13 July 2007
The Seven Wonders of Houston?
Claudia Feldman has written a piece today for the Chron, listing the Chronicle's picks for Houston's Seven Wonders:
The Astrodome, 8400 Kirby
Beer Can House, 222 Malone
Houston Ship Channel
Interstate 10 and Beltway 8 interchange
Menil compound, the 1400 and 1500 blocks of Sul Ross and Branard
Saturn V rocket at the Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway
Quan Am sculpture, 10002 Synott Road
What do you think? Like some of the comments on the Chron's story, we are perplexed at a couple of the choices. A freeway interchange? Really?
I think the Williams Tower and Waterwall should be considered for the list. What about the tunnels? And can we throw in an honorable mention for any of sculptor David Adickes' works? Feel free to offer your thoughts and suggestions in the forum.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 07/13/07 08:08 AM |
25 June 2007
Maybe if the bayou weren't so brackish...
The Chronicle runs a feature by Carolyn Feibel on the Buffalo Bayou Partnership's Sunday kayaking trip on the Buffalo Bayou.
While this blogger is generally a fan of leisurely sightseeing via kayak, sightseeing via kayak on that particular stretch of Buffalo Bayou doesn't sound that appealing (for free, let alone $50). For those who go, this advice from a Chron.com commenter seems worthwhile:
Make sure to take a shower with antibacterial soap, dress all cuts and scapes and insect bites, this water is polluted and full of sewage during some periods. Consider, going to another place, this waterway is an urban nightmare, even though it appears fine from a distance.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/07 09:18 PM |
30 May 2007
The return of the frogs
Houston, you asked for it: Frogs! a sequel exhibition opens Friday for a full summer run. This city is frog-crazy, and that's probably a good thing given all the recent rain. Any chance of peace and quiet at my end of the pond evaporated with the ever-increasing, onslaught of a non-stop frog chorus. Big frogs, little frogs, bull frogs, and teenie-tiny lime green frogs greet me. I step, a frog leaps. Even my goofy cocker spaniel has given up his beloved rock hunting for water-drenched splash-a-frog chases. The Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) discovered the amphibians' popularity during the Frogs! A Chorus of Colors exhibition. I'm sure I'm one of many who lamented the end of the exhibit. By the time I found a free weekend, I was too late. If you're a fellow procrastinator, you're in luck. HMNS is bringing back the frogs--and then some. New frogs to the exhibit include Clown Treefrogs and the Strawberry Poison Dart frog. With the new exhibit running from June 1 through September 03, 2007, you'll have all summer to get your fill of the amphibians.
Posted by Vikk Simmons @ 05/30/07 10:50 AM |
24 May 2007
Have a bloomin' buggy weekend at BUGStravaganza!
The cool thing about being a writer is that you get to ferret out things that interest you. I had visited Houston’s Museum of Natural Science a number of times over the years but it wasn’t until I toured the entire facility as part of the research for a travel book that I discovered the museum’s quirky bug zoo. What a fun place. Anyone who's been to Houston for more than a nanosecond has run into some segment of our bug population. The museum simply expands the experience. While most visitors get caught up in the rainforest experience of the Cockrell Butterfly Center, the Insect Zoo with its many weird creatures is even more fascinating. I don't know if I'd call them "crowd-pleasers," but the infamous Madagascar Hissing Roaches clearly get top billing.
The Cockrell Butterfly Center, the Brown Hall of Entomology, and the Insect Zoo have been closed for major renovations. Memorial Weekend 2007 marks their re-opening with brand new state-of-the-art interactive exhibits that bring the insect world to life, while displays of preserved specimens of rare butterflies, beetles, and moths show off some of the most jewel-like tones and intricate patterns found in the insect world. The butterfly rainforest habitat also provides amazing opportunities for the amateur digital photographer. Be sure to wear something colorful and bright. Hawaiian-style shirts tease and tempt butterflies to land on your shoulder, your head, even your hands. On my last trip to the center I even managed to photo-capture the resident iguana as he basked in the sun on the stairway’s railing.
