The Start of Houston

I like history, but I really like walking! This is not about the beginning of the City of Houston. Instead, I discuss the beginning of Houston Street, which I walked by yesterday, though this was not my first time to do so. The street run North/South and ends at Memorial Drive, near where I live. Maybe that is the beginning, as it is near downtown and the center of the city!

I went on a walk yesterday, which was my last day of being 59. I have walked a lot over the past two years, though I don't write about it here so much. I have created a new category called "walks" that links to each of the walks about which I have written. The last one that I wrote was almost six months ago.

I recently stopped my pattern of starting and ending my walks at my house. Sometimes, I get a ride from my wife, and sometimes I take the bus to start my walk, a one-way rather than a round-trip. Yesterday was a one-way walk that I didn't exactly plan. I left my house at about 8:15 in the morning and walked to my favorite donut store, Christy's. Donuts aren't healthy, but they are good! I didn't mind eating a donut, but I needed to get some change for the bus ride.

After I grabbed a donut, I wasn't sure where I was headed. Christy's is on Montrose and West Gray, and one option was to catch the 56 bus and head North. I have done this before, and I have also pursued my second choice, the 40 on Dallas heading East. I was never much of a bus rider in NYC, as I preferred the subway, but I have gotten to know Houston Metro well recently. I used my phone to find out what time the 56 would arrive at the stop, and I learned that its arrival would be within a few minutes. Option 1!

I wasn't sure how far North I would go. Before the trip, I found a short version, a medium version (the one I did last time), and a long version of this bus route. I decided on the short version, which was about 7 miles from my house. The stop was at Crosstimbers and Fulton Street. The last time, I had walked down Airline Drive, and this time I walked down Fulton Street. The most interesting part of this street was seeing 5006 Fulton, which is where La Mansion, a 6 bedroom house on a little over an acre of land is located.

The house is worth about $2.4 million, and it does not fit into this neighborhood at all. It is close to downtown, though, and it seems like a good place for parties. According to airbnb, it rents for $4500 a night on the weekend.

I walked down Fulton to Patton, a street I didn't know and cut over to the Highway 45 feeder, proceeding to an intersection that I had visited before: N Main and Houston. North Main heads into downtown, becoming Main Street, and Houston, which is West of it, also hits downtown.

When I got to the intersection, where the feeder to 45 turns into Houston, there was a McDonalds (no interest at all!). A few blocks further, a big park begins (Woodland Park). I have walked here before, and the White Oak Bayou, which I did cross and have written about before, has a spinoff that runs through it, the Little White Oak Bayou.

I continued through to Memorial Drive, but I got stuck for more than 15 minutes at a train track with the longest train ever passing. Afterwards, I headed towards Downtown, ending up with my normal Sunday visit to the Beth Israel Cemetery on Dallas, where I meet with the security guard, John.

This wasn't the longest walk or the best walk that I have done, but I did enjoy it. I appreciate that I can walk, and I think Houston Street is an interesting street. When I rode my bicycle, I crossed it many times. Normally, I walk the part from Washington to Downtown, but yesterday I covered the entire street. Everything is allegedly bigger in Texas, but not Houston Street!