WestUNative

Actually, Ship Ahoy probably came first. My parents were divorced and that was my Daddy's favorite place to take me out to eat when he visited. This would have been in late 1940's through early 1950's. Wonderful place with the little balconies, ship deck railings, high ceilings and windows. Always felt special to me and the seafood was super as well.

Thank you for the pictures! Where do you get these things? As my visits were in my pre-driving years, I don't know which location, but the Dining Room on your postcard is the one!

Oh! Sue O, I attended Camp Tejas in about 1947 and somewhere here in a much earlier post I described exactly what you just did! We loved tramping over and peering into the depths of the mansion. I guess we were all enamored. Rowing on the lake, the separate wood cabins throughout the woods, making way through the "wilderness" to get to bathroom building in middle of night. I was only 6 at the time but loved it. Do you recall the pool decorations? Mosaic tile colors, perhaps of acquatic creatures? I cannot remember, just know it had some embellishment, not just plain vanilla. Anyway the interior of the house looked like the occupants just up and left without moving their things and never came back, which I now understand is what the widow did.

Sev, I will take one of each and like, right now! Also downtown in this era was The Normandie, elegant, cool and dark with gorgeous food and the best Eclairs in the world, before or since.

Okay, I have been around a long time. On our 9th grade, Sr. Skip Day from Pershing, in 1956, a group of us hung out at Howard Johnson's there on Bellaire. During that era they had an all you could eat seafood fry every Friday night, good stuff.

Perhaps you are thinking of Mueller's Bakery in The Village? It was wonderful and only about a block south from Rice grocery store. Great to hear from a neighbor, I lived on University Blvd. in West University Place from 1941-1981, so I know it throughout at long history. Moved back in 1993, stayed til 1996 and my daughter still lives there. Any questions, will be glad to help. By the way, loved Timmy Chan's in Greenway, such elegant presentation of food. How about the tall, footed, pierced silver rice servers? Miss so many of the the great restaurants.

Really good stuff! Right by Joske's. My young daughter and I haunted the place after our Galleria shopping.

Yes, indeed! W. Howard Lee was married to Hedy Lamarr from 1953-1960. Shortly after their divorce, he married Gene Tierney in 1960. Guess he really liked the beautiful stars of the Big Screen.

Actually that is what I meant to add. After reading of her sad mental history and of the electro-shock treatments, it is very possible to likely she was unable to remember the combination lock numbers, among so many things of that ilk we are tasked to carry around in our heads. I always liked her as an actress and her beauty was undeniable.

I just noticed this thread, small antecdote to add. When she lived in River Oaks, married to Howard Lee, they rented a box for their mail at the Highland Village Post Office Station. My husband at the time was in charge of the Box Section. Gene could either never remember the combination or didn't bother to learn it, so it became a frequent occasion for her to knock on the door and have my husband retrieve and hand her the mail. I always thought it was just the pampered life of a Hollywood Star, used to folks doing everything for her.

Marmer, thanks a bunch for saving and sharing your booklet. I would dearly love scans of menus for Hobbit Hole and Ouisie's as keepsakes and to share with my family. We were recently dining at the "new" Hobbit and I was trying to explain how different the menu was way back at the original place. We did Ouisie's not just for the food, but for the great name, "Ouisie's Table and Brown Bag Traveling Company." As for the cafeteria in question, Apollopride, I remember it spelled as Jetton's.

Stop the presses, hold everything, we segued to Bryan/College Station here? We've been invaded by Aggies? Well, okay, but shame, shame, no one mentioned Rebel's? I mean, wow, I lived in a small rural area for a while and the nearest decent shopping was Bryan, so we'd always do the necessaries, then head for Rebel's for a grand steak dinner, even in middle of afternoon. Great stuff. Equal time now for Longhorns. In Austin, a place named "The Mars Bar", which was actually a restaurant in an old house a bit removed from campus. Really good food, again great steak and some divine garlic mashed potatoes.

Oh, Alpha, thanks, no one believes me now, but not one girl ever saw me in my underwear, much less nude! We used the multiple, flouncy petticoat shield for changing into our gym suits as well. I attended Pershiing Jr. High from 1953-1956 and never took swimming. I do recall those girls who did swim were required to take nude communal showers and the rest of us twittered they must be lesbians to flaunt their nudity like that. But in the pool, they always wore bathing suits. There was a rumor that the boys swam nude and one day, a girl decided to check it out. She stealthily sidled up to the pool door only to find it locked tight, leaving our questions unanswered, but suspicions running higher. As for the controversy about silly modesty, that came into play, but seriously, most kids of that age simply were not that proud of their bodies and feared negative comparisons. I would think the guys would suffer from that especially, worried about size of equipment in front of the "big" boys.

Vertigo, you are not going to believe this, but tis true. Around 1993, my daughter, who grew up at Houston Zoological Gardens, of course, and I stopped by a flea market type old store in Leonia, Texas. That is a tiny spot south of Centerville. Incredibly there stood the little lion drinking fountain from the Houston Children's Zoo, all chipped and worn. The shop owner confirmed it had indeed come from there. My grown up girl towered over it at 5'1" and couldn't believe how little she had been when drinking from it not so long before. Remember when the Vampire Bats were the latest thing? Wow, really amazing and highly touted. Then the surprise to learn they'd been caught in Mexico and raised in a guy's garage in Bellaire, just down the street. Those tiny little devil faces lapping up the blood, which originally was outdated goods from the human blood bank, not from cow processors. And did you know, while we are trivalling, the adults never touch water? Only the newborns and they must have some. I too am sorry to see the little train go as well as the big steam engine. Three generations of us loved riding through the park with the trees almost scraping the sides - keep your arms inside and close! One last note and I'm sorry, but having spent a lifetime of enjoyment at the old zoo, I was very unhappy with my last visit a couple of years ago. Since being taken over by private sector ownership, I found surly employees, highly restrictive policies and an overall unpleasant experience resulting. There were disturbing things like teenagers on bicycles policing and yelling at patrons and once I had left and found my ride had not come, no one would allow me back in to make a phone call, even with proof I'd paid for admission. I know, but I'm a dinosaur, I have no cell phone.

Fantastic, isuredid! I have never known exactly where it was before, just grew up with the ditch. I am amazed the location was so close to us and right where Montclair Center, now Weslayan Plaza resides. Funny to think that Randall's Flagship high end store in on land where the literally dirt poor used to toil. Thanks for the welcome back, Vertigo58 and Filio, I've been busy with stuff and sadly neglected this site. Ta-da, there is my house on the map. University Blvd at Community Drive. We were the third house down from Community on the north side of University Blvd, 4226! Oh, and thank Filio for the full history of Burnett-Bayland, I find it fascinating. Went there once in the 1950's with my Aunt, a real do-gooder (57Tbird, if you read this I'm speaking of Mac's mother, Helen Lou Childers, legendary teacher), she had sponsored an orphan living at the home. We took her Christmas presents that day and sometimes she went on excursions around town with us.