We decided earlier this week that we should go downtown sometime this week to "take part" in the Super Bowl festivities or we'd one day regret it. We figured it would never really sink in that "hey, that's here" unless we did. So, tonight we braved the weather (which was only somewhat rainy) and were as adventurous as two parents can be with a child in tow.
Chantell and Salem picked me up at the office a little before 5pm. The plan was to go to the Fannin South Park & Ride and board the newly christened and oft maligned METRORail. The "red line" goes from the Reliant Arena / Astrodome area north past the medical and museum districts and into downtown from there.
We had no problem finding the park & ride lot, which was our initial concern (METRO has extensive maps for it's routes, schedules, rates, the downtown tunnel system, etc, but nothing in the way of directions to their lots). Parking was supposed to be $2, but it was jacked up 250% to $5 (extortion, it's the American way). The rail line, however, was a bargain! You can get an all day pass for $2 (per adult), and kids (not sure the age limit) ride free.
The METRORail looks a lot cooler than it really is... It's really just an electric bus on tracks. It has to stop at some lights, etc but ended up being the right way to do it as we didn't have to deal with traffic or parking downtown. It's very clean, and allowed us time to look around and talk rather than argue about the best way to get to X (not that we do that mind you).
From the moment we turned into the park & ride lot, it was evident that all of Houston had their game face on. Everyone from METRO employees to everyday citizens were friendly, smiling, and outgoing. Restaurant employees, policemen, etc were helpful, professional, and courteous. It was really very cool.
We ate at a place called Chipotles (I just love their website). They sell gourmet burritos. I think by gourmet, they mean weighs 4 pounds. They also specialize in a tortilla-less burrito (I know, I know) suspiciously called a bol. How convenient it must have been that they're able to advertise Super Bol.
We got a window booth and watched the passers-by pass by. I found out later that:
The restaurant chain is partly owned by McDonald's
There's a reason nutritional information is not readily available: my burrito contained roughly 1100 calories and 35 grams of fat... It was very good, but I had to punish myself and walked 2 miles once we got home.
Anyway, the main reason we ate there was that it looked to be the only venue that catered to the blue-jeans crowd besides Subway (please keep all nutritional comparison comments to yourself). Even the hole-in-the-wall, grungy, previously vacant store-fronts were transformed into trendy, by-invitation-only hot spots.
The trip was relatively frictionless. It became more and more obvious, however, that after 7:00pm the stroller was becoming a liability and we were pushing Salem's limits (she had been fabulous the entire evening). So, we decided to head on home before she burst at the seams. You could tell, the whole evening, that the excitement was building, and the hysteria was yet to begin... I imagine it's in full swing about now!
All in all, we had quite a fun night and we're glad we gave it a shot! We'd encourage you Houston folk to give it a try (especially the un-tethered ones).
