Eventually we spotted Kahn's, a local jewish deli. We had no knowledge of this establishment but it was such a happy accident that we stumbled onto this place. We had the best hot pastrami sandwiches I have ever had besides Katz's. A hot pastrami sandwich is best accompanied by a Dr. Pepper made with real Imperial Sugar cane sugar, not the kind with the corn syrup, YUCK.
We sat outside and ate our lunch watching the really pretty clouds coming up from the gulf.
After lunch we headed over to the galleria area of Houston. This is where Williams Tower is located and I found my new favorite skyscraper. Skyscrapers are a bit of an obsession of mine and I just love love love Williams tower for the fact that it has an art deco style and is yet still ultra modern. Add it to the list of reasons why I think Philip Johnson was a terrific architect.
Around the galleria area the streets labels are on giant chrome rings suspended over the intersection. Additionally all of the lamp and traffic light posts are chrome and it makes for a very clean, space-like environment, quite suiting for Houston.
At 901 feet (about as tall as the Chrysler building) the Williams tower is by some standards the tallest building in the world that is not in a "central business district." I hope you enjoyed that useless fact. I did.
At the base of Williams tower is another reason to love Philip Johnson, The Water Wall.
From inside the waterwall looking back at Williams tower.
From the back of the waterwall looking towards the tower.
The walk signals look like Cylons.
After the photo buffet at Williams tower Brad took us to The Beer Can House. This house was owned by an old man who basically covered it in old beer cans. He died and the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art has taken it over and are working to restore it.
I love repetition of ordinary elements in design and the fence captivated me.
There's a Bookstop that is in an old movie theatre. I love when buildings get repurposed and I applaud large companies when they do this rather than building new big box stores. In any case the murals inside the old theatre were restored and were quite impressive. Here's the ceiling.
A wall.
Brad at the Waterwall at night.
Waterwall at night, I think this is the best time to see it.
I love House of Pies, aka House of Guys. This is an old 24 hour diner and I love it because the pie is excellent, the decor hasn't changed since it was built, and the waitresses wear uniforms and are super friendly and call everyone "sugar" and "hon." I highly recommend it whether drunk and in need of some sobering late night food or just because you need that slice of pie.
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