Restaurant T'afia creator, chef, and native Texan, Monica Pope has created a nice niche in Midtown: a top-notch restaurant, a catering outfit, a Cooking School, and a weekly Midtown Farmer's Market. This woman is seriously involved in her community.
Monica insists on using seasonal, locally-grown foods at her restaurant.
The Farmer's Market is not huge by any means, but in addition to several food booths, there are several others featuring locally-made clothing, bakery goods, jewelry, origami, macarons (not macaroons), and a lot more. I had a palpable sense of being surrounded by Democrats of all stripes. It's a nice feeling, especially in this often-reactionary state.
Today we picked up a basket of cherry tomatoes and a bunch of mizuna, along with some coffee and a scone.
And a taste of locally-produced wines from an outfit called "Water 2 Wine." Surprisingly good, but then again, none of the grapes are grown in Texas. I don't normally drink wine at 10:30am, but I don't normally get free wine either.
Another new club has sprouted in the area. Like mushrooms I'm tellin' ya. This one is the "Pachinko Hut" smack dab inbetween T'afia and The Continental Club.
It's just a hole in the wall icehouse, a patio deck out back, but I do wonder what ELVIS looks like all lit up. Can you find ELVIS in this picture?
I tellya, the wife's smart car sure is adorable. It can fit into the smallest parking spaces. People still smile and wave at us when they see us in the car. It's wierd. Still no art on the car, though, hun, let's get on the stick.
Just a short jog up the street to The Coffee Groundz for another cup of coffee and a muffin. These guys created Rev Houston, which runs a Chrysler Gem electric car as a free shuttle between downtown and Midtown.
They deserve our support.
It feels like vacation today....
And then it was just a bit further north to Discovery Green Park. The main reason to visit the park today was to see some of the 50 "Cool Globes" that have landed throughout the park, and will be on display until the end of December. Cool and thought-provoking (and guilt-inducing) art.
There was another free kids program on the main stage at the park. Man, these kids sounded awful, and looked even sillier. But, hey, they're puttin' it out there.
We only got to maybe 15 of the 50 Cool Globes scattered around the park.
It is a little satisfying to consider how many energy-saving activities that the wife and I are already practicing. We ain't perfect, but we're doing our part too. Yet, there is always more to do.
This one represents Houston and San Antonio. Notice the construction crane in the background? Lots of those all over Houston.
Oh, and there's another one...
Humanity? Come in, humanity! Can you read me?!
Irony? Irony is dead.
Green your home ... we do ...
Very well done.
Houston Electric Cars had some rather cool-looking NEV's (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) on display at the Park. Only $12,000? Hey....
The fountains are a favorite. It's entertaining to watch the kids out there in their swimsuits, or clothes, playing in the fountains.
My gosh! It's 1:00pm! Time to get home for some lunch. We hit the Midtown Farmer's Market, Coffee Groundz and Discovery Green, all before 1:00pm. What a fine day...er...morning. And all those positive vibes: locally-grown foods, local artists and craftspeople, bakers, gardeners, environmentalists. Sure is nice to get outside, away from the boob tube now and then.
Before leaving we chatted up a young woman at the Urban Harvest booth. We're pretty unique in Houston, what with our massive rooftop deck growing all those veggies and such. Maybe we should lead a class? Haha.
And finally, a word from Bill Clinton. He was a Democrat, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment