Space Centre and then to New Orleans

Getting going

We woke earlier today out of necessity and felt better for it. We ate lightly, finished packing and set off for the Houston (Johnson) Space Centre. It was about a 50 minute drive taking the outer ring road but Google Maps suggested that was the fastest way.

We got there about 1000. The weather had turned from hot and humid to cold and windy with a hint of drizzle.

Space Centre

There wasn’t much of a crowd. With the time difference (0300 in NZ), I was suffering badly from indifference. I downed a small coffee (large coffee in other countries), and made our way to the shuttle tour. It was a little confusing as the shuttle tour is a tour of the space shuttle but the tram tour is a tour of the Saturn V rocket etc!

We had prebooked for the 1045 shuttle tour but with hardly anyone, we had free rein to walk around ourselves, taking the lift to the space shuttle cockpit, then the cargo bay, then down to the Boeing 747 carrier.

We had been warned that because the weather wasn’t the best, we should do the tram tour immediately in case they have to stop it. It has a small outdoor component with the tram shuttling guests to neighbouring properties.

We were taken to historic Mission Control, a place which saw history being made during the lunar landing … if you believe that kind of thing 😉 Depending on which tour you take, the alternate location is the astronaut training centre. I reckon, that would have been interesting too.

The tram took us to the Saturn V rocket afterwards. Ginormous and lying on its side, I couldn’t help thinking of the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok. Strange but that’s me.

Back at the visitor centre, we felt “done” and left. I was pleased to get into the warmth of the car (the air-conditioning was a bit too cool as with many places in Texas). Driving out, we found

Victor’s restaurant next door where we fed ourselves on a hearty meal and rested up.

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Getting to New Orleans

Soon it was time to head to Hobby Airport where we returned our car and shuttled to the terminal. We had an hour to spare before boarding Southwest Airlines’ 1805 flight to New Orleans. They seem to have the nicest customer service staff compared to any other people we’ve dealt with in hotels, restaurants etc.

And I don’t get it … this budget airline is baggage inclusive and flight changes are free (subject to fare difference). And the full service airlines are the opposite!

Coming in to land in New Orleans 43 mins after take off, we flew over the swampy mirror-like waters. I thought, it would be a bad rescue scenario if any plane landed short of the runway. The Southwest area of the airport was very crowded.

We took a taxi to our hotel for a flat rate of USD36 (whereas a shuttle for 2 people would have cost more, and they don’t drop off in our suburb). Our guesthouse, the Garden District House was located in the Garden District bordering nice and dingy areas. It was fairly priced compared to anything remotely close to the French Quarter but we do have to share bathrooms.

As it was getting late, we dropped our stuff and went walking to Magazine St to try get some dinner. The first place we saw was super expensive for something that wasn’t particular special. We then found a convenience store where we bought some Korean instant noodles. Of course, once we had done that, we found good tempting and reasonably-priced food.

It was a tough choice but we settled on the noodles back at the guesthouse. Unfortunately I scalded myself a little on my hand while making tea. I’m not used to a non-detachable kettle and pulled it away with the cord still attached and some hot water got on to me. But I survived.