BUGStravaganza! opens Friday, May 25 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm with a performance by the Houston Ballet butterfly dancers, face painting, and even butterfly origami. Saturday, May 26 from 11:00 – 4:00 pm, the on-going Bug Fest features a Bug Chef, roach races, a Stump the Entomologist quiz and more. Rachel Carson fans will enjoy Sunday’s (May 27) A Sense of Wonder from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm with the Rachel Carson Tribute, Bugs on Wheels, snacks and more. And if you heard about the recent Cash for Roaches program, the museum promises an update about Houston's favorite insect-sons during the weekend celebration. (You have to wonder: Just who captured and sold their roach buddies to the museum?)
With the unusually cool spring-like weather we’ve been having, anyone with a slightly green thumb and a curiosity about butterflies will find the butterfly garden plants interesting. Be sure and pick up one of the quick guides to local butterfly-attracting garden plants to help you plan your own butterfly habitat. In fact, this weekend might be the perfect time for such a backyard enterprise. Most nurseries stock the many local butterfly-attracting plants such as Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, and Lantana. If your visit to BUGStravaganza! ignites your gardening fever and you'd like to extend the experience, take a drive out to The Arbor Gate and explore their offerings. Native plants, garden art, cottage gardens, and a multitude of herbs will delight your senses; your garden and your creativity will flourish. Have a great weekend.
UPDATE Friday, May 25, 2007: Apparently Eileen McClelland at the Chronicle caught the same bug this weekend. You can read her article "Think of it as Beetlemania" in today's section E. You'll also find food editor Peggy Grodinsky's short interview with David Temple, the Houston Museum of Natural Science's "in-house bug chef," who swears dry-roasted scorpions taste like pork rinds. You may not want to eat any more broccoli, though, once you find out 3 1/2 ounces may have up to 60 aphids mixed in with your greens. For film buffs, the same page has a list of 10 bug-infested films put together by writer Andrew Dansby. Good eating!
Posted by Vikk Simmons @ 05/24/07 12:37 PM |
16 May 2007
KRIV's Carey takes a look at Sharpstown
KRIV-26 reporter Isiah Carey had an interesting story earlier this week on the rise and fall of Sharpstown.
The video is available here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/16/07 07:54 PM |
04 May 2007
Orange Show, Art Car Parade plugged on popular travel blog
Houston is more of a business destination than a tourist destination, so Houston attractions aren't always featured heavily in newspaper travel sections or on travel websites.
Earlier in the week, though, the Orange Show and the Art Car Parade both got a nice plug on Gadling, a popular travel weblog. Here's an excerpt:
McKissack created The Orange Show in honor of his favorite fruit -- um, the orange -- and today, his organization focuses on making art tangible and accessible. One of its early makin'-it-accessible endeavors was the Fruitmobile, an art car that led to the annual Art Car Parade, which is scheduled for the weekend of May 11-13. If you're in the area, check out the parade.
That's good advice!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/04/07 10:37 PM |
25 April 2007
Final weekend approaches for iFest 2007
Many of you probably have already read John Nova Lomax's Houston Press column on the 2007 International Festival, which got underway last weekend (I was out of town).
Houston's best festival, some will recall, nearly died a few years ago, when shortsighted political leaders allowed it to move to the parking lots of Reliant (and the city's parks director at the time seemed to welcome the move, stating idiotically that it is very hard on the city's parks for people actually to use them -- heaven forbid!).
Now, it's back downtown, and no longer on life support. Even better, the indomitable Rick Mitchell is heading up the music end of things. Lomax has more on that excellent news:
This year's model finds the festival in finer fettle than at anytime since the fiasco of '04. As in the glory days, there will be four music stages, as opposed to the measly three of years recently past. Rick Mitchell, the former Chronicle music critic and the owner of one of the more finely tuned sets of ears in town, returns in his role as music curator. (He also did the Ireland-themed fest in '01, '02's French version and Mexico in '03, but has only served in a part-time role once since then.)
Back in those palmy pre-exile days, Mitchell was dispatched to the honored nations to scout for talent, but in the case of this year's honoree — China — he didn't get that chance. “The regional Chinese governments we dealt with this year decided to send us acrobats,” Mitchell says. “With Jamaica, they didn't choose to send acrobats, they sent music. Thank goodness! For China, that's what they are really known for culturally in international circles — martial arts like the Shaolin Kung Fu Spectacular and amazing acrobats like the Shenzhen Acrobatic Circus, so that's what made sense to put onstage.” (Not to mention the fact that the Wu-Tang Clan was too expensive.)
