Perry's Steakhouse, Clear Lake, Texas

Our driver took us to Perry's Steakhouse. It was a beautiful warm night in Texas. The restaurant on this Friday night was very busy (which is a good sign) and soon we were seated in  the noisy dining room, with a pianist playing in the bar area next door and introduced to a very fine waiter. All of the Texans we had met so far; the lady who drove the airport shuttle bus, the receptionist at the hotel, the man who drove us to dinner and now every staff member we met in Perry's were very friendly and good at their job, so we instantly warmed to them as we hadn't known what to expect.

My usual first drink on vacation in somewhere warm is a Mohito as I like rum and I like mint

 Under a nest of thinly sliced deep-fried onions lurks my appetizer-two crab cakes stuffed with lump crab-perfection! Off to a great start.

We are here for red meat and Texas is known for the quality of it's beef.

Carol has a filet cut and some chunks of crab with steamed asparagus.

I made up for my 8 hours of not eating by ordering a filet and a lobster tail. We shared some skillet fried potatoes. Glasses of smooth Merlot wine were the prefect accompaniment.

Flamed at the table- Bananas Foster with ice cream, one of my favorites

Carol has berries and lemon meringue topping

A wonderful satisfying meal. We were ready to return to the hotel and called our driver to return to pick us up. We waited outside for him as it was such a fine warm evening and we thought of Chicago shivering in the cold.

The day before a cruise is always very exciting but tiring for us with the taxis and the air-travel and rental cars and driving in a strange city and unpacking and finding something to eat in a new town, but at the end of the day we get to sleep and to imagine the moment when we step onto our ship the next day. From that point we can unpack and relax for a week.

In the distance we could see the lights from the oil refineries which are always working, day and night and which are responsible for Houston's wealth.

The hotel was comfortable and clean and the bed was very welcoming at the end of a long day.

We would wake on Saturday January 11th and hopefully see our ship in the distance...