Edd's Travels: Houston, Texas

Texas is miles better than Florida and I defy anyone who's visited both to tell me otherwise. I really enjoyed my time in Texas last year, when I visited El Paso, Alpine and Austin (I thought I'd also been to Dallas, but it turned out to be just a dream, ha ha) and so it was an easy decision to come back. Houston is the fourth-biggest city in the US, behind NY and LA and Chicago. It's not exactly a tourist hotspot but I prefer things that way.

It occurred to me recently that while travelling I devote all my time to leisure and pleasure, and that perhaps it was time to be a bit less selfish and do something good. Time to give something back to society...

So I volunteered as a sample pourer at the Big Brew Beer Festival, in the George R. Brown convention centre in downtown Houston. The festival is aptly named: it makes the Ashbrooke festival look like two tramps discussing a can of Special Brew. I manned the stall for Anchor, a fairly well-known San Francisco brewery, and was responsible for dishing out their California Lager, Anchor Porter, Liberty Ale and Anchor IPA brews, one liquid ounce at the time. This was my first time working behind a bar and I rather wish I'd tried it sooner. Girls coming up from all directions and vying for my attention. Who knew?

My social hub here is the Hay Merchant, just a short walk from the hostel, where Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is $3 a pint during happy hour. There is also a thriving food scene in Houston: my particular favourite is a Greek diner called Niko Niko's. No meal that contains grilled chicken, feta cheese, tzatziki and filo pastry can ever be bad.

Good beer, good food, and - even though it's late October - the sun shines 30 degrees C in a clear blue sky. Houston, we have no problem.