Houston Art Car Parade

Last weekend we went to Houston to celebrate the wedding of our across-the-street neighbors. Theme (bride) is Chinese and Kil (groom) is Korean. The wedding was held at a Chinese restaurant in west Houston. This area could be considered the Chinatown of Houston, so this was not an Americanized restaurant, but had authentic Chinese food . . . or, at least, there wasn't anything I recognized! Suffice to stay, I'll probably not be switching our diet to all-Chinese, all-the-time anytime soon, but we had a lovely time. Plus, the traditional dress was amazing! Theme was so beautiful. Don't have any great photos, but this is probably the best . . .


Since the wedding was Saturday evening, we decided to stay in Houston that night and go to the Houston Art Car Parade. the following day. Sunday morning, though, we decided to try out a new church. We have been less than thrilled with Christ Church Cathedral (beautiful, but heterodox) so we visited St. Martin's, just north of the Galleria. The church was large, beautiful (see below), and seemed orthodox. Added bonus: George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury delivered the homily. Ahh, British accents!


After church, it was time to head to the Art Car Parade. This is something I've wanted to go to since I read about it several years ago. You can check out the link above for more info, but basically, anyone in Houston is welcome to decorate their car and enter it in the parade. There were lots of crazy entries, but here are a few that a) interested me or (more likely) b) I got a decent photo of:

Festival Time

Saturday was festival day in Beaumont. There are, oh, about 2 community events we like to attend every year and they were both on the same day this year! It made for one hectic, but fun day. Hopefully that'll be enough to tide us over until next year!

First up was the Mediterranean Festival, as hosted by St. Michael's, the local Eastern Orthodox church. While I generally think of Greek Orthodox, or Russian Orthodox, this church is of Syrian extraction. The food, as always, was delicious! We met up with some friends and enjoyed the outdoor dancing while trying to keep cool . . . a difficult proposition when the temperature was 84°F! (The worst part is that I know this isn't even near as hot as it will get!) When it finally was just too hot to stand (or sit), we went in the church for what was billed as a "church tour." However, much like the Greek festival I attended in Houston, it was more about proselytizing that history. And while I can't begrudge the church their opportunity to witness, I do wish there had also been some information regarding the church and building history thrown in.

Here are some pictures from the Mediterranean fun:

The always adorable Lininger family.

Audra is less than sure about this whole sunscreen thing!

Christina and Janel

Those dancers had to be roasting! 

Next up was the 4th Annual Beaumont Blues and Jazz Fest. The 2^nd Annual Beaumont Blues and Jazz Fest was one of our first dates (followed by a lovely late night sack at Easy's, RIP) and we have been coming ever since. We showed up a little late, due to the Mediterranean fest and were worried that we might have missed our favorite act. Fortunately, Jimmy Simmons had not played yet, so we were able to enjoy his band's musical stylings as well as several others. Although, here's a tip for next year's organizers: sporting dreadlocks, hailing from Austin and playing subpar rock music does not a jazz or blues musician make! Oh, and here's our vote for Howard and the White Boys. 

This was our view for a good majority of the afternoon . . . can't blame them though, that sun was hot! 

Fortunately, the umbrellas went down as the sun went down. 

 Which is better: smiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . or kissing? I know what my vote is! ;-P

The Liningers met us here too . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . clearly sans kids! 

As the jazz fest wound down, we all (including Elijah, who had joined us) headed over to New York Pasta and Pizza for a little sustenance and more great conversation. Overall, a very enjoyable day!