I Traveled 566 Miles To Sunday School

6 photos

1 video

 

The Church Without Walls, 

Eldridge Campus.

Houston, TX

It started during the epic period of time that will forever remain in history and is a "given" in  conversations; P-A-N-D-E-M-I-C !

VFH and I met while sharing an Uber ride along with an RHS Queen at a Red Hat Society (RHS) resort event in Arizona in 2018. We hit it off while mingling with other Hatters from all over. ( My reason for joining RHS: to meet others in my peer group) She lives in TX and I live in AL.  

We keep in touch by text or phone. She'd tell me about her sons, grands, church, dogs and the activities of her RHS chapter.  She would often talk about her church even before Pandemic. It wasn't "Bible thumping,  Come to Jesus," talk. More of an," I'm active in my church and this is the latest that happened."   We'd converse about church and Sunday school along with current events and etc.

Sanctuary at The Church Without Walls, Eldridge Campus

Houston, TX

When the Pandemic hit, like most, their church was forced into lockdown. Sunday School (SS) and Church were held online. VFH invited me to their online  SS.  Unable to go anywhere or do anything involving other humans I began to tune in sporadically.  

The first thing I noticed was that most of the people were somewhere in my age group. 😁👏👍😀 Yay!!     I could also tell that the facilitators were knowledgeable, prepared and organized for class.  Soon, virtual attendance became regular attendance. I ordered a Sunday School book and would effort to read the lesson  ahead of time.  I was allowed to take part in the lesson by answering questions put to the class by the teacher and also given sections from the lesson to read to the class. I felt welcomed and comfortable. 

After a year, I knew I wanted to meet these people in person but, I didn't want VFH or anyone from the SS to go out of their way for my visit. As a birthday gift to myself I decided to travel impromptu to The Church Without Walls in Houston, TX  and arriving unannounced for SS. 

The first person I encountered was brother WS who often teaches the class. He knew right off who I was and was surprised as were the others when I  met them in class. My friend VFH was extremely surprised since she usually attends SS online but attends church in person.  Between SS and after church I was able to speak at length with class members in the flesh that I'd only seen online.     The outpouring of welcome, warmth and reception was so satisfying. 

Members  and Facilitators of the "in person" Sunday School  at 
The Church Without Walls, Eldridge Campus, Houston, TX

After church VFH insisted on taking me to lunch at Lazy Dogs Restaurant. It was a wonderful meal and a great time to catch up.

VFH and me after lunch at Lazy Dogs restaurant in Houston, TX. 

Accommodations were at Drury Hotel & Suites.

I like the idea of them having breakfast and dinner included in the price of the room as well as cocktails.

Having a microwave and fridge allowed me to fix a plate from downstairs, refrigerate it and reheat later if I so desired.

Monday, 10-31 was my day of departure for a 2:00 flight back home.  A short weekend trip but, very gratifying. 

Monday morning commute in Houston, TX  (10-31-2022) Goodbye Houston.

My niece (AM) treated me to my first meal at an authentic French restaurant. She’d been there before and told me how much she enjoyed it the fabulous food.
I made sure I knew where it was before our set day of meeting. I also wanted get an outside picture so that I could blog about it here. I got the picture and also deleted it by mistake. So the photos you see are other people's photos coming from the WEB.

I was impressed with the shabby chic decor. High ceilings, open air atmosphere. Though it was a beautiful day we dined inside as opposed to

al fresco as many Parisians do.
The wait staff was neatly attired and knowledgeable about the menu selections.

AM and I ordered different meals so that we could taste each others. That way you get more exposure to what’s available.

I made sure that I didn’t eat too much earlier in the day so that I’d have a cleansed palate for the evening meal. Not only was my palate cleansed, I was starving. Had the appetizer been a fancy name for fried chitterlings with pineapple sauce, I probably would have eaten it and I don’t eat chitterlings.

Our appetizer was a group of tiny fried balls of something with a pink sauce drizzled around it. It was similar to a crab cake only smaller and round. It was delicious. We were also given a small basket of bread about the size of melba toast along with what tasted like honey butter. Delish also.

AM ordered duck w/fruit red sauce. Her sides included a potato gnocchi and something else I don’t remember.
I had the herb roasted lamb, along with cabbage prepared in a different way and the ratatouille.
We tasted each others meals. The meats were seasoned well and very tender. Everything was scrumptious.

Before we received our meals chef Jean Evens Estinfort came to our table and greeted us with, “Bon soir. Comment-allez vous?”
After having had French in high school and college, all I could come up with was, “Com ci, com ca,”(sp???) I was trying to answer swiftly so that I would seem to be fluent in the language. Now I don’t know if it was French or Spanish.
Chef Estinfort was gracious though. He didn’t comment on whether I’d committed a faux pas (more French) or not. The three of us chatted for a while about France and my desire to someday go there and what to expect. He assured us that it is safe and if we ever decide to go he’d give us the names of some of his friends.
The other chef is Serge Pambo. They are cousins. Both have an impressive culinary background.

AM and I had dessert. She had something that looked like strawberry cheesecake with cake and a fluffy top to it. I had the homemade tart with fresh fruits. It wasn’t too sweet and tasted as if it may have been sweetened with honey.

I took my camera in order to get shots of our meals but that thought went right out of the window once our meals arrived. Though I was eating primly, I was starving like a refugee from a third world country. By the time I thought of taking a picture the meal was half gone.

AM and I laughed and talked about a lot of things. She can have you holding your side from laughing at all of the funny things she says. I had a magnificent time.

Props for the photos

tripadvisor.com

bhamrestaurantweek.com

Au revoir***