Hey y'all! I hope you enjoyed my last post about my trip to Las Vegas! For today, I wanted to try something different. My friend Brad recently took a trip to Houston and instead of me writing about a place I've never been, I thought I'd get some words from him about his own experience! Here is my guest blogger.
Hello bloggers! Brad Heglin here, writing as Hyo's first guest blogger about a trip I recently took. This past weekend I flew to the United States' very own Houston, Texas. This was my first time really getting away from the east coast so I was very excited for the trip. I left Logan Airport in Boston at 11:05, switched planes in Baltimore (BWI) and finally my plane touched down at Hobby Airport in Houston at 3:40 on Thursday afternoon, and thus began my adventure. Though I was there for a conference held by HOBY, a youth leadership organization, and would be in sessions most of the time, I knew I would have a little time to explore and that is what I'm here to share with you!
First things first: find the hotel. I took a shuttle with several others going to the conference that I had met up with in Baltimore. Meeting for the first time we all had plenty to talk about, but I made sure to take in the sights passing by me on the way. The city is very different from what we see here in Boston. It is spread out over the entire area that makes up Houston, so instead of being a bunch of stores, restaurants and skyscrapers clumped at the center, there are tufts of them throughout Houston with neighborhoods and small business areas in between. That aside, it was mostly as I expected, sand colored buildings and homes with terracotta styled rooftops. There were palm trees and the temperature was extremely hot but either way I was glad to be there.
Finally arriving at the hotel we grabbed our bags and went inside; what I found was very impressive. The hotel had a beautiful lobby was decorated with comfortable cushion chairs, lovely rugs, and these awesome gardens and fountains spread throughout the room.
After checking all this out I made my way to the elevators and luckily for me, the rooms also met my expectations and were just as nice as the lobby. Complete with two full beds, a flat screen tv, and a very large bathroom with toilet (which had a phone next to it!), big shower and a mirror which ran around the room, I was very impressed. The service we received from the staff was also above and beyond.
The first night I ate at the hotel restaurant and bar, the "NOÉ", which despite the high prices was well worth it. I had quesadillas and a beer, which were delicious and the service was very good too. They also have a lounge area separate from the restaurant which guests are allowed to use for smaller more casual groups! There was also a bar in the basement of the hotel, which isn't as sketchy as it sounds, called "The Black Swan" . It was actually very cool; offering a large variety of drinks, had small private booths throughout and a dance floor in the back for people enjoy! Some such people were from one of the four weddings held there that weekend, in addition to vacationers and our group attending the conference, so the hotel holds a variety of events and has plenty of space for them.
Though these were the only sights I really got to check out the city of Houston seems fun with plenty to do. There is also a large mall known as the Houston Galleria with plenty of shopping, food, and entertainment to keep you going. Though I did get to go many people did and had an awesome time whether they were purchasing some snazzy new outfits or just people watching.
I hope you all enjoyed my first blog! I stand by all the places that I mentioned so check them out if you're ever in Houston! Otherwise keep reading and happy travels! Thanks.
~Brad
