Houston, we're not having any problems. But we're still movin' pretty slow. And that's OK.

We slept in a bit after a somewhat later bat-watching and ice cream night last night, but got on the road before check out and hit Houston mid-day. We are staying at the Hotel Indigo at the Galleria. The Galleria is a ginormous swank-ola mall right next door. They have valet, limos hanging around and some really gussey'd up people shopping. And a million other regular folks doing the weekend shopping deal.

As always, we had many choices. Given the laid-back recharging Texas vibe (and the close by mall...) the girls had some retail therapy in their sights. Not that I am not up to some shopping now and again, but I wasn't feeling as strong about it as the girls, so we decided to divide and conquer.

The girls did the mall thing. They thoroughly checked out the Galleria, not looking for anything too specific, but found some great back-to-school needs (yes, we are climbing out of denial about having to soon be back in reality).

I had initial thoughts about hitting the signature Houston Space Center but after looking at timing and traffic, it looked like I would have pretty limited time, so I changed course and headed to the museum area near the University of St. Thomas. The girls are champs with art, but I really love some time to myself in a gallery to recharge. I found a complete score in this area, hitting the Menil Collection, Rothko Chapel and Houston Center for Photography. I won't ramble on, suffice to say that in about 3 hours I saw some completely amazing, world-class and inspiring stuff. Click on the blue word links above for more. If you are an art lover and ever in Houston, Menil is a complete can't miss.

I met up with the girls and we headed out to dinner. Schedules didn't allow us to hit a good barbecue place in Austin yesterday and although common perceptions are that Houston is a distant 2nd place for BBQ, I did some digging and we hit upon Roegels Barbecue Company. It's making some local waves recently and it hit the spot! Nice smoke ring on the brisket, good ribs and some solid pulled pork for Kim. The meat sweats kicked in, so Jim was happy.

Down for the night fairly early so we can hit the road tomorrow. We will be bidding adieu to Texas and heading due east for some bayou fun. Hope your weekend is going well!

- Jim