Houston Historical Tours

06/19/2024

Good wet day everyone. About 3 weeks ago, I made a post with a couple on a Religious Sites Tour. Most of the sites were Christian institutions. They liked it so much that they requested a second Religious Sites Tour of mostly non-Christian sites. This, tomorrow we will visit Buddhist, Taoist, Islamic, and Jewish houses of worship in addition to a couple of Christian chapels and lunch stop in 5-hours. I will later have more photos. In the meantime, here are some photos from outside the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. Enjoy.

06/02/2024

Hi everyone! I led a Religious Sites Tour on Friday for a couple who have called Houston home for decades, but had not explored many of the city's religious sites. We visited four houses of worship, a cathedral-like building, and drove by eight other worship centers. Here are four photos from our visit to Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, where we also stopped for lunch at Treebeards. This structure is from 1893. Guess which stained-glass window is a Tiffany? LOL. Enjoy.

05/26/2024

He everyone. When I gave a group of nuns a tour of the downtown tunnels, I showed them a good photo op site outside the Wells Fargo Plaza. I made a suggestion of placing a smart phone on the sidewalk in front of the entrance. They could see 5 skyscrapers with 4 buildings of 50 or more floors encapsulated by a halo at the entrance. I told them that they could show their faces in the photo, also. Six of the nuns were more creative, making a star with their fingers. I thought you might enjoy seeing the results.

05/23/2024

Hi everyone. A couple of days ago, I showed 8 nuns inside and in front of City Hall, inside the Wells Fargo Plaza and inside the old J. P. Morgan Chase Bank Building AKA the former Gulf Oil Building. Today, I am showing you the nuns inside one of Houston's most distinctive buildings, the former Cathedral of Money. I deliberately took them in this building as a whimsical connection to Holy site to worship. Philip Johnson designed it to look like a cathedral. It used to be Republic Bank, Nations Bank, and Bank of America.

05/21/2024

Good morning. As we return to our new normal, I thought I would share with you a free 5-hour walking tunnel tour that I conducted for 8 nuns last week. I have great respect for the sisters who dedicate their lives to helping others. They came from Vietnam, Guatemala, Congo, Kenya, and the US. I gave them the free tour for selfish reasons - it made me feel good to do it for the Sisters of Charity. Enjoy.

05/19/2024

Good morning everyone. Yesterday the temperature reached 90F/32C degrees with 82% humidity. The weather was uncomfortable to be outside. I waited until twilight when the temperature had fallen to 85F/29C degrees to take action. I put on light-weight clothing including my Terlingua International Chili Cook-off judge's shirt from 2021, shorts, gloves, and crocs. I got my ladder out of the garage. At about 7:45 PM, I climbed onto my roof. I spent about 45 minutes roaming around the roof to collect and throw off the larger tree limbs. By the time that I finished, the sun had set and I was in the midst of darkness. I was slapping at the hundreds of mosquitos that were attacking me. I had to gingerly aim to find the stairs on the ladder as I descended. My left knee with osteoarthritis hurt and still does. Once I reached the driveway, I had to collect the limbs and haul them to my curbside to pile. I had received an email from the City of Houston earlier in the day to call 311 to report tree debris. When I entered the house, I called 311, made the report, drank a lot of iced tea, took off my sweat soaked clothes, and took a shower. I briefly saw blood trickling down the bathtub from my lower extremities where I had scratched at the mosquito bites. I felt like this was a scene from the movie Psycho. After I exited the shower, I used an alcohol wipe over my mosquito bitten legs. Although my legs momentarily stung, wiping the areas did end the itching. I went out this morning to survey the area. The job was successful! I am pleased, but I do not look forward to climbing on the roof again in the near future. That said, hurricane season begins in 13 days and NOAA predicts an above average season with 23 named storms, 115 storm days (almost 1/3 of the year), and 11 hurricanes. A sense of foreboding exists.

05/18/2024

First, I want to thank all of the people who have expressed good will and concern for my safety. Second, I want to say that I felt good about my accomplishment of cutting down the tree limb. While I was climbing up and down the ladder and using the extension pole saw, I kept thinking I am too old (66) and fat (250+) to be doing this, but it was worthwhile as I have seen so many photos and read so many articles of trees through cars and houses.

This afternoon I went out to apply fire ant pellets for the many new mounds. I immediately found over 2 dozen more limbs on my front lawn, sidewalks, and driveway, many from a neighbor's trees as evidenced by the leaves. I spent 1.0 hour cleaning up tree debris and then another 30 minutes applying 25 pounds of fire ant pellets to 9 mounds. The temperature was 72 F/22 C degrees. The humidity was 90%. Once again, I was covered in sweat.

