Lone Star State, Day five and slx

 Friends and Gardens

The hotel we were staying in is under construction, and we decided there were too many noises and chemical smells to stay. Our plan was to book a room in the adjacent sister hotel. The staff bent over backwards to help with the move, and we got an upgrade for the same price. Now we have a little apartment with all of the amenities and are quite comfortable. We are not complaining. 😀

We had a fun time visiting with old friends.

Yesterday, we meet with old friends from our New Orleans days. We have kept in touch sporadically over the years, but have not met in person in 30 years. And you know what? We picked up right where we left off. It's great when it works out that way.

Today, we went to Mercer Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. This was another family favorite when we lived here. Many of the gardens were wiped out during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, but they have rebuilt them beautifully. Here are some pictures from our visit. Yesterday, you saw a lot of animals. Today, you'll see a lot of flowers (and maybe a few animals).

Mercer Botanical Gardens and Arboretum is named for Theresa Mercer and her husband. She was an avid gardener and started the garden on 14.5 acres. Today it is owned by Harris County and has over 300 acres.

Ward studying a map of the gardens. This koi pond was a favorite of Wally and Theo's back in the day.

Cypress swamp

Bluebonnets (Texas state flower)

We saw several people using the gardens for a photo shoot. I assume this is for a quinceañera.

This nice couple stopped their photo shoot and volunteered to take a picture of Ward and me.
Check out her outfit. Those are laced, leather pants with fur around the bottom. We don't have any pictures of the cheesecake bathing suit shoot that was going on.

On the other side of the park , there were a couple of miles of paved trails that Ward and I walked. I was getting hot near the end. The temperatures were only in the mid-high 80s, but it was very humid.

Then, it was back to the hotel to do some laundry. For dinner, we went to an In-n-Out Burger. I've heard about how great they were for years, but have never seen one before. Our opinion: They were pretty good for a fast food burger, but nothing to write home about.

Until next time...