My Houston - To Nan's And Back Again

Recently the master moderator on the Star Trek New Voyages Phase II forum posted statistics on where visitors to the website and forum were coming from. This led to a "challenge" to the forum members to post pictures showing where they live. Being somewhat vain and proud of my admittedly limited photography skills I wanted to post a good picture of Houston taken by moi but what to shoot? What is Houston? Do I take a picture of the skyline and submit that? Certainly some people will recognize this as Houston however Houston is SO much more than just downtown.

What do people think of when they think of Houston? I imagine most people will either think of the Astrodome or NASA, specifically Johnson Space Center. I could certainly go take pictures of the Astrodome, now o'er shadowed by the Reliant Center or I could drive down to Clear Lake and take some pictures of the Saturn V and other rockets there. These options also seemed like pandering to the crowd a little, showing them what they expect Houston to be. Of course there are the things in Houston that very few natives would think about, like the San Jacinto Monument which sits on the battlefield where the Texans under Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna's army and won independence for Texas. Houston is the Galleria. Houston is the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Houston is Jones Hall. Houston is River Oaks. Houston is the Fifth Ward. Houston is so many different things I honestly had no idea what I should share. I was about to give up on the project when it occurred to me that I should show these people what Houston is to me. Where do I like to go? What do I love about Houston? Thus this intermittent series titled "My Houston" was born.

The pictures in this first installment were all taken as I walked too and from Nan's Games and Comics, Too, my local comic shop. The walk is just a bit over four miles and over the past couple of months I have gotten in the habit of walking over there on Saturdays to pick up my books. Now shall we head out?

(Click on the photo to launch the Flickr photoset.)