Wind speeds reached 110 miles per hour. At least 1 tornado was reported. At one point, over 1 million people did not have electricity. One-half million people still do not have power at 10:00 PM on Friday. I lost electricity twice for about 1 second each time. Seven people have died. I have been fortunate.

Yet, I will not be finished. I looked up and guess what I saw? Multiple large branches were on the roof. In a few days when the weather is clear and the roof is dry, I will get out the 8 foot ladder again and climb on the roof to take down the branches.

05/17/2024

In recent days, Houston has been hit by repeated torrential storms, tornados, hail, and 60 mph/100 kph winds. I have been fortunate. I have not lost electricity. I have not had any flooding nor have I been stranded, or had any major damage. I just had to pick up some limbs. I have lived in my home since 2003 and have had to deal with these major issues through rain storms, tropical storms, and hurricanes. I have enough experiences to know or anticipate what might happen. A few days ago, one of my neighbors' trees lost a large limb. I have a pine tree in my front lawn that had a large limb about 15 to 20 feet high precariously hanging over my driveway. It has provided shade in the past, but now it was providing a threat of falling, being blown, and doing damage. I was inspired today between 3:30 and 6:30 PM. I got out my 8 foot ladder, my 10 foot electric extension pole saw, my saw chain lubricant, and gloves. I climbed up the ladder, extended the pole saw, and cut down the limb. It was so large that I cut it in about 3 dozen smaller pieces so I could haul it away. The temperature was in the mid-80s, with 82% humidity. I was covered in sweat. My glasses had streaks of sweat, making vision challenging. By 6:00, a new storm was here. Sunset was supposed to be at 8:07 PM, but darkness set in by 6:15 PM. I forgot to take a photo of the tree while it still had the limb, but here are 3 photos of the tree with the cuts, the limb down, and after I cleared and cleaned the area.

05/11/2024

My friends, I think you will like these 4 photos of stained glass. I only took photos of about 25% of the windows. Enjoy. This will probably be my last post from the convent. Have a good weekend and Mother's Day.

05/09/2024

Good morning everyone. Here are 4 more photos from the Conventual Chapel. I hope you like them.

05/08/2024

Hi everyone. I have more photos from the Women's History Tour that I conducted on Sunday. I only took photos at 3 out of over 20 sites. However, I took a lot of photos at the second site. These photos are from the Conventual Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at the Villa de Matel covent. Houston has a few convents, but I do not think anything is as spectacular as this is. If you like these photos, I will include more images later in the week. Enjoy!

05/06/2024

Good Sunday evening. I conducted a Women's History Tour Tour for 10 women today. We visited around 2 dozen sites over a 40 mile area and got out 3 times between showers. Here are some photos from the 911 Memorial in Market Square Park. One victim was Houstonians Lauren Grandolas on UA 93.

04/25/2024

Hi everyone. Last night, I went to the Alley Theatre to see Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. It was a wonderful production with beautiful sets, great acting, and a fine plot. It is about 2.5 hours with one 15-minute intermission. I encourage everyone to see it!

04/21/2024

Good rainy morning. A few hours of rain has brought significantly lower temperatures to 55 degrees Fahrenheit/13 Centigrade, but oy, 93% humidity. Yesterday was a long day for me. I was out and about by 7:30 AM. I went to the post office, the bank ATM, a Shipley's for an apple fritter, the grocery store, Ewing irrigation supply store to buy some extra pieces, a soil and mulch shop where I bought about a 100 pound bag of soil to fill a hole for $5.00, to Home Depot to buy 2 hanging baskets of flowers, and back to the post office to pick up a package of more free Keurig coffee after the customer service area opened at 9:00 AM. I returned home to put everything in it's place by 12:00 PM. I conducted a Beyonce Tour for 4 ladies and 1 guy from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. After that, I joined a Meetup group by 4:40 PM in progress to watch and have an intellectually challenging discussion of the movie Inception until close to 7:00 PM. I stopped at a Taco Bell to pick up some food and arrived home at about 8:00 PM to watch the classic The Wolf Man on Svengoolie. Then I passed out. LOL - a long, long day.

