When we last heard from Flat S, she had just finished spending Christmas in New Zealand. We think with her recent journies around the globe she had become a little homesick for America, so she made a trip back to her native country.
Flat S made a brief stop in Houston to visit Soraia and family. Here’s a report from Soraia about what they did during Flat S’s visit. You can find out more about Soraia on her blog, Sew Happy.
Flat S arrived to Texas a few days after the Houston Rodeo! This is a major event in Houston, but don’t be fooled, there is always a lot going on in this town that does not involve cowboys!
Besides the rodeo, Houston is known for being hub for the oil and gas industry and has the biggest medical center in the world. Houston has become a very cosmopolitan city, as you can find people from all over the place.
So, on her first trip to Texas, Flat S did not get to meet real Texans … instead she got to know a Portuguese family!
The kids were thrilled with her visit and promptly decided they would take her to their favorite places in town.
So, for our first visit we went to downtown to the Theatre District.
Right next to the Theatre District, there is the Buffalo Bayou. Here, at the Preston Street Bridge, there is a mysterious red button that controls something very intriguing – a bubble of compressed air which shoots through the calm waters of Buffalo Bayou. very cool! Here you can see Teresa helping Flat S press the button.
Still in downtown, we went to Sam Houston Park.
In this park, we can find a number of real historic buildings that have been preserved by the Heritage Society. The buildings are representative of many eras, from a pre-Texas revolution cabin to an 1891 church built by German and Swiss immigrants to a mansion built with all the conveniences available in 1905. The homes show us how diverse segments of society lived daily, from freed slaves building new lives for themselves to prosperous merchant families.
Here is Flat S and Teresa at the “Fourth Ward Cottage”. It is dated of 1858 and was built in a style suggestive of architectural ties to Acadian Louisiana.
Yet, their favorite building was the “The Old Place”: a rustic cabin built of rough-sawn cedar planks about 1823.
Next stop was the Museum District. Here we can find dozens of museums. Teresa’s favorite Museum is the Museum of Fine Arts. Manuel’s favorite is the Natural Science Museum, where we can see all the dinosaurs.
After visiting the museums, we took Flat S to see the Centennial Gardens, which have recently opened. The gardens are beautiful and the kids (Flat S included) loved playing around.
Since it was really hot that day, the kids decided to take their shoes and play in the gardens of the Herman Park. Here you can see Teresa and Flat S playing in the water fountain!
One of the things we like most to do in the spring/summer is to watch ballet or opera at the Miller Outdoor Theater. We just seat in the grass and see the wonderful shows put together by the Houston Ballet or the Houston Opera. They are amazing! The kids absolutely love this. Here is Teresa and Flat S at the Miller Outdoor Theater during the day. In the evening we went to see Sleeping Beauty (no photos are allowed). Did I mention that this is free?
Finally, the kids insisted that Flat S could not leave town without eating an artisan ice cream at our favorite place: Amy’s Ice Cream.
We really enjoyed having Flat S with us. I hope that she loved it too and that she continues to have fun in her trips. I wonder where she will be next….