The Annual Frio River Trip...

Every year the Winslow's, George's and Sudduth's converge on the most heavenly of places in Texas...The Frio River for an annual family vacation consisting mostly of eating, drinking and stretching out to enjoy and beat the Texas summer heat by sitting in the cold river.

The Frio Crew - Sharon, Fred, Ally, Carlee, Marcus, Emma, MyKala, Jen, Me & Daniel

Late night Hearts game and Marcus in mid-puzzle anguish

Post supper...do we look stuffed?

If you've been to New Braunfels, which most of my readers have, you'll see some resemblance.  But think New Braunfels 50 years ago.  Nice, quiet, unfound.  Although this area has been frequented by river lovers for the past century, it hasn't received quite the following as New Braunfels.  Which is just fine with me!  Located near Leakey, Texas about 2 hours West of San Antonio, it takes a little longer to get there, but well worth the drive.  Unlike New Braunfels, where the primary motivation is sitting in a tube on the river for a few hours, Frio is more about sitting than floating.  The cottage/cabin we use is about 100 yards from the river and even with the drought still has an area of water over my head. 

Emma and Riley

Carlee and Riley...too cool!  Why do dogs always look funny in sunglasses?

Mom & Daughter - which is which?

And what's a river trip without some good sibling water wrestling?

My Father in Law Fred has been going there since he was a kid and each year he and Jen's Mom treat us to our little vacation.  We start with a hearty breakfast, then mosey to the river to sit, read, chat and partake in cheap beer whilst dangling our feet in the water and taking occasional full dunks in the river to cool off.  Each evening concludes with fabulous dinners prepared by Fred and me. And then there's Neal's, an old fashioned country restaurant set on a massive hill side next to the river.  We usually have at least one dinner and breakfast while in the area.  And they've got one of the best chicken fried steaks in Texas!

The Sudduth Family

Neal's Restaurant

Our Cabin...a little rustic but just what we need!

Nice grilling position!

The Cousins

Yours Truly & my always beautiful bride

Uncle Marcus & Aunt Ally

Our wonderful hosts Fred & Sharon

This trip of course was a little different.  We started down I-10 with a dog having bowel issues....really bad issues!  So much that she let a little go in our back seat, in the San Antonio Hotel elevator lobby, the room's balcony and several times in the hotel bathroom overnight.  By the next morning, Riley and I were on the way to the Vet's office for some anti-poop treatment.  Once we got that issue resolved we were good to go...headed on to Frio and the wild open landscape.

The Poopmaster General on the Highway after the car accident

Making an unsuccessful attempt to control the poop!  Good idea...no execution!

The rest of trip was a blast, as usual.  So we'll always have the memory of the longest San Antonio drive ever, but the memories from the rest of trip far outweigh the troubling canine poop problems.  A huge thanks once again to Fred and Sharon for hosting us!  The Sudduth Gang had another wonderful time!

Riley...wondering what caused the great bowel explosion of 2011!

Birthday weekend in Big D...

I'm 44 years old!  Wow that seems old!  But it has happened once again.  Another birthday has come and gone.  This year we ascended to the Dallas area for the big celebration.  I had to be in Dallas on business during the week and Jen and the kids followed up on Friday morning bringing with them our dear friends the Calabrese's.

We started out with several hours of pool time at the Adair Resort, otherwise known as Jen's Parent's house.  This was followed by a really wonderful meal of Bone In Prime Rib Roast (Heavenly) and all the fixin's.  The meal concluded with the usual birthday musical and a triple threat chocolate cake complete with Chocolate Chip Cookie Liqueur...Oh my! 

Jen's Folks

Yours Truly with Heavy D

The Spectacular Calabrese's

Then on Saturday evening we took our adult leave to the Warwick Hotel's Library Bar and then to Patrizio's Italian Eatery.  Both great suggestions deep in the heart of Dallas' Highland Park neighborhood.  If you're wondering what we had, mine was not very exciting...Spaghetti w/Meatballs.  The others had some fine looking pasta with assorted cream sauces.  Jen's dish had some kind of sauce with bacon included.  I just got to ask, "How do you go wrong with Bacon?"  Answer:  You can't go wrong!  It was delicious and I helped her finish it.

