What to do in Houston?!?

http://www.houston.org/whyHouston/live.asp

http://houston.citysearch.com/

If you are coming to Houston...well I assume you have car, you will need it.

Probably the #1 thing to do is "Space Center Houston." It is down south of town on NASA Road 1, just outside the Johnson Space Center. It is an upscale museum/tourist trap but it can be fun. My father in law used to work at JSC and when I first moved here (1992) it was still a PUBLIC facility... they sort of figured people had a right to see their tax dollars at work. You could get a free tour, and NASA had a rule that if someone got a ground floor office they had to at least "look" busy all the time...if someone was playing solitare on the computer the toursits complained..

Well NASA is a bureaucracy like any other and they got tired of this...and they wanted the money...so they cut a deal and SPACE CENTER HOUSTON was born. It has a museum, it has an IMAX movie theater, it has some artifacts, (including a moon rock you can touch), a land the shuttle video game, and there is even a bit of education that goes on there...though personally I'm not a big fan. To be honest it is A LOT more kid friendly than just going around NASA was...they have slides and play area. It is a rip off in many ways though...what used to be a free tram tour of the NASA facilites is now $80 a person(!) and you have to reserve ahead of time! It can be fun, the kids will learn something...but be prepared to empty your wallet for what used to be (and in my view still should be) free.

It can be expensive though... Adults: $18.95

Children (Age 4-11): $14.95

Seniors: $17.95

Parking: $5.00

Sometimes you can get cupons at McDonalds though for cheap entry. Their gift shop is pretty cool...but you can get a better selection of space stuff at SPACE CENTER GIFTS at better prices than at the Space Center Houston Gift Shop. It is about a mile down NASA ROAD ONE, in a little strip center.

If you are down in that area, go to TOOKIES. Just ask anyone the will be able to tell you where it is. It is the best burger place in town, lots of locals like it. I like "the 99" but lots of people like "the squeeler". YUMMY and kid friendly, and you can get Vanilla or Cherry Coke there too.http://houston.citysearch.com/review/10026317

Also you will be near the Kemah boardwalk... you might like that.

http://www.kemahboardwalk.com/flash_content/flash_...

Other things to do... You can shop at the Galleria. It is a bit upscale and can be expensive...( if your husband or daddy is doing well in the oil buisness the Galleria is where you spend all his money). LOTS and LOTS to buy there... even has a skating rink... and many resturants.

Herman Park is the biggest park in Houston. It has the Zoo, a big pond with paddle boats, a train ride, and I think the Symphony is having a free concert there this weekend. http://www.hermannpark.org/ http://www.milleroutdoortheatre.com/schedule/calen...

Next to it is the Natural Science Museum, http://www.hmns.org/ The Fine Arts Museum, http://www.mfah.org/ and nearby are the Children's Museum http://www.cmhouston.org/ and Health Science Museum http://www.museumofhealth.org/

Astroworld closed two years ago. The rides were sold, the buildings bulldozed...there are rumors condos might be built there. The Astros are out of town this weekend, but that is probably a good thing the way they have been playing lately http://houston.astros.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=hou However they have some pretty good prices for tickets http://houston.astros.mlb.com/mlb/tickets/value.js...

For a kid friendly place to eat, I would recomend the 59 Diner. http://www.59diner.com/index.html

On Sunday, we Houstonians go to Church. There are a lot to choose from, but I'm going to plug Lakewood http://www.lakewood.cc/ simply because they out grew their old Church, so they bought the Houston Rockets Basketball stadium and now use that...(it's been remodeled a bit). Lakewood Church is a non-denominational megachurch located in Houston, Texas, United States. As of 2007, it is the largest and fastest growing church in the United States[1] with more than 40,000 weekly attendees during its English and Spanish language services. There is no experience quite like going to Church with 5,000 and 8,000 other people. It should be experienced, at least once.

There is also 2nd Baptist http://second.org/global/default.aspx and Fellowship of the Woodlands http://www.fotw.org/

That should be enough to keep ya'll busy!

Have fun!

There are so many things to do here;

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston

Contemporary Art Museum

Health Museum (it's actually really fun!)

Natural History Museum

Alley Theatre for a play

Hobby Center for a Broadway Play/Musical

Houston Zoo

The Galleria (world class shopping & ice skating)

Harwin (for knock-off shopping)

Williams Tower Water Wall

NASA

Kemah Boardwalk

Dave & Buster's

The Galleria

Incredible Pizza

Whitney houston was a celebrity...

Houston is boring, and it's not touristy. There really isn't anything fun to do here. Basically, it sucks.

Astroworld closed two years ago.

Splashtown is still open

Go to AstroWorld six flags. The zoo there is nice.

See if there is anything going on at the Astrodome.