Houston, Texas

In May of 2017, we ventured to Texas (as you may know if you read our Waco and Austin blogs). As you may also know, it is our goal to watch the Braves play in every major league stadium. And on this trip, we were able to cross another off the list.

We were only in Houston for the better part of 3 days, but we still managed to see quite a few sights in between ball games. From sting rays, to Mars, to scaring the daylights out of each other in a museum, today we’re talking all about the highlights of our trip to Houston.

So the main reason we decided to venture to Houston was to watch the Braves play the Astros at Minute Maid Park. As previously mentioned, we were crossing another stadium off of our list. This one was unique (to us) in that it had a retractable roof. We got to experience one game with the roof open and one with it closed. So nice not to have rain delays!

We also got to meet the Braves reporter, Kelsey Wingert, before one of the games.

We decided to buy the CityPass that would allow us to visit several different locations, including the Houston Downtown Aquarium. Having been to a lot of aquariums, this one was pretty standard if not a bit smaller than others we’ve been to. They did have a white tiger, which was cool. And we got to pet sting rays. (This was not our first sting ray experience, but it is still a neat thing to do.)

There was a restaurant on the top floor where you could enjoy a meal while gazing at fish in their tanks. It had a nice under the sea vibe, but we did not dine here. We had too little time!

Also on our pass was the Houston Museum of Natural Science. As adults, we appreciate museums much more than in our younger years. And we can, in fact, spend hours upon hours wandering through the displays. Natural history museums can especially take a long time with their various exhibits.

This particular museum was huge. It had a ton of different exhibits and we wanted to see them all! Unfortunately, since we were so short on time, we had to hurry through a lot of the museum. But we made sure to make it to the Dinosaur and Ancient Egypt exhibits. Word of advice: if you plan to visit the Ancient Egypt exhibit, you might want to be alert. When we visited, this particular exhibit was very dark. The only lights came from the display cases, and it was very quiet. So quiet that, as we studied the various mummified remains, the slightest noise (like running into each other) gave both of us quite a fright. (A fright? What is this? 1850?)

We had to make a mad dash through the last section of the museum as it was closing. (We do often wish that museums stayed open later than they do.) But overall it was quite impressive and definitely recommended if you like history and science. But plan accordingly so you have plenty of time!

When most people think of Houston, it is fair to say that one of the first things that comes to mind is the Houston Space Center. So, of course, we had to pay it a visit while we were in town. Like the science museum, this one had quite a lot of exhibits: from Mars to the moon landing, from the mechanics to an actual spaceship you could board, it was full of interesting information and interactive experiences.

This museum was also a part of the CityPass we purchased. (For more information on the  Houston CityPass, click here.) If you only plan to do one thing in Houston, visit the Space Center. It is well worth the drive outside of the city.

A few notable restaurants we ate at are Niko Niko’s, where we had very delicious hummus, and The Moonshiners. The Moonshiners was great because it was close to our hotel and open late. Oftentimes, when we go to evening baseball games, we end up eating after the game. So, we love to find places open late for these occasions.

We stayed at the Lancaster Hotel in downtown Houston. We chose this hotel largely because it was close to Minute Maid Park so we could walk to and from the ballgames. But it was a great place to stay and offered free WiFi and free breakfast, which is always a plus in our book. It is also within walking distance of the aquarium.

One important thing to note about Houston is that everything is quite spread out. It has various “districts” such as the historic district, the shopping district, and the theater district. Depending on what you are doing, your activities may be somewhat far apart. The Space Center is the furthest since it sits outside of the city, but even the  aquarium and science museum were too far apart to walk (5 miles one way is too far for most people anyhow). If you don’t have a car, make sure to look into public transportation schedules. Or put aside money for an Uber/Lyft/Taxi.

You also have to be careful planning because some districts have very few restaurants. There weren’t many around our hotel and several closed early (early for us anyhow).

Overall, it was a great experience and we’re glad we had the chance to visit!