Phoenix to Houston, Minute Maid Park

Thursday we drove from Phoenix to Sonora, Texas - just over 800 miles.  This was the farthest we can ever remember driving in one day, but we were able to take advantage of the 80mph speed limit in west Texas, which helped speed us along a little.  We stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant that was really good -the best we have come across so far.  We were in Sonora, Texas for a total of 11 hours, which was about 10 hours too long.


Best (and Spiciest) Mexican Food So Far (in Las Cruces, NM)

Friday we drove from Sonora, TX to Houston.  We enjoyed a two hour respite at the famous San Antonio Riverwalk and had a wonderful lunch at a steakhouse on the water.  After checking in at our hotel in Houston, we "relaxed" for a couple of hours at Katy's Lounge, which our server informed us was the oldest continuously open establishment in Houston - they've been in business since 1939.  We enjoyed sharing our baseball story with some of the locals.

  

San Antonio Riverwalk



  

Saturday we spent a little time in the pool at our hotel.  It was hot and muggy in Houston with the temperature and humidy both near 100.  We went to a 'New York' Deli near downtown Houston called Kenny and Ziggys New York Delicatessan.  It was a large, crowded place with a nice 'deli' decor.  Tina ordered a Smoked Salmon platter and Kevin had a pastrami and corned beef triple decker sandwich.  We both really enjoyed our meals.  Kasha Varnishkas, anyone?

We left for Minute Maid Park, which is located near downtown Houston, at about 3:30pm.  It was a 6:05pm start time for the Saturday game against the Boston Red Sox.  We parked in a lot only a couple of blocks from the stadium for $5.00 - another bargain.  We arrived at the stadium around 4:00pm, right when the gates opened.  This game, and the entire weekend series, against the Red Sox was sold out.  We had tickets in the All-You-Can-Eat section, since tickets were hard to come by and these were reasonbly priced at $25 per ticket.  The seats were located in the second level in left field.  The seats were pretty good for the price and provided a good view of the stadium and the field.  There were Red Sox fans everywhere.  Most that we talked to were from other parts of Texas.  Boston beat the Astros 10-4.  There were post game fireworks for a pre-Independence day celebration that was very nicely done.  We both really enjoyed Houston and Minute Maid Park.