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25 Things I Learned From Driving to Houston


IronTiger

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Remember that thread I made a while back about advice for driving to Houston? Well, I did, and here's what I've observed from my little "vacation". This is mostly meant as a "humor and incidence" type thing, and it's just for fun. (Don't take it too seriously)

 

1. Those overpasses in the rural areas get kinda high off the ground before they have guardrails. Hate to drop off that one at 75, that's for sure.

 

2. When you drive on the freeways, you can't see a thing! Well, you can see things, but man I wish I had a better look.

 

3. I'm pretty sure that the light at Jones and the southbound frontage road of 290 was the longest single-cycle light I've ever had to sit through that wasn't malfunctioning.

 

4. Note to self: when driving on surface roads, the inner lane ISN'T the fast lane when people virtually stop to make a left turn.

 

5. Supposedly the Burger King (now the Pizza Inn) sign was made to be seen from Northwest Freeway. I don't think I ever would've seen it, even before they started to rebuild that interchange.

 

6. Holy cow! Burger King really DOES have a guide on trying to upsell customers. And they left it out in plain view, too.

 

7. It's barely lunch time, and 610 Loop West has already ground to a halt!

 

8. Here's how to defang merging--have the highway traffic move at 35 MPH. That's just an observation, not a suggestion.

 

9. Those painted-on guides to what highway you'll be turning onto really help.

 

10. I should've brought my laptop.

 

11. The toll road is really expensive even with a tag.

 

12. iPhones really do overheat and stop working (temporarily).

 

13. The "Kroger of the Villages" only bears a passing interior resemblance to the former AppleTree in Bryan, unfortunately.

 

14. Back when the H Mart was a Randalls, it must have been a nice store. It's certainly large enough.

 

15. H Mart is pretty expensive, but the squid was cheap, and cooks rather well. And it's a cool store otherwise.

 

16. I think I drive better, and can navigate better, than my cousin-in-law. And I don't even live there.

 

17. So that's what the Auchan looked like.

 

18. Mixed drinks are expensive at bars.

 

19. The classic Star Wars arcade game by Atari is actually pretty cool.

 

20. Downtown looks fantastic at night. I don't think I've ever observed that. Additionally, the Midtown Fiesta looks cool too. From what I've heard though, best to observe that one at a distance.

 

21. They built that former Holiday/Days Inn way too close to the freeway. Like, I could toss a piece of trash out the window and it will probably land on one of those balconies. No wonder it declined over the years.

 

24. Yeah, I know people work and commute on Sunday, but the traffic was still brutal

 

24. I don't care if I'm over the speed limit by over 15 MPH--I'm not taking risks with that U-Haul trailer they're pulling along at 70 MPH.

 

25. I love the Buc-ee's club sandwich.

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1. Don't drive 75 on over passes, I know the signs say 45mph but 60 in my honda work just fine.

2. What do you mean?

7. The West Loop is always congested, both ways, a majority of the day. I avoid it on my daily commuted by taking I-10 W or 59 S to get home. (Instead of taking 610 to San Felipe).

8. Do you mean merging onto the freeway or when a lane ends?

9. They do help if you don't know you way around, but people still miss them and take dangerous, sharp, last-second turns because of this.

11. The Tollway isn't that bad.

18. Yes, the are steep (depending on the grade of alcohol you get), prices for cocktails in other US cities are very similar if only a dollar or few cents more.

20. I agree, it has a weird essence as you pass it on 59. The blinking old-school sign is cool.

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1. Don't drive 75 on over passes, I know the signs say 45mph but 60 in my honda work just fine.

2. What do you mean?

7. The West Loop is always congested, both ways, a majority of the day. I avoid it on my daily commuted by taking I-10 W or 59 S to get home. (Instead of taking 610 to San Felipe).

8. Do you mean merging onto the freeway or when a lane ends?

9. They do help if you don't know you way around, but people still miss them and take dangerous, sharp, last-second turns because of this.

11. The Tollway isn't that bad.

18. Yes, the are steep (depending on the grade of alcohol you get), prices for cocktails in other US cities are very similar if only a dollar or few cents more.

