We are now heading to Houston Texas, food-wise, that is.
After the bungle with our meals at the Hilton Garden Inn, and subsequent move to the Hampton Inn  we were very happy to discover that the restaurants on the main road alongside the H I  were almost all well populated, which is usually a good sign.
Our first stop was Carrabba's Italian Restaurant.  We chose to sit at the bar the first night because there were no restaurant seats. This turned out to be an inspired choice. We received exemplary service and taught the barman to make Lemon, Lime and Bitters. He was rapt to make what we thought was the best LL&B we had tasted in our travels:). I don't remember what we ate that night, but conversations with other bar inhabitants were delightful and totally added to our experience. We decided we would return. A couple of nights later we did and again chose the bar to eat. The entertainment is better at the bar~!The food was excellent and not too expensive.
In between those visits we ate sushi (which had lots of selections featuring Jalapenos!) just along the road further, and another night across the road at an All -you -can -eat Salad Bar. Cant beat $6.99 each! We also ate Gyros at a mediterranean restaurant where the hosts were more interested in talking to each other in their mother tongue, than conversing with the patrons.
We thought the best meal we have ever eaten was at the Tradicao Brazillian Steakhouse across the road from the hotel. We had passed by there everyday on the way back to the hotel and swore we would investigate it one night. The night we chose, we were totally tuckered out and it just seemed like a good idea. Not knowing what to expect, this experience was like no other. We were invited to partake of the salad bar which featured 30 different item such as Heart of palm, Reggiano Parmegiano cheese by the basket, white and green asparagus, artichoke hearts  and delicious grilled vegetables, including eggplant...one of my favorites!
We were given a coaster that was red on one side and green on the other. When you place the coaster green side up, it means the meat servers will visit your table. Red, they dont.
Check out the menu here...http://www.yelp.com/menu/tradicao-brazilian-steakhouse-webster-3
All the meat we ate was superb...especially the NZ lamb!:) The little parmesan bread rolls were to die for and Warren enjoyed more from a second basket that magically appeared at our table.
We loved that all the meat was straight off the spit, especially when we had to wait for the Picanha to be cooked. The fried bananas that came as an accompaniment to the meal were fantastic, and Warren considers that they were his dessert.We came out of the restaurant saying WOW!!! This was by far the most expensive meal we  had  consumed but considered it well worth the money. We will be back.
Also just along the road was a Ben and Jerry's Ice cream shop. Warren had never eater B & J's, so this was a golden opportunity. Not inexpensive, but definitely well worth the visit.
Across the road was a Stone Cold Creamery. This is ice-cream with pudding mix added to it, so it doesn't melt very fast and it doesnt 'lick' like ice-cream. Into it you can have any number of 'goodies' mixed in, including Heath Bar, Snickers, gummy bears, cookies, nuts and sprinkles etc etc. All this is then scooped into a waffle cone or cup. We didnt make a return visit there.
Our last meal in Houston was back at the Sushi restaurant where we ordered Bento. Price was reasonable and the food was excellent.
The next day we were on our way home to New Zealand.

I will touch on the 'shopping' some time soon, but first, back to the boat saga.