Holed Up In Houston: Day 22

Leaving the hotel in Montevideo at 1:00 am to catch a 4:00 am flight to Panama City early Saturday morning, we ran into a mega storm cell that pushed back departure by 90 minutes. Just enough to snarl up the connecting flight from Panama to Houston.

That flight was also late, imperiling the connection to ORD. It took nearly an hour to get through immigration (I can never remember a time when I wasn’t queasy, achy and worn out weaving through those lines). With minutes to spare after picking up luggage, we got through customs, but the flight scheduled to be the last leg of the journey, was pulling away from the gate.

We took a taxi to the nearest hotel and let the dust settle for a couple of days.

By then, we were running dangerously low on G7 instant coffee. For those who enjoy café sua, this is the nearest thing to heaven-in-a-cup.

Luckily Houston is home to the largest population Vietnamese-Americans in the country, in fact it has the largest Asian population of any other city in the South. So we stocked up on coffee at the Tan Binh Market on Bellaire Blvd., in the vast New Chinatown area. In its parking lot shoppers can admire the sculptures honoring military who served in Vietnam, and its people.