Next was True Anomaly where we tried one of their beers called Mae which was an excellent cherry/blackberry sour. They also had several guest taps and we tried one called Fruity Pellets from Great Heights Brewing. This was a very refreshing hazy ipa - and a bit fruity as the name would imply.
After this it was time for a mandatory rest period.
We rested at the hotel until 5:30 when we headed to dinner. The Magnolia hotel is close to both the historic and theater district so there are quite a lot of bars and restaurants to choose from. I found one that I thought was called District7 Market. And it kind of was. But that was just the "market" section which was more like a grab and go Cafe. The restaurant was called Cellar 7. They had a very interesting menu with a bit of a nod towards Italian food. For starters we had the Eggplant Balls and the Roasted Brussels Sprouts.
Both really excellent and a huge portion for a starter. The eggplant balls were essentially all the goodness you'd find in eggplant parmesan, but wrapped up in a big ball and then fried!! Gives me some ideas to try at home with the air fryer. The Brussels were some of the best I've had. Well roasted, glazed with a slightly sweet balsamic and dusted with toasted slivered almonds for crunch. For mains, Angie had a half rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and brocollini. The chicken had a delicious rosemary dry rub and was perfectly cooked. I had the panko chicken and fettuccine with pesto. The pesto was delicious!! Nutty and just enough basil. The chicken was okay but since the breast had been pounded to the same thickness, the frying made it dry. If I had been planning the menu, the dish would have been much more successful with the rotisserie chicken instead of the panko crusted. I think the rosemary would have complimented the pesto. No dessert.
Next we were headed to the theater!! I had been running some errands on Thursday morning. Things you do when you've been travelling for three weeks. Some sunscreen and water at CVS. Picking up a couple of packages at an Amazon locker. On the way back to the hotel, I noticed we were so close to the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts!! Maybe they had a show that evening? Once I got back to the room, I started looking online. I found they were having a special screening of "The Princess Bride" followed by a Q&A with Cary Elwes who played Westley in the movie. We had done similar screenings over the years for Blazing Saddles with Mel Brooks and The Karate Kid with Ralph Macchio. So I bought some tickets.
It had been many years since I had seen this 1987 film. It's really a great movie and holds up really well. Simple premise of "true love" defeating evil. Some wonderful comic performances from Billy Crystal and Carol Kane. And Andre The Giant is quite the scene stealer. Definitely check it out if you've never seen it. Or see it again and share with the younger generation.
There was about an hour of Q&A after the movie. Cary shared many stories about the film production and many of the mishaps including breaking his toe or being knocked unconscious by a real sword. The latter incident was actually the take they used in the movie. He was very genuinely moved by how the movie has become legendary, especially since it was a box office failure. Its release on VHS was what made it successful.
Today we will be heading to the Johnson Space Center for a few hours. Then once we return downtown, we have tickets to see the Astros. One more stadium!!! Only five to go. Tomorrow we'll head to Galveston to board the new Carnival Jubilee.
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