A Quick Trip to Houston

As I mentioned in my last post, Chad agreed to make a quick, short notice trip to Houston to meet with a client for his employer earlier this week.  We departed Tuesday night for Provo in order to make the first flight to Miami Wednesday morning.  We were grateful for the hospitality of the Owen's who provided us with dinner and accommodations for the evening.  The best part was the opportunity to catch up and spend time with our friends.

We set out early Wednesday morning for Miami where we had a long layover.  Chad attempted to take me out for Joe's stone crabs, but when we arrived at the restaurant, we found out they are closed until November.  We were a little bummed, but still glad to be seeking food outside the airport and soon came across a walk-up ceviche restaurant nearby.  What a good find this proved to be!  It was so delicious and fresh!  I had an awesome salad loaded with veggies, topped with grilled octopus, and lightly dressed with olive oil and lime.  I love octopus, but it needs to be cooked right.  This was perfect--very tender inside with a nice char outside.  What a treat!  Chad had three tacos--one with octopus, one with shrimp, and one with fish.  We returned after lunch to the airport and headed to Houston.

When we arrived, we had to pick up some of Chad's co-workers before heading to our hotel downtown.  We then went to dinner at Eddie V's.  I had my favorite fish, Chilean sea bass, with roasted beets and steamed broccolini.  It was so yummy!  Chad choose steak after not having beef in some time.  He had ice cream for dessert and I enjoyed a big bowl of mixed berries.  Over dinner, we were able to share some of our experience with Chad's co-workers and give them a glimpse into our life here.  They are anxious for him to return to work, but also very respectful of his choice to take a leave of absence to pursue these goals.

Thursday morning we had breakfast together at the hotel.  I fueled up on a monstrous veggie egg white omelet and melon before parting with Chad for work and heading out myself to do some grocery shopping.  I found a few good items at Trader Joe's, but really racked up on what I wanted at Whole Foods.  After shopping, I ate lunch there as well.  I love there prepared foods section.  I also wandered around another Houston grocery store called Central Market.  It was so nice and had a great atmosphere.  They had the last few items on my list to complete my shopping.  I returned to the hotel and after Chad finished working enjoyed dinner with him at Roots Bistro--a farm-to-table, organic restaurant just outside downtown.  I had a fresh salad with pears and watermelon to start and vegan sweet potato "risotto" with lobster mushrooms as my main course.  Chad opted for the duck breast with "brie" foie gras to start and the white truffle gelato with basil cake and aerated chocolate to finish.  We both enjoyed some charred okra as well as a side.  It was a creative menu and a good choice!

We switched to a hotel closer to the airport because of our 7 a.m. departure time Thursday morning.  Travel both ways was long, but problem free and relatively easy.  We were even able to catch an earlier flight home after breezing through customs.  It involved a brief stop in close by Salt Cay to drop off one passenger, but still got us home hours sooner.  I have never seen an airport like this one and the runway was just long enough.  It honestly didn't look like we were going to clear the ground before it ran out, but we did.  We were grateful that everything worked out so well along the entire trip and that we made it home safely.  We were also appreciative for a brief change of scenery.  We found ourselves happy to return to Grand Turk though.  We love the simplicity of life here and while it's good to get away periodically, it's definitely less stressful and easier to focus on more important things in this environment.  It's funny how your body adapts to your environment physically.  We were excited about having AC while traveling, but found that we were freezing everywhere we went and even thought we were getting sick after being in the cool for so long.  We took lots of vitamin C and avoided actually catching anything, but were definitely fighting it.  Craziness!  We joyfully returned to our routine with Saturday service and Sunday meeting and service.  It was nice.

We leave next Sunday after meeting for the States again.  I will arrive late Sunday in Jacksonville and Chad will arrive late in Houston.  He will join me in Ponte Vedra Beach Wednesday night after completing his work in Houston and we will be in town until Saturday morning.  We look forward to seeing as many of our friends and family as possible.  Yay!

I am sorry that I only got a few pics of our eats and Chad in work mode this trip.  I have a few other foodie pics to include with a later "What We Ate Post," but otherwise there wasn't much to photograph or I forgot :)  See some of you in the flesh very soon!