Several inches of rain was forecasted for Friday. Not to mention 5-6 inches south of Houston. There was some rain that fell, but nowhere near what was expected. Mom left early in the morning as expected, and I took her to Hobby Airport, which is much closer to downtown. It's basically the Midway of Houston... the secondary airport in the hood.
From there, I drove to the Museum District, which is a really nice section, I think Mom would've liked it. There is a large arch and statue dedicated to Sam Houston. They also have a rectangular reflection pool, similar to the Washington Monument. They have a couple of smaller parking lots and I was able to score a free parking space. I visited the Museum of Natural Science, but what I didn't know is it was also Field Day. So as I'm walking up to the entrance, I see a line of 8 or 9 school buses and the kids are all getting out. I maneuvered my way through them and inside, and saw a huge line of people waiting to buy tickets. As it turned out, there was a kiosk for it as well, and I got my tickets there with no wait whatsoever.
At 10:30, I saw a 3D film about the discovery and life of Wyrex, which is one of the most complete T-Rex dinosaur skeletons ever discovered, aside from its missing tail. It cost an extra 12 bucks, and I was a little scared of how graphic it could get, but it was really well done between the filmography and the storytelling. But the best part was I walked out of the theater and there must have been 200 kids waiting to get in for the next showing.
Their paleontology section had several dozen dinosaur skeletons, including Wyrex as well as a few other T-Rexs, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus. But they had sections for so many kinds of science including outer space, Egyptian tombs, alchemy, jewelry, even lifting a 500-pound piano. I also like the periodic table of elements that you could walk on and it would light up.
To be fair, the kids were so rampant that I was basically ready to go after about 90 minutes. I was hungry. And I needed to try some Texas BBQ so I went to Pinkerton's. It was not a huge place, there is a bar to the left and then the ordering area to the right with several long tables. So the patrons are basically in a position where they are going to strike up a conversation with strangers. I ordered a half pound of sliced brisket, after all, it's Texas. Amazing bark on it, plenty of salt and pepper, full of flavor. Maybe the meat was just a touch overdone, but their original sauce took care of that. And it's more a of a rusty orange color, I'm pretty sure it's mustard based but with some vinegar and tomato as well. So it's the best of all worlds. I also got about 3/4 pound of glazed ribs, which had just a little touch of sweetness to them. Wonderfully juicy and easy to eat.
My first side was bacon mac and cheese. I liked that it wasn't soupy. I don't like mac and cheese where the mac and basically swimming in a pool of cheese. The cheese should stay on the mac. The South Texas beans had a whole bunch in there, several kinds of beans, onions, peppers, several spices. I think the cumin was really shining through. They also asked me if I wanted to add pickle slices, sliced white onions, a whole jalapeno, and a slice of white bread. Yes to all 4! I had a really special bite when I took some brisket, added an onion slice, and some of that original sauce.
After that, the rain still wasn't falling, so I drove to Buffalo Bayou, which is a walking area and park just west of downtown Houston. A lot of trees, pedestrian bridges, they also have a dog park. I also passed by a Houston police sculpture that was kind of confusing, it was just several sections of concrete. But I guess it's meant to pay tribute to the local cops who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Later that night was Game 2 of the season, Mets vs Astros. I parked in a garage downtown for about 16 bucks and it was about a 15 minute walk to the stadium, now known as Daikin Park, or it may as well be Dike Park. Terrible name!
Food-wise, I tried the Crawford dog, which is two split top hot dogs topped with bacon onion jam and yellow mustard on a Martin's potato hamburger roll. Pretty heavy, but still really good for $13. I walked around concourse and got a Karbach Hazy IPA in the upper deck. Really good beer.
Thankfully, the Mets won 3-1, highlighted by a Juan Soto HR off the facing of the upper deck. And the way the Houston fans were booing him, it felt a little extra good.
To finish the night, I drove to Portillo's in Katy, a bougie suburb about 30 minutes west of the hotel. Hey when I get a chance to get Portillo's, I take advantage of it. I got my big beef sandwich with sweet peepers, hot peppers, and cheddar cheese. So good. I even added a Chicago hot dog for dessert. I was avoiding the fried food, and I added the vegetables that come on a Chicago dog. So I had it for health reasons, thank you.
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