20. I agree, it has a weird essence as you pass it on 59. The blinking old-school sign is cool.

 

2.  If you are trying to pay attention to the idiots people driving around you so you don't get in a wreck, then it can be hard to get a good look at something.  From time to time I find myself getting off the freeway to have a look at something I saw out of the corner of my eye while whizzing by on the freeway.

 

For IronTiger...

 

4.  I've found on major surface streets (Westheimer in particular) that during rush hour you actual make better headway by being in the far right lane.  The reason for this is that most people avoid it because of buses and cars turning right.  The buses are the only real pain as you have to merge left and then right around them.

8.  Did you get to try one of the "instant merge" lanes where the onramp abruptly dumps you onto the freeway with not so much as a how-do-you-do?

12.  You didn't leave it on the dash did you?  I've done that a once or twice and had a device shut down on me due to overheating.

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2. As the driver or passenger of the car? If you were driving, eyes on the road Tiger!

5. The Burger King sign was built for viewing from Hempstead Highway, not the Northwest Freeway. When it was erected, the freeway didn't exist.

10. Probably not recommended whilst driving in Houston, lol.

11. You're not kidding.

13. I don't know what the AppleTree in Bryan looked like, but I always loved the unique look of The Villages' Kroger. That's another one, like Sears South Main, that could've done without the modern update.

18. Someone should've introduced you to Fiesta Liquor. It's much cheaper to mix your own, get a head start, then head out to the bar for one or two of those overpriced drinks, satisfying your social interaction needs. Don't let that secret out btw, lol.

20. I live up 45 from the Fiesta at Airline, and it too had the sparkling signs. It definitely screams 1980s, doesn't it?

24. U-Hauls at 70, landscaping trailers at 35. Just another day travelling on Houston freeways...

25. Most everything is good at the Beaver. I like their summer sausage and cheese pack, but their fudge should have a warning on it for causing addiction.

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Clarification for some of the numbers:

 

1. The problem exists in the outskirts, not so much the inner city. Higher speed limits for one. If you notice, the bullet points are in chronological order. 

2. I've traditionally taken the "passenger" role, but when driving on 290, I had to pay attention for narrow lanes, cars getting on and off, etc. Because I've been on 290 many times, I could pick up enough of the surroundings to know where I was, but not enough to get a good look at things I would've liked to look at.

5. Oh...that makes sense.

7. Surprisingly, 610 wasn't congested coming back Sunday. 290 on the other hand...

8. It was a normal merging lane, but I wouldn't be nearly as confident if it was heavy traffic moving fast.

10. If I had my laptop, my weekend could've been less boring in parts, but I still had my iPhone, so it wasn't all that bad.

11. From here to 21 I wasn't actually driving. #11 particularly references #16. Still, it was maybe at least $10 for the round trip. 

12. Not my iPhone.

13. Just for reference, this is what the Bryan AppleTree looked like. After it changed hands and name, I worked here for a while, so I became very familiar with the layout. Unfortunately, the Kroger doesn't have that same layout. It's worth noting that while this was built new circa 1988, the Villages store was expanded in 1990. Inside the Villages store it just looks like another Kroger, I'm not sure if there was a unique décor package from the time it stopped being AppleTree to today. [if there was, I'd love to hear about it]

18. Yes, and that's (one reason) why I don't drink at bars. We were at Joystix for the video games, not so much the drinks, but my hosts had just moved and thus didn't have the materials for making mixed drinks that they had before they moved. 

20. The Fiesta opened in 1988, but a glitzy sign like that would probably only be found at a movie theater, even in the 1980s. This is where I appreciate NOT driving.

24. It was in Cypress on my way out. I know that much. Shortly after, traffic started to lighten up, though.

25. Most everything at Buc-ee's is kinda overpriced, but that club sandwich, considering how tasty it is, is on par with most other restaurants.

 

By the way, I misnumbered, there's 24 things up there, not 25. The missing number, to fit between 4 & 5, is this:

 

"I'm so sad that I drove the entire length of 290 and then Hempstead Road without seeing a single train. All I saw was some car switching. I remember in 2008, trains would come by almost every other hour. Since the recession, I don't remember seeing ANY trains on that stretch of track on any given trip to Houston."

