the most wonderful sunday funday
Hellooooooooo friends! I'm coming to you, once again, from a hotel in New Hampshire, watching the Astros, but this time while eating some healthy snacks candy I picked up at Trader Joe's for "dinner." And the temperature here reached EIGHTY NINE DEGREES today. So you could say things have been worse.
Despite the number of lobster rolls I have consumed in the past month, the fantastic coffee shop I found in Maine, and all the airline miles I'm earning, I still get serious FOMO when my friends have fun without me. And when they send me Snapchats from Astros games. (It's fine. I'm just being dramatic. Please keep sending me snaps.) But I do try to make the most of my weekends in Houston, especially when the weather is as ABSOLUTELY PERFECT as it was this past weekend. Lots of stress and planning goes into my weekends now, making sure nearly every waking hour is accounted for, filled with coffee and food and friends and Astros games. And on Sunday, with the help of several wonderful friends, the low-eighties temperatures, and the virtual lack of humidity, I truly believe I executed the ideal Houston Sunday Funday. Let me walk you through it.
Catalina Coffee
Upon waking up Sunday morning, it came to my attention that there was no coffee left in my apartment. None. It was tragic. Needless to say, I immediately got in my car and drove to a local coffee shop. I chose Catalina, partially because of its proximity to my apartment and the direness of the situation, partially because of the high quality coffee, and partially because of these artsy and photogenic to-go cups. Crisis averted. The perfect Sunday Funday can now begin.
Provisions
So this one time, the Astros won the World Series, there was a parade, and downtown apocalypse ensued. Driving anywhere after said parade was not an option, but we were hungry and there was more celebration to be had, so my friends and I decided to walk from downtown to Montrose. Along the way, I suggested that we stop at Provisions to get some...provisions (that was terrible I sincerely apologize). Shortly after ordering some water from the bar, my friends turned on me and collectively decided that this place was "too bougie" and that it was "not the right occasion" so we left and got pizza at Pink's. Six months later, I somehow found myself at the same restaurant with the same group of friends, but this time for brunch. I suppose they MIGHT have been correct in their previous assessment, but I was at least partially vindicated when they admitted that they all loved their food. This seems to have digressed into an extremely pointless personal anecdote rather than any kind of informative review, but I promise the food is excellent and the patio is ideal for outdoor dining (also I've covered this place before). I went against everything I believe in and ordered non-breakfast food at brunch...but Provisions has some of my favorite pizza in Houston. I did order an unnecessary $9 mimosa though, and it was FANTASTIC.
South Bank Seafood
After brunch, I had a one hour window before meeting another group of friends, and needed a place to watch the Astros, obviously, so we ended up at this bar around the corner. I didn't get any pictures from here (Royce and I asked our friends to take artsy pictures of us looking super casual and stuff, and they promptly delivered an emphatic and expletive-ridden refusal), so I'll just have to paint you a picture using my rich vocabulary. South Bank is big and has a fun setup, with a huge patio and trendy, bright colored tables and chairs. I can't speak to the food quality, but there is a rotating selection of interesting beers, many of them local. We found prime seating at the bar where we could watch the Astros and the Rockets win simultaneously. And thus Sunday Funday continued. (Note: there is a deceptive parking lot right next to the building that inexplicably requires you to pay a meter. Park for free directly across the street.)
Spring Street Beer & Wine Garden
This bar had been at the top of my list of new places to try ever since I stumbled upon it during a rollerblading adventure (don't judge) several months ago. I had heard mixed reviews, but I still went in with high expectations, and it did not disappoint. The company and the perfect patio weather may have been contributing factors (it's like 87% outdoors, also my friends are great and we make everywhere fun obviouslyyyy). There is an expansive beer selection, and presumably wine, hence the name, but if we're being honest here I saw that mimosas are $5 on Sundays and stopped reading the menu after that. Shortly after ordering said mimosa, I noticed that my friends were all drinking FROZEN mimosas (because in what will come as a surprise to nobody, I was the last of the group to arrive), which looked even better than the pictured exceedingly average mimosa. That's what I get for not paying attention. But now I know for next time (I'm sure I'll be back soon). Also, food trucks! This is definitely a chill, daytime kinda place. Would recommend.
8th Wonder
My last post featured a thorough-ish review of my favorite brewery in Houston in the form of rambly, semi-incoherent bullet points (sorry...last week was stressful, I really have no idea what that post was even about), so I'll try not to be too repetitive. But during this visit, I had a conversation with the bartender and made a LIFE-ALTERING DISCOVERY. My two favorite 8th Wonder beers, Dome Fauxm (cream ale) and Rocket Fuel (coffee porter), can be combined to produce a beverage appropriately called COFFEE & CREAM, and it is now officially my favorite beer in the entire world and the only thing I will ever order from this brewery again. Oh also I like the Weisstheimer (because it has a clever name, get it?). This also happened to be my first visit since the We Heart Houston sign relocation, so we obviously conducted a full photo shoot, which involved me climbing onto the structure itself. It was an impressive but ill-advised display of athleticism that nearly resulted in serious injury, but I got a really cool picture. Our time here was cut short when somehow not a single member of our seven person party realized that this brewery closes at 6PM on Sundays. So we adapted.
Rodeo Goat
Let's get this out of the way...Rodeo Goat originated in Dallas. But as my dislike of Dallas-based things has ever so slightly lessened since my recent trip (I promise the post about said trip in the works), and because I have actually been to the original location and know it's good, and because it is one block from 8th Wonder, I was fully supportive of the idea to eat dinner here. Once again, we were able to sit outside and enjoy the glorious sunlight and only moderate heat and extremely low humidity! And the burgers here...SO FREAKING GOOD. I always appreciate a Houston nod, especially from a non-Houston based establishment, so I had to order the Marvin Zindler on principle (if you don't get that reference, please look it up). It was DELIGHTFUL. These burgers are a work of art. I hope I'm not overselling this. Also recommended - Goat Chips. They're homemade potato chips with some kind of seasoning that makes them interestingly sweet(?) and highly addictive. I didn't order any for myself (rookie mistake), so I kept eating them off of Sarah's plate (sorry Sarah).
And that's it. After a full day - six Houston establishments patronized, nine different friends spent quality time with, two other commitments skipped/forgotten about (sorry, I'm the worst), don't even want to know how much money spent or how many calories/drinks consumed, the perfect Sunday Funday came to an end. Laundry and packing needed to be done. Some random junk "needed" to be purchased from Target. My flight back to the no-longer-as-frozen tundra of New Hampshire was to leave in less than 12 hours (and I made it six minutes before the gates closed, oops). It was time to return to real life. But the perfect Houston Sunday Funday will live forever in my memory. Or at least...on the internet. If anyone is actually reading this nonsense.
<3 liz