“And this was also the case with India,” Mitchell continues, “but it didn't make much sense that year to put a sitar-based Indian raga out in the middle of a big outdoor music festival. That music takes an hour to build and requires a different type of venue.”
Another of this year's new developments is the late closing time. Look out, Vegas, Bourbon Street, all you other round-the-clock gilded palaces of sin — here comes Git-Down H-Town! For the first time ever, iFest will be running until 10 p.m. on the two Saturday nights of its run.
“This was one of those things we'd talked about every year, but changing the closing time affects not only the people running the stages but also all of the vendors, food vendors and arts and crafts people, too,” Mitchell says. “We'd talked about closing all but one of the zones and trying to drive people over there, but ultimately that seemed like it wasn't going to work. So basically we had to go to all the vendors and say, ‘Look, this is what we're gonna do this year.'”
The festival has always been a fairly PG-rated affair. Mitchell implies that the last couple of hours of each Saturday night this year just might kick that up a notch to PG-13. “The festival takes pride in being a family-oriented event. We want families to be comfortable, we don't want a bunch of drunken people staggering around,” he says. “But if we stay open from eight to ten, hopefully by that time a lot of the families will have gone home, then maybe we can sell some more beer those last two hours and do what every other festival does. And obviously, the acts that we booked on the Saturday nights, particularly George Clinton, show that we had that in mind. We'll still be who we are during the daytime.”
Mitchell has always had a finely honed sense of the “who we are” part, at least in terms of our musical identity. “I've always felt that the Houston International Festival should reflect Gulf Coast Texas music in the same way that JazzFest reflects Gulf Coast Louisiana music,” he says. “Now we can't do the $100,000 headliners like they do in New Orleans, because we don't have a racetrack. Or $100,000. I do think that part of the mission is to bring international music to Houston, but the other half of it is to showcase Houston to the international community.”
The return of Mitchell on the music side of things is the best news for the Festival in ages (or at least since people had the good sense to figure out it belongs downtown). The later hours are another good development, meaning that the Festival is growing up -- and maybe, just maybe, the city of Houston is also.
I'm looking forward to catching the International Festival this weekend, especially the Lucinda Williams show (her last appearance at the Festival was excellent).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/25/07 09:14 PM |
09 April 2007
Splashtown has a new owner
Here's an AP story (via KTRK-13) that notes Splashtown has been bought by a real estate investment group:
A Florida-based real estate investment trust said Monday it bought seven former Six Flags Inc. properties for $312 million.
[snip]
PARC managers said they want the parks to focus more on regional markets as well as guest safety and satisfaction.
"As we complete the transaction, we are looking forward to the opportunity to refocus these parks on regional economies," said Randal H. Drew, president and CEO of PARC Management.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/09/07 08:16 PM |
01 April 2007
Taggers vandalize Ervan Chew Park
KTRK-13 reports on Houston's ongoing gang activity, in the heart of the Montrose area:
Residents living around a Montrose area park, the scene of a deadly gang fight, want something done to stop gang graffiti.
We're told on Thursday night, a resident saw what he says were several gang members spray-painting graffiti on public property in Chew Park. That's where 15-year-old Gabriel Granillo was killed last June. Seventeen-year-old Ashley Benton is awaiting trial for that murder. Residents are calling for something to be done."I think if they put more lighting up or put little lights up on the sidewalk, then it will deter a lot of crime activity," said Allen Cole, who lives near the park.
I snapped some photos of the latest graffiti over the weekend. The Flickr set can be viewed by clicking the photo above. One resident I talked to in the park told me the problem had improved somewhat, before this latest round. It's likely the same taggers who hit this park also hit the bridges over the Southwest Freeway on an almost nightly basis.
It's a shame that Houston cannot increase police patrols in these known hotspots, but unfortunately the manpower shortage means the manpower we do have must be concentrated on more "serious" crimes. And so these little crimes build to bigger crimes (as the broken windows policing advocates would contend, anyway).
RELATED: Teen killed in broad daylight in Montrose-area Park.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/01/07 04:24 PM |
29 March 2007
Any day above ground in Houston IS a good one!
The Chronicle's Ken Hoffman got to tag along with some British travel writers visiting Houston as part of a promotional effort by the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, and recounts the adventure here. Here's a sampling:
Hopefully they'll have a Texas-size terrific time and return to their newspapers and magazines and write glowing stories that will entice readers to come here on their next vacations.
