Hello all, day 1 is over and the first full day in the USA has been restful.
The day begun with a trip to Starbucks to get us going. We took some time to look around Houston and also to pick up the tickets for tonight's baseball game. Houston is a 'typical' US city with lots of industry and a noticeable amount of poverty downtown. We arrived at Minute Maid Park to collect the tickets from the box office, there is some street parking available and is relatively hassle free.
Finding a place to eat in the downtown area can be challenging. The best bet is to head out of the city via one of the freeways and keep your eyes open. Today's choice was an Ihop off the I-45 which happens to be the worst Ihop I have been in. Staff were less than interested in the customers and the waiting times were long. However, the food was good. The ham and egg melt was quite tasty.
After food we headed back downtown to go to the ballgame. The Houston Astros vs. Boston Red Sox played at 7:05 and it is best to get there over an hour before the doors open to get parked and wait in the queue. Stadium parking can be purchased in advance and is $15 for the evening. If you are not able to get this the other parking lots are available starting at around $30 for the event and they get cheaper the further away from the stadium.
Sport games are treated differently in the US as it is more about the food, drink and the sport. There are lots of different types of food on offer from nachos to burgers, hotdogs and chilli dogs and also ice cream and snow cones. As you would expect, everything is at a premium price.
We had club level seats which means a padded seat for more comfort and in seat food service. We also had a great view, just above the 3rd base. There were also fireworks after the game which were amazing. They must have cost a small fortune and really finished off the night.
Getting back out to the hotel was easy enough and there wasn't much traffic to contend with - given there were over 40,000 people watching the game.
It was a very enjoyable experience at the game and having a quick look around. Tomorrow is another day and the destination is New Orleans, Louisiana, which is about a 7 hour drive. It is long but I think it will be worth it to get there before independence day. As always rate the blog and leave a comment. I'll leave you with that and watch this space for how the journey progresses tomorrow.