Well I'm back.  Happy 4th of July to everyone! 

David and I had a wonderful anniversary trip.  We went to Houston for a little getaway.  We left about 10:30 Thursday morning and drove straight to Papasito's - my favorite Mexican food restaurant.  We had a great lunch and enjoyed having conversation without interruption.

After lunch we drove on to our hotel, which was the Westin Galleria.  This hotel is an older hotel, attached to the Houston Galleria Mall.  David always likes a room with a view, so we were on the 21st floor!!  An old firefighter friend of ours always told me "don't stay higher than the fireman's ladder can reach"   but obviously David didn't listen to that advice!  The view was beautiful, overlooking a huge part of Houston.

After putting our stuff in the room, we went into the mall and walked around, got coffee, and just enjoyed a little shopping.  Our plan was to eat an early dinner at the Old San Francisco Steakhouse, one of our other favorite places, but we found out it had closed down.   We ended up just eating in the Galleria.

Our highlight of the evening was attending a movie at the River Oaks Theater, an old theater located in the beautiful River Oaks district.    I'm not sure of the age of the theater, but it looked like it was built back in the 50's or before.  It only had 3 small rooms used for movies and usually shows movies that are off the beaten path, not the popular new releases.  We saw a movie set back in the 20's called "Easy Virtue".     After the movie we headed back to the hotel and had dessert (apple pie and cheescake).  

The next morning we had breakfast in our room - this was included in our package.  We had a full breakfast with eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, toast, coffee and juice.  The best part was - I didn't have to cook it and we didn't have to leave our room!

Our outing on Friday was to an old mansion-turned- musuem.  This was called Bayou Bend Collections and Gardens.  It was the home of  Ima Hogg !  Yes! That was her real name!  Her family founded many things in Houston and were involved in politics.  She was loved by the community and lived into her 90's.  Her home was a beautiful place, with gardens and fountains.  She was a collector of furniture, paintings, and beautiful things from all eras.  They have set up the house with each room representing a certain time period - furniture and collections.  For instance - the first room you enter is the Colonial room which is furnished with belongings that the pilgrims would have possessed.  The 2nd room is the Revolutionary era, then the Civil War era, etc.    These were all her pieces that she collected over the years, but when they turned the home into a musuem (she died in the 70's), they placed the pieces together for effect.   

  President Bush (Sr.) once hosted the Heads of State in this home, when he was president.  The docent told us a funny story about this event.  She said that the amount of planning that goes into a president coming to town is a huge ordeal, complete with, of course, secret service checking for bombs, etc.   That particular night,  while President Bush was entertaining in the formal dining room, there were secret service men in several different rooms around the house.  There was only a handful of staff that was allowed to stay at the mansion for this event - but thankfully they did allow a few because, as they were in the middle of the festivities, the lights went out.  You can imagine the panic that filled the home, being that the President was there.   ( Ms. Hogg had all the light switches placed on the floor because she didn't like the look of light switches on the walls. )  Evidently someone had unknowingly stepped on one of the light switches and off went the lights!  One of the staff members, who was allowed to stay that night, walked over and stepped on the switch and the problem was solved, but only after much chaos ensued!

All in all the tour was very interesting and we learned alot of history tidbits while there.

After the tour we had lunch at Mama's Cafe, one of my favorite hamburger places.  I grew up eating at the Mama's in San Antonio.  The burger tasted exactly as I remembered it.

After lunch we headed home.  We had a great trip, even as short as it was.   We're so happy to have reached the 20 year mark for our marriage.  I have to say - it's a great accomplishment!

Today it's back to work on the house.  Even though it's the 4th, we're working around here.  Every day that we work brings me closer to that 2nd bathroom!

I'm cooking a brisket for lunch and we are going to enjoy just being at home.

Have a great 4th of July!