OT: Not made for the big city life.

[cprdnick]

I just got back from a trip to Houston, TX. I have decided that I am not made for cities any bigger than Amarillo (240,000 people). I got lost in Dallas on the way down there, adding an hour to the trip. Then when I got down there, I tried to find an LFS. Out of the 7 or 8 listed in the phone book, I could only get one to answer the phone, and even then I couldn't understand what he was saying or he couldn't understand me or something, because his directions led me right back to my hotel. I drove around for 4 hours asking people if they knew where this place was, and everyone was like "what is it". "It's a fish store", and they would say "what like to buy fish" and I would say "yeah" and they would say "wal-mart has a seafood section". Needless to say I gave up on that LFS and then decided to call the local ***** to see if they could tell me any good LFS's and they gave me the name of the one I was looking for, it took four ***** employees before anyone could give me a name of the place. Needless to say, I didn't see any fish stores while I was in Houston. On the way home, I stopped in Conroe to see what a ***** actually looked like, as we don't have any up here, and I wasn't thoroughly impressed, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (pretty little fish girl working there though). I then got lost in Fort Worth trying to follow Highway 287. It for some odd reason led me into downtown where I got lost and had to ask a Crime Scene Investigator at a gas station how to get back to 287, after about an hour of driving down residential streets and making my way through the getto of Fort Worth, I finally found 287 and made my way north. About 30 miles north of DFW I realized that I forgot to go find Cleburne, TX where there is an LFS that carries southdown, and I decided that I didn't feel like trying to get lost again. The moral, I am not ever going through the DFW area without an experienced guide, and I am not going to go back to Houston without a translator or atleast a map.
Eternally Lost,
Clint

 

[buzz]

That's funny...I feel your pain. I grew up a few hours outside of NYC, and it was a nice place to visit but that's about all. I could never handle living in a city like that.

 

[cprdnick]

I couldn't figure out why anyone would want to live in Houston, they had those Digital signs saying how long it was going to take to get to downtown. If there was no traffic, we could have made it from our hotel to downtown in 3 minutes, it took us 30 minutes with no backups or anything. It was way too crowded. I quote Crocodile Dundee "All those people wanting to live together, must be the friendliest city in the world". That was definitely the most friendly city in the world. I don't think I can count how many birds were flying on the streets of Houston, and I'm not talking about the kind with wings.

 

[fishman830]

well i feel pretty lucky i live 20 miles from nyc, and my dad knows his way around theree likes theres no tommarow( he grew up in queens)

 

[kzlen]

Sounds like you had a great time! I grew up in St. Louis so I know it pretty well. Its not a bad town, I love the vibe the people give off here. Most are very freindly, and you can understand us. Although, in the summer we have signs on the side of the highway telling us the polution lvl. of the air Green=breath easier, red=dont go out unless you have to, dont get gas during the day. When we went to Chicago, that was a nightmare. I hate Chicago!

 

[phil1964]

Born in Chicago.
Grew up in the burbs.
Lots of friends in the city.
Know it well. Love it.
Would not live there for free.
Been in Bloomington Indiana for 7 years and like it.
Except for the IU students !!!

 

[cprdnick]

I guess if you've grown up in a larger city then you are used to it, and pretty much know the streets. I however got lost on the HIGHWAY if that is any indicator that I don't belong there.
Clint

 

[kreach]

If it makes you feel any better, I live in the DFW area and I HATE going into downtown Dallas or downtown Fort Worth. I almost always get at least a little lost. All those one way streets... it makes me twitch just thinking about it.

 

[cprdnick]

Yep, that's where I got lost, Downtown in both cities. Somehow, I got off of the highway in fort worth and dallas.