Feeling a bit of stress tonite. We are in downtown Houston, with the TV on, watching the results come in. We both agree we’d rather be back in New Orleans, enjoying that awesome jazz trio, and eating that awesome food. We packed a lot in yesterday, after beignets and coffee, with Judy’s guidance. She suggested the lunch venue, and I finished my Blackened Drum and wanted more.

I wished I could’ve ordered five more and taken them home. And I’m a fiend for freighter ships, and we got to see many powering up river and floating down.

We went to the Ogden Museum next, which I wouldn’t have picked, myself, but it was delightful. It mostly had artists from Louisiana and Texas, some of whom are internationally famous, like Lynda Benglis, and some who are famous locally. I saw a great show of black and white photos by Baldwin Lee, who was unknown to me. The subject matter was people of the greater Louisiana area, done in the mid to late 80s. Really moving.

Then we went to the Columns, a hotel that was first built as a private residence. The ground floor is a warren of rooms and couches, and the outdoor deck is a popular bar. We saw the Stanton Moore Trio bring the roof down. So good!

Today we left New Orleans, a city that delights all senses, to keep going West. The route followed Interstate 10, and the first part of the trip is raised over watery bayous.

The highway is suspended at least 20 feet above the water covered ground. It reminded me of a Mayan sacbe, their raised roadways straight-lining from city to city. I haven’t heard that they built them that way to be above floods, but maybe that was one reason. Our sacbe was not straight. At one point it bordered Lake Pontchartrain. I thought, wait a minute, the ocean should be to our left! The Lake is surprisingly huge.

The weather was changeable. One moment it was partly cloudy, then it was raining so hard you could barely see the road.

And at one point, our gps minder suggested we could save 53 minutes (!) by detouring off the highway to get around an accident. Detourious! Here’s a picture of the traffic backup we were avoiding:

When the clouds weren’t dumping rain, they were putting on a show, being poofy and dramatic.

Once we made it to Texas, the landscape got very industrial. And crowded. Here’s the sunset from the hotel. Beautiful!

Tomorrow we’ll look at the Menil Collection, and continue West.