Daddy got some new Bow Ties and an Umbrella!

Ruthie making fun of the dork in the bar ordering shots...what a tool!

These were our seats!

The lovely pasta consumption territory!

We headed home on Sunday, back to the grind, but ready for the Houston birthday portion at Tokyohana, which I've already told you about.  A huge thanks to the Calabrese's for making the trek North and sharing in the celebration.  And thanks to all those who sent along Happy Birthday wishes.

Tokyohana and another Birthday!

That's right!  Your old buddy Britt just had another birthday!  I've now got 44 in the book and lots more to come.  Oddly, my mental state still resides somewhere in the 30 range.  Yes, I know most of you think that I act sometimes like a young lad of 20, but my brain has aged some in recent years.  Must be the wine!  Unfortunately, my body is not in touch with my brain so physically I'm starting to occasionally feel my age...about 35!  I figure as long as my body and brain are about 10 years behind I'll be in good shape.

So the Sudduth family had to endure our annual trip to Tokyohana, one of my favorite restaurants.  I just love the circus-style chefs that perform whilst we wait on our food.  Last night we had an exceptionally good chef who gave us a great performance full of knife banging, onion fired trains and several attempts to pop food in our mouths from across that table.  And of course, the food was fantastic as always.  My Dad always said that any night out could be an "Event".  And I tend to agree with him.  Life is short so go have a good time!

Thanks to Jen for arranging the dinner and to my whole family for joining me in celebration.  And thanks to Dad for picking up the tab!  My birthday was actually last Saturday and we made a big trip to Dallas to celebrate.  My next post will chronicle that excursion in detail.  I'm truly a very lucky man. Bring on 45!

Bare Ankles...Acceptable?

A friend of mine the other day began giving me a ration of poop for not wearing socks with my white bucks.   I quickly informed her that this was a totally acceptable practice!  Which she quickly and politely disagreed.  She even sent me a picture of Matt Lauer sans socks which she thought looked ridiculous.  I thought he looked pretty cool!  So I figured I might shed a little fashionly opinion on the subject, because in the end, that's all it is...opinion.

I seriously doubt that our etiquette friend Emily Post ever wrote anything about the practice of not wearing socks.  However, if she had, seeing as most of her renderings were from long ago, she would probably have said that gentlemen, unless on the beach, should be wearing socks.  Well, this is 2011 and things have changed a bit...for most.  Although many would disagree with the exercise, we're now seeing gentlemen test the boundaries of fashion dictum by going sockless.

My sockless journey began about 1982 when the practice of wearing topsiders for daily wear came into preppy vogue.  Other than my baseball spikes, I lived in those sockless Sperry Topsiders.  I even, if Mom wasn't paying too much attention, would wear my penny loafers to church sockless.  So to this day, if possible not to offend, I bare my ankles to the world.  However, just to stay within the proper business fashion guidelines, even when I go sockless to the office on days without appointments, there is a clean pair of socks in the Tahoe ready to jump into action should the need arise.

There is a current practice of going sockless with brogues or wingtips which I think is a little excessive, even in the case of high fashion.  I believe that if a gentlemen is going to put on hard soled shoes with a nice suit, he should have appropriate hosiery included.  Of course, this is where a guy can get a little creative with his wardrobe by wearing socks with a nifty design or stripes.  But with white or dirty bucks, topsiders, casual loafers and obviously flip flops, throw those socks out.  Let me just say one thing here though about sandals.  I am not a fan of sandals for any occasion, but should you feel it necessary to don a pair of those heavy leather sandals, please...please do not wear socks of any kind.

So let's get back to the "is it right or wrong" question.  In my humble, professional fashionisto opinion, I believe that under certain circumstances, going sockless is perfectly acceptable.  And perfectly acceptable also assumes that your feet are not releasing any unpleasantries that might offend a neighboring nose.  So, if your feet and shoes are clean and fresh, and you feel like going commando down there, let those ankles have life!  Me and Mr. Lauer think it looks just fine!  And even our good friend Steve thinks it's a good idea...and I wouldn't tell him otherwise!

Newspaper envy! A Rant in 3 Parts...

