Going to be in Houston...what to do?

Iciclehead · 08-10-2016, 04:51 AM

On business travel but staying over the weekend so Friday PM, Saturday and Sunday are free.

While I have travelled a lot to Houston, it has always been business only, literally hotel/business/airport so this is the first time I have ever had a couple days just to check out the place.

I will be travelling with a friend, so her needs also figure into this....

Any pointers from local residents?

Is the Space Center worth it?

What is this Galleria thing and do I want to go there?

Any especially good restaurants?

I'll be staying in the Woodlands area....

Thanks!

Dennis

aschen · 08-10-2016, 05:32 AM

Space center is worth it, if only to see the Saturn 5. It is an amazing thing to see up close IMHO. there is alot of kids stuff there but overall it is worth the trip. It will be crowded as people look for indoor activities during the summer.

Ive eaten at ~90% of the woodlands restaurants, what are you looking for? Formal, ethnic, casual, etc? Youll probably end up on the woodlands waterway to wonder around and have drinks one night. There are probably concerts at the woodlands pavilion. You can hang out at the park next door and hear the music / drink beers even if you dont buy tickets. The houston museum district has some nice places to visit as well.

Galleria is an area a fancy mall. Tons of great places to eat in the area, but not exactly much in the way of sight seeing. PITA to get to from the woodlands at any high traffic time.

It really depends on what you are into. If you give some starting points we can give more pointed advice. The greater houston area is huge, of course.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

Flush out your sweat glands. You will not enjoy the heat. Drink plenty of water.
Waiting in traffic is another big thing.

Lots to do down there that is cool and fun. The space center is very cool.

masraum · 06:11 AM

The woodlands is on the far north side of town. The Space Center is on the far Southeast side of town. The drive would probably be around an hour one way if you don't run into much weekend traffic on 45 where there's construction. I'm not sure it would be worth it from the Woodlands.

The Galleria is a "high end" mall (lots of high end clothing, jewelry, etc... stores) that will be packed full of people from all walks of life and the area around it will have tons of traffic. I wouldn't make a trip from the Woodlands just for the Galleria if it was me, but then, I don't really enjoy hanging out in a mall.

There are tons of good restaurants in Houston and probably in the Woodlands too, but I don't have much experience on that side of town.

It is "Houston Restaurant Weeks" (used to be 1, but now it's 5). So many nicer restaurants have a deal where you pay $35 per person for dinner and get 3-4 courses (soup salad appetizer, entre, dessert). It's a pretty good deal and the food's usually pretty good.

Welcome to Houston Restaurant Weeks 2016 | Houston Restaurant Weeks 2016

There's a concert in the Woodlands
Disturbed and Breaking Benjamin

You're both probably going to be miserable. Dress for very hot, humid weather, although they say we're going to have a cold front come through for the weekend.

Downtown weather

Weather in the Woodlands

Instrument 41 · 08-10-2016, 06:23 AM

Next town north of Woodlands is Conroe. Little hole in the wall restaurant is McKenzies. Some very good Barbeque. Not a lot of touristy things to do other than Space Center down in Clear Lake or going to Galveston. All about 2 hours from the Woodlands. You can always drive about an 2 hours north of you and go to Waco to see Chip and Joanna Gaines "Fixer Upper" complex.

Manda Racing · Manda Racing's Garage

Ferrari of Houston-- Woodlands. Lots of trophies, peek in back at challenge cars.

aschen · 08-10-2016, 07:25 AM

This place is fun to go on sunday nights, drink wine and listen to outdoor concert. 45 min from the woodlands but a pleasant drive past lake conroe and magnolia
Bernhardt Winery | Plantersville, Texas

Restaurant recommendations in the woodlands

Fancy take on comfort food: Jasper's on market street (~50$ per person)
Americas on the waterway is very good fine dining, sunday brunch is great (~$50 per)
if you are a meatatarian there is a Fogo de Chao in the woodlands now
Chi is pretty good japanese/sushi
Papasitos is good seafood / cajun

for BBQ you have 100s of good options in the area: spring creek bbq, Rudy's BBQ, Papas BBQ

for casual dining we like:
Lucky Cafe (very low cost Vietnamese, tucked away in a neighborhood)
The olive oil (greek)
Pho ahn sushi (vietnamese and sushi)

should try some texmex, i recomend just going into 1 of the 1000000 you will drive by. Take a chance and see what happens! Most of them are good.

