I landed in Houston like a foreign exchange student on January 1st and dove into getting to know my surroundings and finding the local version of things I love best: inviting civic spaces, good infrastructure and architecture, tea, coffee, stationery, and bookstores.
Before I came to the Lone Star State, a Texan warned me “Houston is not the real Texas.” I understand—a beloved region cannot be summed up in a progressive city, like Austin, nor a concrete jungle, like Houston. Nevertheless, there may yet be some quintessential Texan truths expressed in the Houston Metroplex. You decide:
The region. It is flat, arid, and currently brown. The weather changes drastically every two days, hovering mostly in the 30s and 40s for January and February, with sporadic stretches of sunny days above 60 degrees. Even when the weather is mild, locals do not open their windows. Everyone drinks bottled or filtered water. There is no zoning and it’s apparent in a myriad of ways—one example is that while driving at top speeds past shopping centers, subdivisions, and office buildings, you’ll still find 10-20 acre sites available for sale in between, sometimes with cows. There’s Asian food phô miles thanks to a large immigrant population—especially Vietnamese. Many independent restaurants and retail are closed on Sundays. Surprisingly no one I’ve met cares much about football.
Houston. The city has two airports, but only one IKEA. Interstate 10 runs across the north edge of the city and four concentric ring roads—with and without tolls—circle downtown Houston. The massive, steep, interwoven highway interchanges are awe-inspiring engineering reminding me of old-fashioned roller coasters. Rice University, the Harvard of the South, has a gorgeous campus in the heart of city. Wide frontage roads run along each side of the freeway, creating a unique system for exiting and entering the freeway, as well as re-routing. The locals are called Houstonians, but a friend suggested “Houstonauts” might be apropos, as a nod to local contributions to the space program at Lyndon Johnson Space Center.
Suburban Life in Katy. Most people who live in this rapidly growing Houston suburb weren’t born here. Housing is primarily in subdivisions with names like Falcon Landing, Seven Meadows, and Grayson Woods. The neighbors on our street work for Shell, Exxon, Conoco Philips, and BP. Despite requiring a definite article, “the bayou” is not one body of water, but rather you catch glimpses of slow moving narrow rivers with steep grassy banks everywhere you drive. The recycling company picks up old appliances, but not glass—so you can leave an old fridge at the curb, but not a wine bottle. Whatever species of grass they use, it is noticeably “crunchy” when you walk on it. A favorite grocery store here is the chain H-E-B (Here-Everything’s-Better), where many of the products are local to Texas.
Culinary. TexMex and Vietnamese seem to be the hottest cuisines in Houston. Texas BBQ favors beef over pork, though both are expertly done. Chili con Queso is yummy, hot, melty cheese dip. Apparently a lot of the early Texas immigrants were from the Czech Republic, which explains the local chain Kolache Factory. My host mom is a wonderful cook, in addition to putting together delicious chopped salads. Some mornings she makes Texas Toast for breakfast—a piece of bread with cheese on top, broiled. My primary concern for Houstonians is that chemical-full coffeemate and styrofoam cups are still ubiquitous in both restaurants and church coffee hours. Even as a casual coffee drinker, I believe that every person has a right to half-n-half.
Orthodox Community. There are over a dozen Orthodox parishes in the Houston area. Many of the parishes here have built their churches, complete with iconography. At church I’ve met immigrants and first-generation Americans from Palestine, Lebanon, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as dozens of people preparing to enter the Orthodox Church. I’ve had the chance to visit nine different parishes, as well as a serene women’s monastery dedicated to St. Paraskevi only an hour away.
Local Favorites
Museum of Fine Arts Houston. This grand museum in central Houston is worth the hour drive to visit regularly. The main exhibits are organized in three buildings connected by tunnels. Every Thursday the museum is free to the public and crowded with people taking advantage of this treasure. The space presents the art in a way that invites discovery without being overwhelmed by the size of the collection. The museum Cafe Leonelli offers cozy Italian cuisine, friendly service, and good coffee.
Snooze. This dependable breakfast chain has locations all over Texas and other neighboring states. It’s hopping with families and hipsters alike on Saturday/Sunday. They offer six different kinds of eggs Benedict, the bacon is uniquely delicious, and those in the the know ask for the Cinnamon Roll pancake; it’s not on the menu, but they always have it.
Asia Town. This is a uniquely Katy version of Chinatown. It consists of three adjacent suburban strip malls with about 75 restaurants and shops, anchored by the Asian grocery H-Mart. You can park the car once and get dim sum, sushi, bubble tea, bahn mi, mochi donuts, phô, thai food, and dozens of other things I don’t even know how to order. It’s a culinary adventure in a very suburban setting.
Menil Collection. Another fantastic art venue in Houston is the Menil Collection, which is always free. I love the manageable size of the museum and the way the building relates to the surrounding park-like property and residential neighborhood. Menil has a fantastic collection including a small room of exquisite Byzantine icons.
Kaboom Books is everything a used bookstore is supposed to be—full to the brim, quirky, but well organized, and run by knowledgeable and friendly people who know their stock.
Dromgoole’s — one of America’s last great pen stores, owned by the fourth generation of the same family that opened it in 1961. They speak ink.
Lessons from a Houstonaut
When I visited the Space Center, my favorite part was a short presentation with astronaut, Guy Gardner who flew two missions, in 1987 and 1990. During Q&A an audience member asked, “Were you afraid to go to space?” Gardner answered that he wasn’t afraid for four reasons: 1st - he was accustomed to high-risk situations as a NASA test pilot, a combat pilot in Vietnam, and a driver on Houston freeways, 2nd - he trusted the hard work of thousands of people who had collaborated to ensure the equipment and flight were safe, 3rd - as a pilot, his mind was extremely busy during the launch and flight and didn’t have time to entertain other thoughts, and 4th - because of his Christian faith, he and his wife believed that whatever happened to him, he was where he was supposed to be, doing what he was called to do.
Gardner’s answer is full of wisdom. For one, it was refreshing to hear a public figure share honestly about their trust in God. I also appreciated Gardner’s strength of conviction about his work. It manifests as a sense of purpose, as well as presence. To show up for our work and relationships with the conviction that where we are is where we’re meant to be, is to live sacramentally. I hope we can figure it out by practicing one moment, one day, at a time.
A Favorite Cinematic Cowboy
Looking forward to…
…the Houston Rodeo, which opens tomorrow. Over the past week we’ve spotted multiple groups riding through town on horseback, presumably making their way to the rodeo from other parts of Texas and beyond. With any luck, I’ll catch some bull riding.
Thomaida