A few of the highlights from my past visits to Houston:
1) I got sick from eating raw cookie dough and couldn't join the family at Astroworld. I stayed with my Great Nannie and watched Gilligan's Island, I Love Lucy, and other classic shows all day!!! I was very sad that I missed out on the fun at Astroworld but I really enjoyed the day with my Granny and Great Nannie!!!
2) It once took Eric and I close to 10 hours to get to Houston from Lafayette (normally a max 4 hour drive)...it was a Friday the 13th and there were numerous wrecks including one at the entrance to my cousin's neighborhood where we were spending the weekend!! This trip was particularly hard for me because I was sitting in the car for so long and my knees were absolutely killing me!!
3) Tropical Storm Allison flooded my favorite red Chevy Cavalier!!! In June of 2001, a little over 10 years ago, Eric and I were on our way to visit family in Houston for the weekend!! We were very watchful of the weather because there was a Tropical Storm in the Gulf of Mexico! Before leaving for our trip, we took one last look at the weather and it looked like Allison was going to head north and dissipate before we were to arrive in Houston!!! So off we went!!! Once we got to the stretch of interstate 10 just past Beaumont (where there is 3 lanes each way and absolutely nothing in site), I noticed that it was much darker ahead of us. Very black and eerie looking!!!! Before we could make it to the Beltway, the cars on the interstate came to a stop!!! We exited the interstate and took shelter in a store called Garden Ridge Pottery!! We spent our entire night there because not only did Allison head north like it was supposed to but it stalled for most of the night and then headed SOUTH and dumped even more rain on the exact area that we were in!!! We spent all night in that Garden Ridge Pottery with water slowly rising until it got up to our thighs! We were not there alone...there were plenty of people there!! One man in particular we remember had fallen asleep on a display of pillows. He must have been having a dream because his hand reached out like he was grabbing something!! It is now an ongoing joke between Eric and I!! The next day we ventured out on the flooded streets of Houston!!! It wasn't the best part of town but with it being flooded there really weren't that many people around! (Side Note: The night before when we got out of the car, Eric took his shoes off and put them on the dash of my red car!!! ) So when we ventured out, Eric had to walk the streets of Houston barefoot!!! The cell service was hit and miss so it took us a long time to get in touch with our family to get help. Well just when Eric texts his father, "Help Normandy!" His dad calls and is already in Houston ready to pick us up!!! Thankfully, we made it out safe and sound!!!
Despite these memories, I did have many great memories and hope to create lots more with my family!!!!
