December 5 -- Ned and Kristin

The purpose of the stop in Houston was to see my friends Ned and Kristin who have recently moved there from the Twin Cities. Ned is the head of one of the top private schools in Houston; Kristin is working at a major law firm in the city.


Ned and I were high school classmates. About five or six years ago, he called from St. Paul and asked if I’d spend an evening in New York with this great woman, a lawyer, whom he’d been dating and who was on depositions in Manhattan. Flattered that he’d trust me with his new girlfriend, I met Kristin at the Royalton Hotel on 44th Street, where we had green apple martinis before going to Ollie’s Noodle House. It was a whirlwind evening, and she and I have been good friends ever since. Ned and Kristin were married a few years ago.

I arrived at their house at 6:00 p.m., and we went out to a holiday party thrown at the Houston Heritage Society by John, one of the senior faculty members at Ned’s school. A really fun group was there, and the three of us ended up having dinner afterwards with another faculty member, Michael, and his partner, Gary. Michael gave me a lift to dinner in his Pontiac Solstice. Cool!


We went to an absolutely fabulous Tex Mex place, Laurenzo’s El Tiempo Cantina (link at right). Wow! How do you like the sound of tender steak dipped in garlic butter, mixed with grilled vegetables and wrapped in a warm fajita? Yeah, me too. The mixed grill that Gary suggested we get for the table had delicious chicken, ribs, shrimp, and other things as well.