Every December, my brother-in-law Scott, nephew Matt and I take a trip to Houston for a Houston Texans football game. They lived in Houston for several years and like to return a couple times a year. I enjoy the trips, especially when escaping a Chicago winter.

We have our group of staples we never miss on these trips. Lunch at Texadelphia, a suite at the Embassy Suites near the Galleria and Sunday football-watching at Woodrow’s, a hidden gem of a sports bar.

This year, we added a few new elements to the trip. On the first night there, we saw the Houston Rockets defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Toyota Center. Both teams have poor records, but the game was exciting, and the Toyota Center is a great arena.

On Sunday night, after a day of watching football games, we had dinner at Pappadeaux, a restaurant known for fine seafood and steaks. Matt had a filet, Scott ordered the Pontchartrain pan-broiled filet, and I had a seafood platter. We argued over who enjoyed the meal most. We had sides of dirty rice, outstanding garlic bread and a gumbo soup with just the right kick to it.

This year, our football game was on Monday, which means Monday Night Football, complete with the entire ESPN crew and all of the craziness. We arrived early for some tailgating fun which included sandwiches (the freshest, biggest sandwiches ever) from Kenny and Ziggy’s (another of our Houston staples). Once the game started, we spent most of the time standing, joining the rest of one of the loudest crowds I have ever seen. The Texans came back from a big deficit but lost in overtime. We had a lot of fun at the tailgate and some random activities around the stadium. My only complaint was not seeing ESPN’s Suzy Kolber.

It was a great trip and a great way to end the year. Unfortunately, we all had to come back to single-digit temperatures in Chicago.

— John Wroblewski, distribution specialist