I think I woke up around 7 for the 7 Line Run around downtown Houston. Truthfully, I was about fed up with driving in this city and with my rental car.
So after a 15 minute drive without much traffic (for a change), I parked on the street near the right field gate. Though I may have been the only one, as it seemed like everyone else was walking. Actually, I should clarify. I parked under the overpass next to the stadium, where a bunch of homeless people were camping out. And the parking meter wasn't even working so I did the whole run worries a cop would come along and give me a ticket.
But there were about 80 or 90 of us and the run got off to a good start on a comfortable, yet another cloudy day. And I was off to a pretty solid pace as we headed west on Congress St and then south on Harris St. After about mile 2.5, I would up around Polk St, near the Toyota Center. Except I was all but alone. the first 5 or 6 people were way ahead and I out outpaced the rest of the group. And I took a wrong turn to the right on Polk St even though that's what was in my turn directions. When I started to go under the overpass...I knew I was off! Eventually I figured my way back to Avenue of the Americas and finished the race though I ran more like a 3.25m instead of 3.1m. One guy brought a case of water and a case of Lone Star beer. I took down two of each. Chatted with a few people there too, it was fun.
By now the sun was shining, and after going back to the room and cleaning up, I had to make a stop at Jiffy Lube, since my right rear tire had been running low for the last 24 hours. 5 minutes, in and out of there. I hit up Costco for gas, and I think it was about $2.65/gallon. And then it was food time. I didn't do BBQ again, didn't do Mexican either. It was Kenny and Ziggy's, a NY Jewish deli that I had seen featured on DDD. The tables were most filled up. But they have two bars/counters, one for the alcohol and one for the desserts/coffees/shakes. I took a stool at the latter and immediately was served a bowl of sour and half sour pickles. Very good start. I ordered the #1 sandwich:" pastrami, corned beef, Russian dressing, and cole slaw on crusty double baked seeded rye bread. Oh my goodness. Plenty of meat inside, super seasoned. Not too much slaw and Russian but enough to add flavor. Of course, I added brown mustard as I went along. But the bread was perfect. I have eaten at too many NY delis where the rye bread is soft on the outside. The double bakes process gets it crusty on the outside and that makes the sandwich so much better. For the included side, they had a few salad options, but they were all lathered in mayo. For $2.75 more, I added French fries, which were thick like steak fries. Super brown and crispy on the outside.
The dessert selection is amazing with oversized cheesecake a huge variety of cookies, old school ice cream sodas, and milkshakes. But in their cookie display, they had the man-shaped sandwich cookies with the chocolate in between two vanilla cookies. And those are mom's favorites, so I got a half dozen to bring back.
Then it was time to drink. the spot was St Arnold, just north of downtown and it was packed. They had live music playing, a flea market going on, tons of tables both inside and outside and it was till hard to find a spot. I got a flight and a draft, and I would say the beers were mostly fine. I wouldn't call them the best I've ever had, but it was fun for an hour.
Tailgate time with the 7 Line at Pitch 25. Shockingly, I get a free space on the street about a half mile from the stadium. At the bar though. the lines were always 30-40 people long for all 3 hours that we were tailgating. I drank a couple of Sun Cruiser cans, which are basically just vodka, iced tea, and some lemon juice. I felt so bloated from the beer that it was pleasant to sip a lighter alternative.
We marched to the stadium around 5:30 for the rubber game, about 1,000 Mets fans strong. It was a 2-1 loss, the Mets had one lousy hit all game. I had checked out after the top of the 8th and left. Now it was 3 games into the season, I'm not panicking, but it was a disappointing start for the offense. I didn't even eat dinner after the game, I was too aggravated. So I still have never tried Whattaburger. But hey, they'll be in Raleigh come 2026.
Next morning, 35 minute drive to the airport at 5 am. Two brief mechanical delays, but I was back in Raleigh around 3 pm.