No.3 : See an Art Car Parade

No. 3: See an Art Car Parade


This past weekend we went to the 26th Annual Art Car Parade in Houston.

Art Car: a vehicle that has had its appearance modified as an act of personal artistic expression.

It was everything I hoped it would be and then some.

The cars were amazing and creative and weird and festooned with all sorts of unexpected objects.

The people were amazing and creative and weird and festooned with all sorts of unexpected objects.

The weather was just amazing.  May in Houston is not known for cool days or low humidity and we had both. AMAZING.

Because there had been rain forecast and we had a lovely gully-washer of a rain the day before, the parade had its time pushed back two hours. This meant a little rearranging of the day and also that we did not get to see the parade actually moving.  Instead the cars were lining up and posing for pictures while they waited for the official delayed parade start.

No worries.
We saw all 260-something cars and had the bonus of getting to sit in some, snap pics with others and chat with some of the artists and/or owners.
This may have been better than actually sitting on the sidelines watching.  Certainly more exercise. 260+ cars cover a lot of ground and we walked it all.

And now for the fun part....
the pictures:

A broken down brain thing- fortunately they got it working in time for the parade.

What can I say?  An homage to Thomas Crapper.

A bottle cap covered jeep.  How many bottles of beer were consumed in the name of car art?

I'm guessing LOTS!

And this one- guess what it is covered in?

A toddler's delight! BAND-AIDS!

The low-riders were really cool.  A-maz-ing paint jobs....

 ...inside and out. This is the trunk. With a custom-painted gun. It is Texas after all.

And this is the interior. Wow!

Lots of people doing trick photos under this one. 

"Look, mom! I'm lifting the car off of sister."

I made some new friends.  This guy quacked me up.

He was quilted. 

And in Texas you always have to have a cadillac with some long-horns.

Also in Texas you have giant cockroaches.

Eewwwww.

This is a face that haunts my dreams. 

I'm pretty sure that cockroach I killed in my entry way last week was this big.

This was one of my favorites. It looked like a lace car.

 It was entirely laser cut.

And my other favorite. These are singing/dancing fish. And singing/dancing lobsters.

I have a little Vine where I TRIED to catch the action:

I got the singing but did not catch the dancing. 

                       

(If the sound isn't working here, try this link:

vine.co/v/b0JKOPIJmg3 

You may have to click on the volume button on the upper left hand corner of the video.

Annoying but worth it.)

There must have been a contest to see who could use the most bizarre objects.

 Partial dentures? Teeth? Where do they get this stuff??

Bunny would have loved this one-. She used to have a rubber rat family.

Carlos's idea of Heaven. A whole truck covered in tennis balls to chase.

I always suspected these things would last forever. 

Peeps.  All Peeps.  All over this truck.

And this is the only one I really wish we had gotten to see moving. 

It breathes fire.  Or at least smoke.

The people watching was easily as entertaining as the car watching.

So the 26th Annual Art Car Parade was a big success as far as I was concerned. Can't believe this party has been going on for so many years and I had never been.  

Thanks No. 3.

Even better, we finished off the day at another new restaurant. 

One more out of the five for No. 60: Hit five restaurants in Houston that I have never been to before.

I'll tell you about it later this week.