04/20/2024

Part 2 - Octavio from Mr. Sprinkler Repair finished working on my irrigation system on my front lawn today. He worked from about 9:10 AM to 2:10 PM. He installed 6 new rotors, of which I bought 3 of them for about $25.00 each. He also installed 6 new pop-up sprays, and 1 new bubbler. I only had 4 pop-up sprays before Octavio's work. He relocated one head as I requested and installed several new pipes. He disconnected one valve box that was surrounded by cement poured about 1.5 years ago for a widened sidewalk. The old valve box had pipes that had broken under the new widened sidewalk. The pipes then became inoperable. He created a valve box with new pipes. The original quote was for $1,885.00. I paid in cash and received a 10% discount so the total was $1,696.50. With 2 additional pop-up sprays and 1 additional bubbler, my lawn can be irrigated better than beforehand and for the present time without leaks with the new rotors. You cannot tell that the lawn had irrigation tunnels dug open 24 hours earlier. I spent 3 hours in my backyard doing more weeding, pruning roses (ouch), and replaced a broken emitter manifold. Yes, I know how to make some repairs and I keep some extra pieces in my shed to be ready as needed. LOL. I am looking forward to the lawn and gardens looking beautiful in the next few months!

04/18/2024

04/18/2024

Well, at the Rosen Ranch (that is a joke), it is lawn and irrigation repair day. I discovered 1 leak in my underground irrigation system for my lawn some time back. I got to watch the water and money figuratively pour away. Earlier, I had a new driveway poured and a sidewalk trippled in size in 2022 and early 2023 and was aware that all of this new cement might create leaks. I also knew that I had not had major work done on the irrigation system in over 10 years so some pipes might be damaged from roots over the past decade and sprinkler heads might be worn out. Ten years ago when I weighed 50 pounds less and did not have osteoarthritis in my left knee, I would have enjoyed the challenge to learn and repair it myself. Now, kneeling and getting up is a painful challenge. I tried to get 3 estimates for the repair, but only 1 company came out, Sprinkler Repair, last week to survey the system. Octavio, the technician, found 5 leaks and showed me how water was bubbling up or drenching the lawn from underground. He showed me where water was leaking from under a sidewalk. He showed me major swaths of my lawn that were parched and the grass dead for now. I approved of the multiple repairs. It should take 1 to 1.5 days. In the meantime, I am pruning, weeding, hedging a variety of bushes. Today will probably be one of the coolest and most comfortable days for the next 5.5 months. The temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit/27 degrees Centigrade with 70% humidity. Here are some of my tools and Octavio's and my work. I look forward to an improved appearance of my lawn within the next month.

04/17/2024

Good morning. Last night, I attended The Cher Show at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Three different women portrayed Cher at various times in her life. The actresses had lots of costumes changes. The music was great and the story was entertaining. This was the third in my season subscription of 4 shows. I recommend it.

04/15/2024

Hi coffee drinkers. My Keurig from 2016 ceased working properly in February. It was only pouring about 4/10 of a cup and then dripping afterward. I did not mean and the latter so much as I am over 60 and can identify with that. However, I was distressed by the former. I tried to fix it myself, following instructions on the manual. Aftery attempts failed, I called Keurig, as I have done in the past, and asked for any more troubleshooting advice. Keurig's representative's suggestions fared no better. Conclusion: buy a new Keurig. Believe it or not, even though my Keurig was years out of warranty, Keurig offered me a great discount on buying a new, as well as upgraded Keurig that also makes latte and cappuccino. Keurig also sent me 2 boxes of free coffee pods! I am happy as a lark. The new coffee is maker works great. I only have good words to say about Keurig.

04/11/2024

Hi everyone. After yesterday's heavy rains, here comes the sun. I have spent today resetting clocks, and picking up, cutting up, and throwing out tree limbs. My electricity was not restored until after 5:30 PM yesterday. I was able to use my new Keurig with a latte option for the the first time today. WOW, it is good! Here are some more photos of my adventures with the ladies at St. Michael's Catholic Church from 1913 in the German town of Weimer. Notice that St. Michael is the center statue and most of the stained glass is of women.

04/10/2024

Good rain-soaked morning. I have not had electricity since about 4:00 AM. I have no idea when it will be restored. Oh well. Life will go on. A couple of days ago, I conducted a Painted and Historic Churches Tour for 4 ladies. Here are a few photos from lunch in Schulenburg and St. Mary's Catholic Church in High Hill..

04/01/2024

Hi everyone. Today, I conducted a customized bakery tour of breads as a birthday present. We visited 5 bakeries, mostly of different ethnicities, across the city in 3 hours. The couple had a great time. We all ate too many carbs, but they tasted so good. LOL.

