Category Archives: houston

Bicycling: Heights to Montrose

I frequently cycle between the Heights and Montrose. Often taking the most obvious Heights/Waugh corridor.  The stretch of road from Washington south over Buffalo Bayou, then continuing on Waugh past Dallas to W. Gray is a bit harrowing for some. I don’t have issues with it, and have taken the route both day and night.

But there’s another route I take that’s a bit east of that – closer to town.  Close and parallel to Studewood/Montrose.  It’s a bit less harrowing for those who are timid about Waugh and doesn’t add distance if your endpoints are on the eastern peripheries of these neighborhoods.

map of route

Heights-Montrose Bike Route (click to embiggen)

Going from the North to South, from the Heights, first take the MKT path south past I-10.  Immediately take a right after passing under I-10 on the sidewalk before approaching the Target shopping area.  This will lead you along the sidewalk on the south side of I-10, up to Studemont. Continue reading

three saint arnold pints

Locations for Fine Beer in the Houston Area

Circa 1998.

Memories led me to dig this up. It’s a list of establishments that make, sell, or serve good beers in the Houston area.

I maintained this list for fivemap of Texas with Houston highlighted years.  I received lots of emails from locals and travelers because of it’s presence. It even made it into some dead-paper references, including at least once at the Houston Press.

It was initially hosted by Tenagra.com, and I left it there after acquiring shirl.com because initially I didn’t have a web hosting provider, just the domain, and later because moving things about on the internet might get people lost back then.

I should include this review on my résumé:

… Bill Shirley’s labor of love is one of the most useful to foodies. It’s an exhaustive, encyclopedic, thirst-provoking list of Houston’s microbreweries, brewpubs, pubs, bars and even home-brew clubs.

Without further ado, or comment, from the way back machine we have Location for Fine Beer in the Houston Area.

rear view of Subaru Forester without a back window

Crawl On In

As you may or may not know, I drive a car with no back windshield.  It only costs a few hundred dollars to replace; I can easily afford to replace it.  I don’t mind it being out.

rear view of Subaru Forester without a back window

Back window: unneeded.

It got knocked out by some drunk douchy 20-somethings in a Jeep. They were drinking coronas and headed for some velvet rope bar in Mid Town after asking the parking lot attendant at the Continental Club where it was. They projectile-disposed of their bottles and one took out my back window.  I was parallel parked on a side-street.

Anyway, I drive my 2000 Subaru Forester around without a back window.

I parked it overnight in upper Montrose last week.  A few blocks from Cecil’s bar.  In the morning it was clear that someone had “broken in”.  Not actually broken anything, but illegally entered my car by crawling in the back window.

Normally my back seats are folded down. They had been placed back up to better access the literal junk that’s in my car and needs to be thrown away.  All the junk (empty bottles and cans, junk mail, junk food wrappers, free newspapers, …) was nicely shuffled and aerated.

All my insurance and business cards were knocked off the sun visor. The manual was dutifully removed from the glovebox, as was the air pressure gauge and spare pen.  The drugs I had in the car (ibuprofen and Benadryl – both car cooked into unknown pharmaceutical forms) still remained.  The cash ($2) in my ash tray and checkbook remained behind.  There were several phone charging cables that remained.

I noticed the passenger door was unlocked, no doubt their egress.  I also noticed the eyeglass holder was empty.  My cheap sunglasses has been increasingly annoying me lately.  I have been meaning to replace them.  The annoyance of their catawampus alignment hadn’t quite co-incided with my presence at a place to replace them.  I dug through the detritus before leaving and could not find them.

That bastard had stollen my crappy sunglasses.  Good riddance, and thanks dumb ass bastard.  Did you really think I would have anything of value in an unlockable car?

I drove straight to the grocery store for some breakfast, some Dr Pepper, and some new $10 sunglasses that fit quite nicely.

Spring’s a Sprung

Despite some of our late spring cool blasts that have dropped our weather into the 50s at points through April, spring has arrived in Houston.  It was a fabulously beautiful day today, and this weekend is packed to the brim with events.

Saturday

There was one major event on saturday that I’ll be missing.  It’s a crawfish boil at a friend’s house in the Northern Heights (above 20th street). I love crawfish, and it’s an easy bike, but my social calendar was already booked when it showed up.  Also being missed, there’s a Day of Derby going on at Houston Indoor Sports. Continue reading