Can go to the bellaire area if you want authentic Asian food of nearly any type

Norm K · 08-10-2016, 08:59 AM

Rock climbing, white water rafting, fly-fishing, perfect Summer weather and ... oh, wait, we're talking about Houston.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norm K

Rock climbing, white water rafting, fly-fishing, perfect Summer weather and ... oh, wait, we're talking about Houston.

Yea, the mountain top is is 125 feet tall.

There is indeed deep sea fishing but not much for mountain climbing.

Jolly Amaranto · 08-10-2016, 09:15 AM

Evenings wandering around Old Town Spring can be interesting. If you want to drive a long way and are already at Space Center Houston, the Kemah Boardwalk is not far. And then there is Galveston with the Tall Ship Ellisa and Railroad Museum. If you want to see alligators, Brazos Bend State Park is south west of Houston and not far from George Ranch if you are interested in Texas history. Not much going on during weekends, but if you are ever in down town Houston during weekdays, go underground. Connecting many of the big buildings downtown is an air conditioned subterranean labyrinth of tunnels that are lined with shops and restaurants.

Craig T · 08-10-2016, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norm K

Rock climbing, white water rafting, fly-fishing, perfect Summer weather and ... oh, wait, we're talking about Houston.

^^^^^Blahahahaha!

Yep, Houston, a good place to fly into in the morning, attend the business meeting, and fly out of that same evening.

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

I thought the butterfly pavilion was pretty neat.

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

Watch out for potholes.

pdxfj · 08-10-2016, 11:15 AM

I would make the trek to the Space Center. Very well done.

When I was there, they were still building the shuttle exhibit outside but I think it is open now.

Both of the tram tours are good. The rocket park one will blow your mind when you see just how small the early rockets were and just how huge the Saturn V is. You had to have brass ones the size of watermelons to go up in any of those rockets.

All in all, very informative.

Otter74 · 08-10-2016, 12:32 PM

I hear the frontage roads are unparalleled.

Jolly Amaranto · 08-10-2016, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otter74

I hear the frontage roads are unparalleled.

Don't have frontage roads. Around here they are called "Feeder Roads".

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Is the Space Center worth it? - Only the Level 9 tour, in my opinion. On the regular tram tour you do see the visitors center, a few building and the Saturn 5.

What is this Galleria thing and do I want to go there? - A giant multi level, high end shopping mall.

Any especially good restaurants? Tons. What kind of food? Houston is a foodie town.

Some of my Favorites: Underbelly, Caracol, Hugo's.

Tex Mex - Mexican food: Just go to a Lupe Tortilla. The Best one is VERY far from you. The "chain" ones still have the great food.
BBQ - Lots of good places around.

I'll be staying in the Woodlands area.... I'm sorry, really sorry. Not much over there for nightlife. You are nearly 30 miles north of Houston, really.

Beer - lots of very good breweries around. The BEST is very close over in Magnolia - Lone Pint. The Lone Pint Brewery, Scrumptious Texas Ales They are open from noon to 4 pm on Saturday.

Drive North on I-45 to FM (Farm to Market) 1488. Drive West to intersection with FM 1774. Cross the RailRoad tracks and turn left at second street (Commerce Street). 4 very short blocks (400 meters)

Or take the Beer Bus and visit several.

Texas Beer Bus

It is a Porsche track Weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, about 90 miles (143 km) outside Houston. Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR and IndyCar Racing

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jolly Amaranto

Don't have frontage roads. Around here they are called "Feeder Roads".

That it the truth!

masraum · 08-10-2016, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig T

^^^^^Blahahahaha!

Yep, Houston, a good place to fly into in the morning, attend the business meeting, and fly out of that same evening.

Yeah, Houston's not a pretty place for sure. And I feel like there's not much to do (other than eat, we have a billion restaurants)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noah930

I thought the butterfly pavilion was pretty neat.

But, despite the above, we do have a pretty good collection of museums and theaters for various types of events

There's also usually a variety of things going on at any one time all around town.

masraum · 08-10-2016, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otter74

I hear the frontage roads are unparalleled.

Of all of the places that I've been around the US, we do have a pretty well laid out set of roads. Downtown is at the center of an asterisk of freeways. There are 3 or 4 loops around town at varying distances. Pretty much every freeway and tollway has a feeder/frontage on both sides. Also at nearly every overpass, you can make a u-turn without waiting for a traffic light.

I guess that's the sort of thing that you get when you've got LOTS AND LOTS of space.