First of all, everyone who reads this blog should know that I am an extremely proud Houstonian, so don't go reading this thinking that I have a move North in my future.  However, on occasion, I do enjoy working and hanging out in the Dallas area.  As most of you know, I married a Garland, TX (Dallas) girl so I have some loyalty to our neighbors in North Texas for providing me such a wonderful woman.  And in no way does this ever relate to me being a Cowboy's fan!  Go Texans!

Anyway, I'm sitting here working in Dallas this week thumbing through the Dallas Newspaper and quickly realizing that this is a far superior periodical as compared to the Houston Chronicle.  I have, many times, noted to my wife, that the Chronicle seems extremely lacking in their amount of content.  They seem to be trying to either save paper, draw us more to their on-line offering or just simply can't find much news to report on.  Here are some examples:  In the Sports page last Sunday there was not one mention of College Football!  Heck, the season starts in less than 30 days and there's not one mention of the college gridiron!  The business section had nothing to offer in its 4 whole pages.  Surely in the 4th largest city in America, some businesses have made news worth reading.  All they gave us were pay scales of the highest paid executives.  I know they're rich...who gives a crap!

So up in here in Dallas, on a Wednesday, the Dallas Newspaper is full of stuff.  The business section is 8 pages of interesting material.  The Sports Section covers everything, including College Football...go figure!  And the rest of the paper was filled with interesting information.

So why I ask is the Houston paper so behind?  Do they feel threatened by the Houston Business Journal?  Maybe they figure that since the HBJ covers it all they don't have to.  And come on!  We're football fanatics in Houston filled with Longhorns, Aggies and every other school you can name.  They don't think perhaps we'd like to know what's going on?  They sure seem to cover soccer quite well, a sport that is up and coming but by no means rivals the crowd following college football!

So there is my rant for the day.  I'm envious and pleased for the Dallas people to have a nice newspaper to peruse each morning and a tad embarrassed that my own home town, for which I am so proud, has a really appalling and lacking news offering.  That's it!  I'm done!

Tune in next week when I rant about how often the weather guys are incorrect!  Well, maybe I'll leave them alone.  They're actually trying to predict something extremely difficult to predict whilst the newspeople just need to tell what's already happened!

To cuff or not to Cuff...that is the question!

When I work with customers on slacks or suit pants I usually get asked whether I believe a trouser cuff is still "in style" or "appropriate".  And I always say YES!  So before we get into the details, the answer is always YES...in fact it never stopped being YES.  The cuff has been around longer than any of us can remember and isn't going anywhere..at least as long as I can help it.

Standard Issue

So now let's break it down.  The cuff is that turned up layer of cloth at the bottom of your pants that resides usually on top of your shoe...unless your buying Black Fleece by Thom Browne at Brooks Brothers and want to have the Pee Wee Hermann idiotic high water look. 

A little Small in my Opinion

Anyway, here's what our Wiki Friends have to say about trouser cuffs:  The main reason for the cuffs is to add weight to the bottom of the leg, to help the drape of the trousers. Originally, however, it started as men rolling up their trousers to avoid getting mud splashed on them when roads were still unpaved.

A little large in my Opinion

So, now that most of our roads are indeed paved, I'd say we're into an aesthetic decision.  My official opinion on the subject is this:  Always cuff suit pants and all other pants except cotton khaki flat front pants, meaning those without pleats around the front waistband.  I think trousers just look better with the cuff at the bottom and does indeed help drape the trousers at a proper length.

Now another question few think about is cuff width.  Most men just say yes or no when asked whether they prefer a cuff.  The absolute industry standard is 1 1/2 inches, which in my book is ok for most men and usually what most tailors will automatically apply.  The standard at Brooks Brothers is usually 1 3/4 inches.  I happen to believe that if you are taller than 6 ft. in height, then your cuff width could stand a little extra girth up to 1 3/4 inches.  And if you're like me and just feel kinda cooky, go ahead and put a full 2 inches down there.  No...nobody is going to accuse you of overcompensating for a shortfall elsewhere just because you have a larger than normal cuff width!  In my belief, anything less than the industry standard is not appropriate.  In fact, if you look at most pre-hemmed pants at Jos A Bank or even the Brother Brooks, you'll see that they've skimped on the fabric to save money and have a 1 inch or maybe a 1 1/4 inch cuff already in place.  I don't like it!  And I suggest you do not purchase them!  Real men who care about their fashion choices purchase un-hemmed trousers for 2 reasons, one so that the tailor can prepare an inseam length specifically for the wearer and two, so that an appropriate size cuff can be prepared.

