Tag: River Oaks Theatre

Posted on by Ellen Seaton - 3 Comments on Pandemic Road: The Good, Bad, and Everything in Between

Pandemic Road: The Good, Bad, and Everything in Between

RoadBroads is Back! I took a brief hiatus to take care of some administrative details for this blog, but you no longer need to despair. I am back and ready to go again on this crazy pandemic road.

How about some good news.……I won First Place in the Authorology Anthology Contest!!! The anthology is called Journey Into The Fantastical. My short story is called Willow and the Cat. You can find it on Amazon and order either a print copy or eBook…or both. Many thanks to both Authorology and Inklings Publishing for making this contest happen. I get a medal and everything. Well, I don’t exactly have the medal yet. In these pandemic days those things are delivered in the mail. I must be patient. I will post a picture here as soon as it arrives! Also, let me know what you think of the story. Willow is a favorite character of mine. I hope to publish more stories about her many escapades as a Grim Reaper!

I have to admit that when we started with all of the shutting down a year ago, I was totally bummed. I was scheduled for an art opening where I had a piece of collage art scheduled for exhibit. Also, I wrote an essay that was scheduled for a museum exhibit opening. Everything went virtual which was nice, but I was disappointed just the same. It is really nice to have a good reason to celebrate even if the launch party took place on zoom.

So, you may wonder, other than getting stories out into the public, how is life on the Pandemic Road going? As good as it can. I am fully vaccinated and had very few side effects. I am still not going out to restaurants or movie theaters, but I have new ways of making life work while I wait on herd immunity. Case in point? Porch Cuts. Or in my case it is actually a “garage cut”. I have been a client of Carol Cooley for years when the pandemic happened and I could no longer go to see her in a trendy Montrose salon. Now she has rearranged her business so that she can take her skills to her clients. Hair is done outside either on a porch or in a garage with lots of ventilation. Everyone wears masks and stays safe. Doesn’t this look like fun? It is. My hairstyle has changed over the past year. I no longer have bangs. Many thanks to Carol for keeping my tresses trimmed and healthy!

Finally I have one sad note. The River Oaks Theatre is now closed. I won’t get into the whys or the reasons. Suffice it to say that I consider this to be an abomination. This movie theatre has been around since the 1930s. I have been going to movies there since I moved to this fair city in 1978. You may remember me posting blogs about going to the movies in the afternoon after I retired from my government job. Many happy hours were spent there. I am greatly saddened by this loss to Houston culture. I can only imagine that in the near future I will be buying the book that will tell the history of this wonderful art deco establishment with many pictures to remind me of the good times I had there.

My but it does feel good to blog again! Please join me as I travel down the next road.

Until later.….

Posted on by Ellen Seaton - 2 Comments on Pandemic Road, Week 12: Art Deco Road Trip

Pandemic Road, Week 12: Art Deco Road Trip

Week 12. Sitting here I stare at my computer screen and let that sink in. I have been writing about the effects of the pandemic on my life for 12 weeks. I don’t think I realized when I went down this road that I would be doing it for this long.…..and with no end in sight.

Even though the pandemic continues, many places are opening back up again. I don’t think I am ready for that yet. However, while resting at home, I have come up with a couple of short story ideas. One involves an art deco building, a theatre company and a bunch of ghosts. Bahwahaha! Obviously in order to do this right, I need to look at some art deco buildings around the Houston area. The first one that comes to mind is Houston City Hall. If walls could talk!

Yesterday my Dear Friend and I drove around downtown, the Heights, and Montrose for 3 hours looking for these buildings. This included more driving than I have done since March 13th. It was also the longest time I spent outside of my home since this all began. It was all very exciting. Some of the buildings are kept up and some have changed. Some have been either completely altered or torn down. But we did find some gems.

One was Trader Joe’s, which used to be a book store and before that was the Alabama Theater. It was built in 1939. I am old enough to tell you that the first time I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show was in the Alabama Theater.

Another famous art deco landmark is the River Oaks Theatre. This picture is especially poignant, because the marque shows that it is still closed due to the pandemic. I look forward to the day I feel comfortable enough to go back to a movie theater. Inside much of the interior has been preserved in its original style.

There are a couple of small strip centers that were originally built as art deco buildings. The businesses have changed, but the style has been preserved.

The crane above the Soma Sushi restaurant is foreboding. It tells of the next high rise going up in the Heights. New shiny buildings to overshadow the rich history of art deco. I don’t know what the new building will be. The future keeps coming whether we are ready or not.

Then there are these two bars in downtown Houston. I have never been to either of them. I think they cater to the sports crowd that visits the Astros or Rockets. However, I like the way they have kept up the outside design of their buildings. I have no idea what they look like on the inside.

Finally there is Hugo’s. A unique upscale Mexican restaurant that is typically on my short go-to list for special occasion dining. It was built in 1925 and designed by Joseph Finger. This same gentleman designed the Houston City Hall that is shown in the first two pictures in this post. Mr. Finger is quite well known in Houston for designing many of the buildings in the first half of the 1900s. I can’t wait until I feel comfortable and safe enough to go out to dinner in one of my favorite Houston restaurants.

Until next week.….