Houston Freeway Videos

Freeway Jim, mentioned in my last post, also has a great video of driving through a few of the terrific stack interchanges in Houston (another of my favorite places). Below is his video, again courtesy of YouTube:



And below is Jim's downtown Houston freeway tour. The building to the left of the freeway at 2:20 into the video is where I worked at Houston Traffic Central, a radio traffic reporting service that provided reports to most of the radio stations in town back in the late 1970s. The shorter building just to the left of it was where I worked at KULF, AM 790. The radio station was in the penthouse suite. This particular section of road is I-45, and is locally known as the Pierce Elevated, since it runs above and beside Pierce Street.

The New Train Has Arrived!

A few weeks back, I waxed nostalgic over the demise of the old mini-train at Houston's Hermann Park. On Friday, the new train made it's debut, and a beauty it is! I am going to have to get back down there and take a ride with the rest of the kids, just for the fun of it all, and for old times' sake!

Outside The Galleria in Houston

Macy's and west end of The Galleria in Houston

My business trip to Houston last weekend was a lot of fun, and a chance to visit my parents, sisters, and other family members for the first time in many months. But alas, it was still a business trip, so business was conducted. Monday night, our business partners took me and three colleagues to a wonderful Mexican cantina on Richmond Avenue, called El Tiempo. What a fantastic place. There were a variety of meats on a hot grill brought to the table, including steak, chicken, pork, shrimp, lobster, ribs, and quail; accompanied by freshly made tortillas. Even though it is winter, it is also Houston, so we sat outside on the patio and enjoyed a pleasant Houston winter evening. El Tiempo is owned and operated by the Laurenzo family, whose mother used to run the famous Ninfa's Mexican restaurants in Houston years ago.

The next day (Tuesday) we went to the company's office in the Galleria area of Uptown Houston. We met in a conference room on the 10th floor of a building looking out over the Galleria to our east. The photo above is the view from the conference room, and since it was taken with the camera phone, it isn't as clear as a dedicated camera would take. Still, it gives you an idea of the view. A full panorama, which this doesn't show, would have been nice. Of course you can see The Galleria's west entrance and the ever present Williams Tower (formerly Transco Tower, which I have written about before). You could also see the skylines of Greenway Plaza, Downtown Houston, and in the distance, the Texas Medical Center. Spectacular!

Leaving our meeting and heading to Bush Intercontinental Airport for the return trip to Denver, I also used the camera phone to grab the shot below. It is taken through curved window glass of our rental van, so the Galleria II tower looks a bit wavy! This is one of the north entrances to The Galleria, and of course Williams Tower. This is one of my favorite areas of Houston.


North entrance to The Galleria, with Williams Tower standing tall