taxes. To which John said to us, "Thanks."

So we drove into the city, got off the highway right by the park, parked right across the street and walked right in. What a novel concept; and one with which we are not familiar in Boston.

John had some close-in tickets that he gave to Kurt, Tina and the kids, hoping they could get an autograph by the visitors dugout. In this case our old team the Cubs. The rest of us had seats in the upper deck with a great view. I'm not a fan of enclosed stadiums, though they certainly need one here. But this one had the best of both worlds because of a retractable roof. John said they sometimes open it towards the end of the game, so I was hoping for that.

Lynne(my college roomie)and Richard, who live nearby were going to meet us at the Park. We made cell phone contact (hard over the crowd noise) with them, and Peter & I ran down to give them tickets through a doorway. I was glad to see them again since we'd had so little time when they were in Boston last month. It was especially nice that Mom, John and Kurt got to see Lynne again after something like 30 years, and that she could meet Lori, Tina and the kids. More game pictures here.

It was a great night. Good baseball that I didn't pay much attention to, fun running around to visit the family down below, and great talking to Lynne. And an unexpected bonus: when Cubs outfielder Moises Alou was coming back to the dugout after making a third out, he tossed the ball in the stands. Guess who got it? Good-hands Kurt ... everyone was thrilled about that. Near the end of the game, the roof began to slide open. Quite an engineering marvel. We felt the sultry night air right away, and despite the humidity it was nice to have the game played outside, the way it was meant to be.

Roof almost open — Click for larger view

That was it for us .. we flew home the next day. A fantastic family time ... thanks again, John & Lori.

Back to reality ...

I braced myself. And with the help of a lot of nice cards and messages from family and friends, made the turn. 50. Peter and I had an incredible gourmet meal at Alicante to mark the occasion. So, no complaints. Now if we can only have a nice long, warm fall ...