I tagged along with the British travel writers for breakfast at the Alden Hotel. One of them showed me her favorite souvenir — a bright-purple cowboy hat.
I had to tell her, "Unless it's Halloween, or you're a member of the Village People, I don't think many Houstonians wear a hat like that."
Sm@rt@ss!
Houston's Museum of Funeral History even makes an appearance. Be honest now -- did YOU know we had such a museum?
What are some of your favorite "off the beaten path" Houston places you take visitors, when you want them to get a good sense of life in the city?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/29/07 09:27 AM |
28 March 2007
Safeway tries to remake Randalls
The Chronicle's David Kaplan writes about Safeway's big remodel of Randalls stores, after years of neglect since the California grocer acquired the chain:
Just a few years ago, some loyal customers were writing Randalls off, blaming new owner Safeway for discontinuing several of their favorite brands and cutting back on service. Its local market share fell dramatically.
Randalls is launching a comeback with a new game plan called the "lifestyle" remodel, which brings in more fresh and gourmet foods, organics and other features and gives stores a more pleasing look.
Since the lifestyle concept debuted at a Houston Randalls in 2004, it's been taken up a few notches.
For example, the Montrose location's big nut bar has 40 varieties of nuts and six machines, which allow customers to make nut butter.
It's the first Randalls nut bar in Texas.
It has a redesigned produce section, five aisles of organic foods and an expanded wine section with a full-time wine steward.
"If people were ever disenchanted from years past, come back and see us. I think they'll be very pleased," Steve Frisby, president of Randalls, said.
I gave up on the Montrose-area Randalls some time ago because it seemed like Safeway had just let the store go to hell (frankly). Has anyone tried out the newly redesigned Montrose store? Or any others in the area?
And as an aside for you wine lovers -- would you be inclined to use the Randall's wine steward, as opposed to the smart folks at Spec's (or some of the other local shops that specialize in wine)?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/28/07 11:07 AM |
24 March 2007
A new look for the Bill White Vermin And Solid Waste Memorial Park
Mike McGuff says things aren't looking so good around the George R. Brown Convention Center right now as construction for Discovery Green has left giant piles of dirt in the GRB's parking lot.
Can we assume the hobos have been (temporarily) displaced?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/24/07 07:52 AM |
18 March 2007
Tour de Houston
The city's third annual bike ride was supposed to take place yesterday, but did it? I can't find any local news coverage of the event. If you participated in it, let us know how it went!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/18/07 01:32 PM |
A perfect day to visit the Houston Zoo
We hadn't been to the zoo in a while, so yesterday we took advantage of the great weather and headed out.
The highlight of our visit was definitely Mac, the baby elephant. What a cutie!
And this time, we were early enough to catch some lion activity -- one of the lionesses chasing a bird. The male lion lifted his head, looked around for a bit, then went back to snoozing. We were also amused by the black spotted something-or-other (leopard maybe?) that was napping on his back with his paws in the air. How the animals can sleep through all the noise zoo visitors make is beyond me.
The only suggestion I'd have for zoo folks is to add more benches around the Duck Lake concessions area. It's a little tough to feed hungry kids with nowhere to sit! Other than that, though, we had a terrific time.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/18/07 10:14 AM |
03 March 2007
It's rodeo time
Richard Connelly has a nice feature on the rodeo in this week's Houston Press.
Here's a teaser:
You're not officially a Houstonian until you've done a couple of things: given the finger to an SUV that cut you off on the Southwest Freeway; tried to mentally calculate just how old Marvin Zindler is; and, finally, gone to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
The rodeo is a rite of passage that's cornier than Dallas's State Fair, nuttier than San Antonio's Fiesta and way more chaotically fun than Galveston's Mardi Gras. For a few weeks near the end of every winter, Houston chooses to revel in being a cowtown instead of fanatically trying to disabuse that notion.
After growing up in rural Oklahoma, I figured I had taken in enough rodeo (more than enough!) to last the rest of my life. But as Connelly aptly conveys, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is as much spectacle as anything. Every Houstonian should experience it... once, at least. Even better if you get to take part in a milking competition!
