My Main Man METRO Marty

After a laughter filled night drinking wine and Facebook stalking with my friend Nat the Horny Toad, I decided to be civic minded today and ride METRO for a few hours.I chose the #27 bus because it makes a loop around Houston much like 610 does but on a smaller scale. I boarded the luxury liner at Shepherd and Westheimer. As the bus stopped to pick me up, I snapped a picture of this beauty for my blog. The bus driver and an official looking METRO guy thought it was funny that I was taking pictures. I told them that I was whitegirlridingthebus, and that I had to document my journey. Whatever lady, take a seat! I sat behind a man who had fingernails that could give Howard Hughes a run for his money. Gross! He occasionally would put his hands in the air and perform some Black Swan-type moves. Too bad he got off at 11th street. Fingernail Man was the only crazy to board the bus during my two and a half hour tour.  Boring until we got to Cavalcade. Finally the seedy part of H-town. Still only a few drunks walking the side streets. We continued on to Lockwood, when the official looking METRO guy asked me if this was my first time riding the bus.Duh, I'm a pro at this. His name is Marty, and he was on #27 training the new driver, Mr. Decker. Marty is a single parent raising a 9 year old son. Bless him! He starting working for METRO in 1980 and showed me a picture to prove it. Marty left METRO to work for Nabisco, but returned to METRO twelve years ago. He is the nicest, most helpful employee I've ever dealt with. Marty told me all about the Clinton/Wayside community, and even showed me where the new tracks for the rail were being laid. I was sad to see Marty and Mr. Decker get off at the Magnolia Transit Center. We all had to change buses, and a fellow rider named Cynthia helped me out. Hell No! I couldn't take her picture but she was charming all the same. The route took us all over Houston's back forty which is largely industrial until we hit the med center. It was a non-eventful two and a half hours, so I will go back to walking and riding the bus downtown. I hope to visit with my main man METRO Marty again in the future. If you've got three hours to spare, I highly recommend (yawn) riding the Inner Loop Crosstown #27.