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Waaaaay off topic, but the train nerd is going to come out of me. I've noticed that the line has a significant amount of leasing company locomotives on it lately, and your right, there seems to be more local runs and switch jobs going on than long trains heading towards Hearne on the line. I have seen a pair of maroon painted GATX locos on the line, pulling a short train, twice in the past month. Not sure if UP is leasing these engines or what.

Ok...now that everyone else is thoroughly bored out of their mind....

Fiesta in Midtown opened in '88? That seems awfully late, and means that the sparkling sign at the Airline location predates it. Fiesta at Airline/45 opened up after Gemco shut their doors and it seems like that was in the early 80s, no later than '84-'85. I thought the Fiesta off Wheeler was much older than 26 years. It sure LOOKS older than that, lol.

You know what? Those pictures don't remind me of the Kroger of the Villages. The exterior was darker than that, and unless my memory is really off this morning, the entry way is significantly different. Maybe my recollection is off. The most I ever used that Kroger for was to cash a check once in a blue moon. That tells you just how long it's been since I've even set foot inside of it. The pictures you posted on flicker remind me of the old Safeway on Cartwright Road in Quail Valley, Mo. City. It's not the same exterior color, but the overall setup is strikingly similar to me.

My wife's parents haven't lived in QV for years now, but the last time I saw the store several years back, it was vacated as the Foodarama that had occupied it, moved down Cartwright into the former Randall's. Don't get me lying to you on cross streets and such, for reference points. I can still get to the old house on Hunter's Glen with my eyes closed, but to start naming cross streets and all, there's just no way. At the intersection of Murphy and Cartwright, the old Foodarama/AppleTree/etc. would be about a mile and a half to the west, or the north side of Cartwright. That whole area has likely changed so much, I probably wouldn't even recognize Mo. City anymore.

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Waaaaay off topic, but the train nerd is going to come out of me. I've noticed that the line has a significant amount of leasing company locomotives on it lately, and your right, there seems to be more local runs and switch jobs going on than long trains heading towards Hearne on the line. I have seen a pair of maroon painted GATX locos on the line, pulling a short train, twice in the past month. Not sure if UP is leasing these engines or what.

Trains still go by plenty in College Station (up from the bad old days of 2009, but not quite to the level of old), but I'm not sure if they continue to Houston down 6/290 or switch off near Navasota and head east. Despite that, I still have yet to see an active train for what used to be a very active line.

Fiesta in Midtown opened in '88? That seems awfully late, and means that the sparkling sign at the Airline location predates it. Fiesta at Airline/45 opened up after Gemco shut their doors and it seems like that was in the early 80s, no later than '84-'85. I thought the Fiesta off Wheeler was much older than 26 years. It sure LOOKS older than that, lol.

Newspaper articles, HCAD, and Google Earth all line up with 1988 being the opening. It certainly probably appears older because it's so run down.

You know what? Those pictures don't remind me of the Kroger of the Villages. The exterior was darker than that, and unless my memory is really off this morning, the entry way is significantly different. Maybe my recollection is off. The most I ever used that Kroger for was to cash a check once in a blue moon. That tells you just how long it's been since I've even set foot inside of it. The pictures you posted on flicker remind me of the old Safeway on Cartwright Road in Quail Valley, Mo. City. It's not the same exterior color, but the overall setup is strikingly similar to me.

Also just for reference, here's the KotV, though I assure you that the sun is hitting it making it much brighter than it actually is. Yes, it's not exactly the same, but the whole brick, triangular features, green awnings...it's pretty clear that they came from the same pedigree.

I'm kinda surprised no one mentioned #3. I've been through some long lights, and on highway interchanges, but that one takes the cake. As for #5 and #6, there's a combo Burger King/Shell near Northwest Mall. I ate half of my Whopper in the parking lot of NW Mall while looking at the old Burger King's sign, while a good portion of the fries were consumed on the highway.

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