BLOGVERSATION: Houston's Clear Thinkers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/03/07 10:56 AM |
27 January 2007
Residents want West Alabama bike lanes restored
Ken Fountain reports for the Examiner newspapers that people who live near West Alabama are wondering why the street has not been restored to its previous (non-contraflow lane) configuration, now that the Spur 527 construction that forced the changes is complete:
Nearly eight months after the completion of the reconstruction of Spur 527 from the Southwest Freeway into downtown, some neighbors along West Alabama Street wonder why the once primarily residential street has not been returned to its original configuration.
Two residents who were involved in the original controversy and the city councilwoman whose district the street runs through said it was their understanding that officials promised the street would be restored after the spur’s completion.
[snip]
Both [Neil] McKenna and Ray Jones, the founder of the West Alabama Quality of Life Coalition, say they heard officials say during a hearing in the federal proceeding prior to the spur reconstruction project that once it was completed, West Alabama would be restored to its original configuration.
District D Councilwoman Ada Edwards, who had only recently taken office when the spur project began, said she doesn’t specifically recall who may have said that the street would be returned to its original status, but that was her understanding of what would happen.
However, Wes Johnson, spokesman for the city’s Public Works Department, said that commitment was never made.
I lived in that neighborhood when these changes were implemented and followed the issue closely. I recall most officials involved with the project refusing to give clear answers about what would happen after the Spur was finished, and I certainly don't recall any official promising that West Alabama would be switched back. A search of the Chronicle's archives does not turn up any such promise. One Chronicle report from October 2004 does indicate that the problem was still on the minds of residents:
The re-striping and reversible lane on West Alabama - designed to carry traffic during the reconstruction of U.S. 59 and Spur 527 - were cited as major problems, Brewster said.
Bicyclists who live in the neighborhoods near West Alabama want assurances that the bike lanes on that street will be preserved once the freeway construction is finished, Brewster said.
If those people were still asking for commitments about restoring the street back then, it seems unlikely that public officials had previously committed to such changes in public.
It also seems unlikely that the City of Houston is going to switch the lanes back to the earlier configuration, because that will require spending on a matter that is nowhere to be found on Mayor White's list of spending priorities. However, here's wishing Councilmember Ada Edwards luck in getting funding for the reconfiguration, if that's what her constituents want. Maybe if she proposes some revenue-generating red-light cameras at affected intersections, it will improve her chances at winning over the mayor!
BLOGVERSATION: Off the Kuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/07 04:52 PM |
Houston Auto Show starts today
Cory Crow reminds us that the Houston Auto Show gets underway today.
I haven't been to the show in a number of years, largely for the reasons described in Brett Clanton's story for the Chronicle:
There will be plenty of cars and trucks to drool over this weekend at the Houston Auto Show. But there also will be a few glaring absences.
Some of the highest-profile vehicles making the rounds at auto shows this year won't be stopping in Houston — again.
Never mind that Houston is the fourth-largest city in the nation, one of the biggest U.S. markets for new-vehicle sales or that the nine-day Houston Auto Show attracts more than half a million visitors.
With a few exceptions, automakers save their best stuff for more prominent auto shows in Detroit, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles and a handful of other regional and international events.
That has been the case as long I can remember (about 11+ years living in Houston now), which is why I only make it out to the show every 4-5 years.
It's a shame that event planners can't convince the exhibitors that Houston is a world-class market deserving of a world-class auto show -- but it's still a fun time, especially if a person hasn't been in a while.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/27/07 03:09 PM |
19 January 2007
Romantic Houston
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Texas Highways magazine highlights Houston's "Flirty Dozen" -- twelve places to inspire romance. Here's an excerpt:
THE CHOCOLATE BAR
Sweets for your sweet
If you imagine anything appealing that can be done with chocolate, you can probably find it in this well-appointed shop in Houston's Montrose District (see "Move Over, Godiva...," page 20 of the print issue). You can smell the aroma before you enter, and watch chocolate being made once you do.
Ice cream. Chocolate-covered fruit. Chocolate pizza. And all things covered in chocolate, from Nutter Butters to popcorn. Get it to go or eat it here. There's an ice-cream wing, where the staff will scoop multiple flavors to your fancy, and, in the cake wing, enough cake to get you through the worst heartbreaks. You'll fall in love with the best-selling Aunt Etta's Cake. This rich, moist chocolate cake lives up to every great chocolate-cake experience you've ever had. It's a decadent meal in itself.
