Vacation, part 1

Well, it's Sunday and we're safely ensconced in the Comfort Inn and Suites in Seabrook, TX. The drive up from Corpus yesterday was uneventful. Tommy was awesome...calm, relaxed, and unflappable as we navigated around Houston on six lane superhighways.

Last night we had a lovely dinner at a restaurant called Pappadeaux with Tommy's sister Sandy and her husband Jimmy. They serve Cajun style seafood which we enjoyed very much. Today we got up and had breakfast at the hotel. We stayed near The Woodlands, TX which is close to Sandy and Jimmy's home in Magnolia. [Honestly, all the little towns and villages around here just run together, there's really no physical distinction between them other than the occasional city limit sign].

Sandy and Jimmy have a LOVELY home in a wooded subdivision that is full of pretty houses on 1/2 acre lots. There are lots of tall trees (yes, still a novelty to me) and deer! As we sat in their dining room eating lunch, a family of about seven deer (doe, spike buck, and five little ones still with their spots on!) wandered through the front yard...it's just amazing. We were also lucky enough to have a chance to visit with Kevin and Jennifer and their family of five beautiful children!

After lunch we drove about 75 miles from North Houston to South Houston (remember what I said about all the towns running together) to Seabrook. I'm a bit happier with the hotel here than the one in The Woodlands. It seems newer and has internet access (VERY important!) and just, well, nicer.

Anyhow, this evening we drove along the coast to Kemah, TX for dinner at the Kemah Boardwalk (thanks for the tip Josh!). We ate at a restaurant that Sandy recommended called the Saltgrass Steakhouse where the steaks were huge but very tasty! Then, instead of staying at Kemah for the laser light show we came back to the hotel and curled up to watch a movie (Aeon Flux, which was much better than I expected it to be, kind of sciencefiction-y action movie) and rest up for our visit to NASA tomorrow.