A tasty trek to the Texas Bowl
Every December, my husband Tony — a college football official — waits to hear if he’ll be assigned a post-season game. Over the years we’ve attended some great ones, including the Outback Bowl, the Gator Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl and the Rose Bowl.
This year’s assignment was the Texas Bowl in Houston on Dec. 28. We love heading to places we’ve never been. Houston’s NRG Stadium, home to the 2022 Texas Bowl, features a retractable roof, a plus if the weather takes a turn for the worse.
Early Monday morning, Tony dropped off me and our bags in front of the Pittsburgh International Airport, then went in search of parking. The day after Christmas, this proved no easy feat.
He ended up parking in the overflow lot, which was snow-covered and dark in the pre-dawn hours. Inside the airport, as I headed toward a very long security line, I appreciated our carry-on bags as I spied hundreds of people waiting to check their luggage.
On our first flight, the woman next to me ordered a beer. At seven in the morning. Later, she explained the pipes in her Atlanta house had burst and she was trying to get home as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, deicing our plane delayed our departure considerably. Thirty minutes before we landed in Charlotte, a flight attendant announced roughly half of the passengers on our plane were in danger of missing their connections. She implored the rest of us to let those people deplane first. And we did. Tony, a frequent flier, was amazed. He’d rarely seen the tactic work.
After arriving in Houston, Texas Bowl representatives shuttled us to our hotel downtown. Later that night, they treated the officials and their guests to dinner at an excellent Mexican restaurant: Goode Company. Every table enjoyed chips, salsa, guacamole and queso before dinner, and both pecan pie and tres leches cake after.
The next day, our bowl liaisons — David and Allie — drove us out to NASA’s Space Center Houston. The photos, exhibits, retired rockets and space shuttles fascinated us and thousands of other attendees.
On the way back downtown we decided a barbecue lunch sounded good, so we stopped at Rudy’s Country Store and Barbecue, a unique eating destination serving various smoked meats by the pound. At long picnic tables covered with red and white checked tablecloths we unloaded our meats and sides onto waxed paper placemats. We helped ourselves to barbecue sauces — the spicy house offering and “Sissy Sauce” — to up the flavor ante of our food. I loved our Rudy’s experience so much, I would have eaten our remaining meals there.
On Wednesday morning, Tony attended the officiating crew’s pre-game meeting, while I worked outside on the hotel’s fifth floor patio in glorious 75-degree weather. Afterwards, Tony and I strolled paths lined by live oaks dripping Spanish moss on our way to the campus of Rice University. The school’s grounds were stunning with Gothic architecture that reminded us of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter movies.
That evening at 5:30, Texas Bowl staff shuttled the officials and their families to NRG Stadium. One of my favorite parts of attending bowl games is touring the stadiums and walking on the field before the gates open. Prior to the game, we posed for photos in the center of the field, admired the winner’s trophy, and watched an extremely talented female police officer practice “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
After that, the crew headed to their locker room, and their families relocated to the press box for a tasty dinner of smoked sausage, brisket, salad and sides, as well as a splendid array of desserts. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I enjoyed two. Eating in a stadium’s press box was a first for all of us, and we were impressed. Every time I declared, “This is the best bowl ever!” David assured me it would get better. And it did.
After supper, we returned to the field for kick-off. None of the family members had ever been on the field during the kickoff. David led us to one corner of the end zone, and since Tony worked the bowl as a field judge, he stood a mere six feet away from me. I couldn’t resist snapping dozens of pictures of him in action. In time, we settled into our seats in the stands. Later in the game, David and Allie invited us back to the field for half-time. What a thrill!
The Texas Tech Red Raiders overpowered Ole Miss in the game that lasted almost four hours. To beat the post-game traffic, the family members left the stadium with five minutes remaining in the game.
After the game, thanks to a police escort, the officials soon joined us. Up in the hospitality suite, our group gathered for a midnight buffet of delicious jalapeño-smoked turkey legs, macaroni and cheese and more, all prepared by a fellow college football official who lives in the Houston area.
The next day Tony and I slept in, ate fantastic burgers at Miller’s Cafe near our hotel, then Ubered out to see my oldest brother who relocated to Texas from West Virginia seven years ago. Driving out, we crossed over the widest freeway in the country. The Katy Freeway, or Interstate 10, has 26 lanes in certain parts!
Early Friday morning, as we began our journey home, Houston’s temperature was already in the 60s, and the clouds hiding the top of the skyscrapers hinted at the humidity to come. The stretches of flat brown acres leading to the airport were so different than our green West Virginia hills.
After a week in unfamiliar territory, we were happy to be headed home to “almost heaven.”
This story first ran in the WV Gazette Mail.