JPMORGAN CHASE TOWER OBERVATION DECK
Room with a view
Need a little inspiration? Take a trip up to the Chase Tower's 60th-floor "Sky Lobby" observation deck for a terrific view of the cityscape. As it gets dark, you can see the countless stars in the sky and the millions of city lights below the horizon.
Formerly the Texas Commerce Tower, the 75-story building was designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei and was the tallest building west of the Mississippi until the Library Tower building went up in Los Angeles. (It's only got 16 feet on the Chase.)
The entire article is not available online, so here are the top twelve:
1. Events
2. The Chocolate Bar
3. Houston Arboretum
4. JPMorgan Chase Tower Observation Deck
5. Cocktails at Marfreless
6. Dinner at the Rainbow Lodge
7. Stages Repertory Theatre
8. Bergamos Spa Retreat
9. Picnic at The Menil
10. Williams Tower Park
11. Nazar's
12. The Lancaster Hotel
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/19/07 08:45 PM |
15 January 2007
Oh my aching knee
This sometime blogHOUSTON contributor finished the 35th Chevron Houston Marathon yesterday.
In this day and age of road rage and crime, inconsiderate behavior and selfishness, being cheered on by complete strangers, give or take a few familiar faces, for an entire 26 miles as I finished something very personal to me was nothing short of amazing. Who says Houston doesn't love a good party?
Highlights: it took quite a while to get used to people saying my name (it was on my bib). I took communion before the race started from a Catholic priest at a Mass held at the George R. Brown Convention Center at 5:45 a.m. I was amazed at how well organized and planned this was. I've never done a marathon, but this one seemed well run, no pun intended. The first few miles of the race took us to the Heights, where I saw and recognized a childhood friend cheering us on. I pulled out of the pack to say hi to him. I realized the unfairness of being a chick when we passed several port-a-potty stands and guys decided to use the bushes instead of waiting in line for a turn. I took off my MP3 player around the 6th mile to take in the sounds and sights around me. There was more than enough to distract me from the effort at hand. In West U there was an Episcopalian priest handing out communion to runners while a parishioner sprinkled runners with holy water. There was a water station in Tanglewilde manned by Elvis impersonators as Elvis serenaded us in the background. There were numerous bands playing along the way. There were neighborhood parties in West U and Tanglewilde. There was a water station near the beginning of the final stretch at the West Loop "manned" by belly dancers. And two very dear friends of mine waited by the fountain on Allen Parkway with hand-painted signs to cheer me on. I think I was inconsolable at that point. As I approached downtown, I came upon one runner who had slowed down to gently encourage another on. Unlike runner KRamsauer, I did not look both ways for the train when I crossed Main. With three tenths or so of a mile left, all I could think of was finishing. Being hit by the train would have put me out of my misery, and that might've been welcome at that point. The cheers at the finish line were unbelievably deafening and energizing. I only wish I had seen Former President George Bush and Barbara Bush, who were apparently at my left as I finished. Instead, I looked for another blogHOUSTON contributor, whose encouragement along the route is probably the only reason I managed to finish.
People sat out in their yards and handed out orange slices and pretzels. I smiled through the pain when I passed one family with a ghetto blaster blaring the theme from Rocky in a loop. In several spots, P.A. systems had been set up and someone would call out names and encouragement to runners. I marveled at all the well-behaved dogs that joined their owners as spectators. They seemed to be enjoying the party atmosphere along the way as well.
It was an amazing Houston experience, and I'm glad I attempted it. Thanks, Houston, for making it memorable.
Now, if my knee would forgive me for pounding the pavement with it for 26 miles, that would be good.
BLOGVERSATION: Houston Running.
Posted by Callie Markantonis @ 01/15/07 10:36 AM |
14 January 2007
At the finish line
I was watching the Finish Line Cam via KTRK-13 and former President Bush and Mrs. Bush were there congratulating runners. That's pretty neat!
President Bush was using a walker as he recovers from hip replacement surgery, but he looked good out there, shaking hands, talking with the folks, and posing for pictures, along with Mrs. Bush.
blogHOUSTON reader KRamsauer reports that he safely crossed Main St., after looking both ways for the Danger Train.
Congratulations to all the participants. That's quite an achievement!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/14/07 01:26 PM |
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