03/29/2024

Hi everyone. I have 3 extra tickets to see the Linda Ronstadt tribute concert tomorrow night, Friday, March 29th, at 8:00 PM at Miller Outdoor Theatre. Let me know if you are interested in going.

08/19/2022

Very relaxing and joyful.

My violin cover of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (original by Beatles). I hope you like it.You can support me and tip me on my paypal ⬇️ https://www.paypal.me/Karolin...

08/01/2022

Good morning, everyone. My post is very different today. Yesterday at approximately 6:50 PM, a 19-year young lady drove at a high rate of speed through a red traffic light and plowed into my Camry as I was driving to a play. The intersection was in the 3400 block of Navigation Boulevard and the 400 block of North Milby Street. She was driving westbound and I was driving southbound. She was to me left. The front end of my vehicle will need to be replaced if the insurance company does not total it. It is leaking oil and will need more than just body work. I had to wait over 30 minutes for police to arrive and over another hour for the officer's interviews and paperwork to be complete. The young lady admitted to the police that she ran the light, saying the sun was in her eyes. The officer issued her a citation. No evidence, such as skid marks or the smell of the rubber of the tires was evident. Both of our vehicles were towed away as unable to be driven. Fortunately, I was wearing my seat belt, but the impact forced my body to be twisted. I had to take an Uber to get home. I TWICE called her insurance company, State Farm, which was most uncooperative. The first representative would not accept the claim information when I told her the woman's father's policy number and the police report number because I did not have her car's VIN and the exact model of a Nissan. I had to make multiple calls to the Houston Police Department to find that information and then called back State Farm. The second State Farm representative was non-committal about taking any responsibility as its client had not yet filed a claim and she had not seen the police report. I had trouble sleeping from back spasms and back pain. This morning, I have to go to the impounding lot to get my possessions from the car. I also need to find a personal injury attorney. If the vehicle is totaled, I do not know what I am going to do for replacing it. I am sure that State Farm's offer will not be anywhere close to the cost of purchasing a new vehicle. Covid had resulted in my business falling off 90% in 2020. While business has improved in 2021 and 2022, it is only about 40% of what it was before Covid. I still have a backlog of photos from historic sites and tours that I can post, but I am going to be preoccupied with transportation, therapy, and expenses. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

07/30/2022

Good Saturday morning. Here are 3 photos of Howard Hughes (1905 - 1976) in different times of his life. The 1st photo is a class photo from the book "A Happy Worldly Abode" from Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral when he was about 7 years old. Hughes is the first boy on the left side. His future first wife, Ella Botts Rice, as in the grand-niece of William Marsh Rice, the namesake for Rice University, is on the opposite side. They were married for 4 years from from 1925 to 1929 when he was 19 to 23 years old. The 2nd photo is of a mustache less young man in his 20s. The 3rd photo is of Hughes in 1947. He grew a mustache to hide a scar above his lip from a plane crash of a test flight of the XF-11 on July 7, 1946. The last illustration is from a cover of Time magazine. The recluse used the alias John T. Conover on his way to Houston. Hughes was born and raised in Houston, was on a plane to Houston for medical treatment, and is buried here. Have a great day!

07/29/2022

Good Friday morning everyone. I am posting this early because I have a busy day. Here are 3 photos from Glenwood Cemetery and 1 photo of a childhood house in which they lived. It is now part of the University of St. Thomas campus. This largely unadorned family plot have the husband and wife and their only son buried here. The son would become the wealthiest man in the world and one of the most mysterious and intriguing persons of the 20th Century. The parents were Howard Robard Hughes, Sr. and Allene Stone Gano Hughes. Need I mention the son's name? The son was 16 when his mother died and 18 when his father died. His father was the founder of Hughes Tools Company. His son inherited millions of dollars as a teenager. This burial site should be proof that you cannot take it with you. I plan on my new post being 4 photos of the male as a young lad of about 7 years of age, young man, middle-aged man, and as an elderly recluse close to death. Enjoy, sort of.

