This week I worked on Monday and Thursday only. We have planed the rest of the week to go on a trip to the Houston area in Texas to attend a “Quinceañera”, which is basically a celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday, marking her passage from girlhood to womanhood; the term is also used for the celebrant herself. On our way to Houston, we decided to stay one night in New Orleans to split the distance in have and to explore the city because I have not been there. Leslie booked a room for us two and another room for mum, she will also be on our trip to Houston. We were staying at the Towneplace by Marriot at canal street which is close to all the attractions we would like to visit on our stay. We arrived in New Orleans around 03.00pm so we had enough time to explore the city before dinner time. We made our way through the French quarter of New Orleans which has some nice bars and restaurants as well as some historical building. We stopped at little tropical isle to get one of the famous hand grenade drinks. Furthermore, we made a stop at Pat O`s Courtyard where we enjoyed another famous drink à the Hurricane. Leslie booked a table in the Bourbon house, where we had dinner together. The restaurant is famous for its seafood specialties. Mum and Leslie enjoyed oysters whereas I had some alligator wings. The food was delicious and rich on flavor. With our full belly’s we walked back to the Hotel to get some rest for the trip to Kemah tomorrow.
On Thursday morning we got up early to make sure we arrive in Seabrook TX not too late in the afternoon. We left around 7am in the morning. The drive was exhausting there was a lot of traffic on Highway 10. At 03.00pm we arrived finally on our hotel in Seabrook. The hotel was close to several restaurants we would like to visit and not too far from the location where the Quinceañera will be held. The plan for that night was to have dinner with a small group of Joana`s friends before the Quinceañera on Friday. Because dinner was at 08:00pm we had enough time to walk through the little village where we finally found a nice restaurant on the water (Barge295). We had some beers and appetizer before we walked back to Sam`s boat where we all had a nice dinner together, we where around 20 people ant it was also the first time, we met Joana and Ismael, Isabella, and Sebastian since we left Switzerland. Sam’s bout is widely known for its delicious seafood menu. That leads to the fact that we tried some of the sea food menu. Again, the food was delicious, and the drinks were great. With our full bellies we could walk back to the Hotel and went tired to bed.
On Friday morning we drove early in the morning to the Tanger outlet mall, to our surprise the mall opens at 11am in the morning. So, we had enough time to stop for a breakfast before shopping at the outlet mall. We made the decision to split for the shopping, Leslie and mum went together and I went by myself. My goal was to buy a whit shirt for the Quinceañera later in the afternoon. After the shopping we drove to Galveston to go to the beach to see at least the ocean and put the feet into the water. Back at the hotel we prepared our self to drive to the Quinceañera.
First, we would like to take Lift, but the car never came, so we drove our car to the venue which is only 10 miles away.
At the venue we had some time to have a drink before the ceremony started. All the guests were gathered in the garden, where the first part of the ceremony has been held, it was basically the blessing from a priest. After that we could take our seats under the patio on a round table. Appetizer and Prosecco have been served while the second part of the ceremony has been held. The main part was changing Isabella’s cowboy boots with high heels and dancing afterwards with her father Ismael and some other male family members. The party went on with nice Mexican food and frozen margaritas. the party came to an end around 11pm. However, there was a after party at some family members house close to the venue.
Mum was tired and she drove home, whereas Leslie and I attended the after party where we had more to eat and drink, especially nice tequila. The party went on and we had some great conversations. Around 04am we could get a lift from a friend of the family which drove in the same direction as our Hotel was. We were glad to get a lift back to the hotel and finally to sleep.
On Saturday we slept in till noon before we got up. Today we will meet with grace and here two kids. Grace is a very good friend of Leslie, the have not seen each other for years. We drove a head to the Jamaica beach at the coast to meet them there later in the afternoon. On the was there we got some lunch and some snacks for the beach.
We spend about 4 hours at the beach, we enjoyed the sun and the company. It was nice to meet grace and their kits which are adorable. Around 6pm we drove back to the hotel to get changed to go to our final dinner on our trip. I booked table at Sam`s boat, where we have eaten two nights before. This time I and Leslie ordered 3lb (1.5kg) of spicy boiled crayfish. I really enjoyed them, especially their spicy flavor. It was a nice dinner with mum and grace and here kits. It was already late, and we went back to the hotel to get enough sleep to drive back early on Sunday morning. The drive is around 800 miles and took us around 12 hours to drive back to Huntsville.