Herewith are some examples from my closet:

Kinda Cooky - 2 inches

Suit pants - 1 3/4 inches

Seersucker Suit - 1 3/4 inches

Some of you may say, "Who gives a crap about cuff width!"  Well, I do.  And so should you.  Anything worth doing is worth doing correctly!  So the next time your tailor is down on his knees making sure your trouser length is correct and he asks whether you'd like cuffs or not, go ahead and say, "YES, and by the way, I'm feeling kinda cooky today so give me a full 2 inches down there!"

On Vacation!

The Sudduth's are on vacation today through next Wednesday...heading to the Texas Hill Country and the cool, relaxing Frio River. 

Internet provided photo...NO! That is not me jumping!

Look for a full vacation report next Friday!  And yes, I'm going to sit in a chair and drink my cheap beer!

Adios

Ninfa's on Navigation...still there and still the best!

Last Friday night the Sudduth Family made a trek to one of the oldest Mexican Restaurants in Houston, the Original Ninfa's on Navigation.  If you're an old Houstonian like me, you've been there many times but perhaps haven't been a frequent guest of late.  We try to go several times a year.  So we called our good friends Ish and Todd and made our way to the "other" side of downtown for some Tex Mex Chow.

Now for those of you that don't know anything about this place I'll give you a bit of history.  Mama Ninfa Laurenzo started this little eatery to support her family back in 1973.  Her specialty was fajita meat wrapped in a warm home made flour tortilla, which later became known as Taco al Carbon.  I'll bet you didn't know that Taco al Carbon was invented right here in Houston!  The little place got a nice following and later flourished into several restaurants with multiple concepts run by Ninfa's children.  The children, who were not restaurateurs, failed miserably and threw the company into bankruptcy.  Long story short, the family now owns none of the restaurants but has managed to have some success with other concepts.  The Original restaurant is now owned by Legacy Restaurants and is operated by Chef Alex Padilla, who have done a wonderful job of enhancing the dining experience with new menu items and additional seating on a new deck.  But they've left most of the "old" in place, which I truly appreciate.  Sometimes you don't need to fix what ain't broke!

Circa 1973

When I was a young boy, when my Dad wanted Mexican Food, Ninfa's on Navigation was where we went.  It was a big deal!  The location, on the East side of Downtown Houston on the other side of Hwy 59, was a little dangerous and certainly not easy to find.  When you arrived, you knew you were there when you spotted the sign out front and noticed that the cars on the street had suddenly become Mercedes and BMW's.  Dad would always get a plate of Augus, which was braised beef short ribs.  He loved them!  I'm sure many of you Houston Natives have much the same story.

My Childhood Memory

Today...deck is on right

There is something special about this restaurant.  It's still a little cramped building with the same old tile floor and a hallway to the bathrooms far to skinny to pass any of today's building codes, but its history is busting at the seems.  The smell of the place that greets you as soon as you enter through the front door is Heavenly!  The waitstaff has been there forever and remembers you from your last visit...or they act like they do anyway.  The margarita's are cold and sweet and the food has a taste like no other.  My friends and I all say it's the build up of grease on the grill for the past 40 years that gives it that unmistakable flavor.  The other Ninfa's restaurants are good, but nothing holds a candle to the Original!

So if you want some great Mexican food and want to experience a little Houston history, make the drive to East Downtown Houston and either walk down memory lane or create some new memories of your own.  Of course, the tricky part is finding the place!  From the North side of Downtown, take Franklin St. East.  Go under Hwy 59 and follow the street under the Railroad Bridge.  Take a right on Navigation and go about 4 blocks.  The restaurant will be on the right.  Go ahead and park in back.  They have a nice man in a golf cart to give you a ride back up to the front door.  Enjoy!