07/26/2022

Good Tuesday morning. Houston has a 24 to 42% chance of rain from now through Friday which will keep the high temperatures only in the low 90sF/30s C. I did not post anything yesterday because I was still receiving so many Likes from my last 2 posts from Glenwood Cemetery and the Lee family plot. Well, today, I am going to tease you with some more little known history from Glenwood Cemetery. I am writing about Maria Franklin Gable. She lived from 1884 to 1966. Franklin was her maiden name. She is buried in one of the Lucas family plots. Lucas was married 4 times starting at the age of 17. Her 1st husband's surname was Prentiss and she had 1 child with him in their 4-year marriage before she divorced him. Her 2nd husband was Alfred Thomas Lucas. He was 21 years older than her and came from a well-to-do brick mason and contractor family. She had her last 2 children with him. Lucas died after 12 years of marriage. Her 3rd husband's last name Langham, whom she divorced after only 4 years. At the age of 47 in 1931, she married her 4th and last husband. He was a 30 year old ambitious gi**lo who was marrying for a second time a woman who was born in 1884 and 17 years older than him. These first 2 wives sponsored and funded his fledgling dreams to be an actor. They paid to have his teeth straightened, to take voice, diction, and acting lessons, to have his hair groomed, trained to build his physique, get jobs in local stage productions including in Houston, and, from what I have read, not to have to pr******te himself to men and women on the streets. He was married to his first wife, Josephine Dillon, for 6 years from 1924 to 1930. The next year, he married socialite Maria "Rhea" Prentiss Lucas Langham from Houston. Lucas and he were married for 8 years, from 1931 to 1939. (The home that they lived in at 411 Hyde Park in Houston was bulldozed in 2018.) He cheated on Rhea and fathered a daughter with actress Loretta Young in 1935. Now, that he had become an established movie star with a unique pencil-thin mustache (when most US actors were clean shaven), in 1939, he divorced his second wife. Thirteen days later, he married his 3rd wife and the first one who was younger than him, Carole Lombard. Apparently, he did not "give a damn" what people thought about his behavior the same year that he was in "Gone With the Wind." Lombard was considered the love of his life. Alas, she died in an airplane crash just 3 years later, in 1942. He married 2 more times before dying in 1960 while his 5th wife was pregnant with his only son. Sad. Here are 4 photos of the Lucas historical marker, the family plot, Maria's burial marker, and a photo from the 1935 film "Starlit Days at the Lido" with 51 year old Maria Gable and her 34 year old husband. Enjoy.

07/24/2022

Good Sunday morning. Today, a 40% chance of rain is predicted to also keep temperatures relatively low in the mid-90s F/mid 30s C. Yesterday, I posted 4 photos from the Lee family plot that included the beautiful actress Gene Tierney. Today, I want to post 4 more photos from the Lee family plot. You may be surprised to find out this information. Independent oilman William (W.) Howard Lee's sister, Faustine, married another independent oilman, known as the "King of the Wildcatters" Glenn McCarthy. Glenn and Faustine McCarthy are buried in the Lee family plot. Glenn McCarthy was a bigger than life man and visionary. He was the inspiration for the character of Jett Rink portrayed by James Dean in his last role in the 1956 movie "Giant." (This movie was released posthumously as Dean had died in 1955.) Rink builds the biggest hotel in Texas called the Emperador. This was inspired by Glenn McCarthy's Shamrock Hotel, later Shamrock Hilton Hotel, that existed from St. Patrick's Day in 1949 until the Texas Medical Center had it demolished in 1987. With 1,100 rooms, it was the largest hotel built in the USA in the 1940s. If it stood today, it would still be the 2nd largest hotel in Houston. McCarthy envisioned a combination of a hotel and shopping center on the southwest edge of Houston called McCarthy Center. Although this attempt failed, 21 years after the Shamrock opened, in 1970, The Galleria opened on the western side of Houston. The Galleria is the 4th largest shopping center in the US and has 2 hotels in the complex. McCarthy was a man ahead of his time. The first photo is of W. Howard Lee. The second photo is of Glenn McCarthy. The 3rd photo is of McCarthy's gravesite, and the 4th photo is the legendary Shamrock. Enjoy.

07/23/2022

Good morning. Yesterday, Houston received rain during the mid-day resulting in the temperatures falling briefly into the mid-70s F/mid-20s C. This was the first time in months that we had such pleasant temperatures. Today, we are supposed to have more showers and the high is supposed to reach 92 F/33 C. For all of you who are fans beautiful women from 1030s to the 1940s movies, you are in for a treat today. William Howard Lee was an oilman who was married to 2 of the arguably most beautiful actresses in history. He and his second wife are buried in the Lee family plot in Glenwood Cemetery (along with a notable in-law). Lee was married 3 times. His 2nd wife was Hedy Lamarr. His 3rd wife was Gene Tierney. Here are 4 photos including images of Lamarr and Tierney. The first female is Ms Lamarr. What do you think? Are they beautiful? Do they look similar? Enjoy.