But after a pretty full first few days of vacay in Austin and San Antonio, we headed to Houston. Stopped on the way and got a little Schlotzsky's and I fell in love with the cinnamon roll behind the counter. Like when I walked up to the counter the guy reached for the cinnamon roll before I even ordered... was I that obvious? Anyways, I said I was celebrating day one without TB meds and downed the entire 800 calories deliciousness...
Made a stop at Buc-ee's (my first time)! Buc-ee's is like the fancy pants of convenient stores. They have so many things that they make and the bathroom stalls have little red and green lights so you know if a stall's empty. Kyle saw the meat counter and got excited about his yummy treat. You know, half a pound of beef jerky...
Snapped a picture of Buc-ee, perused through the Icee flavors and we were on our way. (I tried to get a picture with Buc-ee, but I kept looking crazy, really, maybe I'll show you those pictures someday...)
Night one we hit up T-Bone Tom's steak house in Kemah. We saw that they were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and couldn't say no.
I've always wanted to eat at a place featured on the Food Network. We watched the DDD clip before we left the hotel, and so we had to order the Armadillo Eggs...
Pickled jalapeno stuffed with BBQ brisket double-battered and deep-fried... Are you drooling yet? They were incredible.
Finished it off by splitting a large steak and a piece of bread pudding a-la-mode the size of a barn. Isn't my man the cutest?
With our stomachs stuffed we went to bed and got our rest. Morning brought on Day Five and I was pumped for NASA! I kind of love space exploration, the space program, all things nerdy like that. I was actually the "Pilot" of our Young Astronauts Club in middle school (Pilot was the cute space name for President)... So when I saw this helmet I just had to...
... try it on! I look good in a space helmet right? And I love math, I should have totally been an astronaut. I love science and experiments... maybe someday.
Unless the helmets look like this small one... Kyle said I looked like Gru in Despicable Me, apparently there was a scene with a helmet. Then he just googled a picture of Gru to show me. Shouldn't have laughed so hard before I knew what I was being compared to...
My husband is not as much a space nerd as me. So while I was like "what?!? they have a moon rock here! that. I. can. touch!!" he was like "hmm, there's a show outside let's see what it is." His favorite part of NASA was the Spring Break entertainment they brought in for an outdoor show. It had nothing to do with space... but it was cool. See?
After the show we went on the Tram Tour! This was the part I had been most excited about. Yes, I've seen it before. But it's been a while. And who gets tired of seeing NASA, and the training center, and real rockets? :)
This one's a model of the new Orion series for space exploration. When I heard the space shuttle program had been shut down I thought it was the end. Nope (that was just the media). Just starting a new program...
Rocket Park? Yes please. Isn't this huge? Last time I saw it, it was outside. Apparently the Houston climate was not good to it so they/the Smithsonian restored the rocket and made a little gigantic building for it to live in.
And then I saw my friend, you know... Buzz... second man on the moon, first in my heart (just kidding of course, Kyle you're the only one for me... right?) Buzz's other friends were with him too. So we all took a picture.
But then one of just us. I was star-shocked...
A fun pic with my friends from the good ole Apollo 13 mission...
And the fake astronauts in the museum... creepy, right?
And then I saw NASA's new-ish robot and I knew someone there is a Boba Fett fan (Star Wars, for those of you who don't have the force). I immediately sent a picture to my little brother to confirm. I mean really, can you see it?
But all learning and no play makes Jack a dull boy right (not me of course, learning is SO fun...). So we headed out for a fancy fun dinner in Kemah... right on the boardwalk
... with Amy Wheeler!! (and Kyle, too). But really, there's just no one like here, girl has her own little place in my heart. I think all I said on the way back to the hotel was "I just love Amy, don't you?" to Kyle...
I do just think she's wonderful. And we talked for hours, had the most odd waitress, and caught up on life. We walked Amy to her car and as we got back to our car Kyle said, "didn't you want to get a picture of the boats, is it too dark?" It wasn't, and these are probably some of my most favorite pictures I have taken...
Beautiful night and we were headed to Louisiana the very next day. Squeezed in a nice round of disc gold and then packed the car and headed east. We were going to Louisiana!
Home of yummy crawfish...
... and Alligators. The real ones...
And the ones made out of bushes, lol.
Just a little fun and family time in the ole Lake Charles. I have a great family, and it was a very relaxing and yummy way to wrap up our road trip adventure. (Even though it wasn't technically in Texas...)
So after sharing a Kingsley-classic with the fam for lunch (You know, Popeye's 10 Piece All Dark Special with a Family Sized Side of Red Beans and Rice...mmm), we packed up the car with our luggage (and a fun surprise project for later) and headed back to the big state of Texas....
Couldn't have asked for a more perfect vacation for us right now. Really we had a blast, we got to hang out with each other like crazy and even got to see my fam. But I will tell you, it was good to be home. Our warm, cozy, little mothball-smelling home. I love it.
I'm so glad you had such a great vacation!
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