Going to Houston, TX - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

I_H8_Crawford · 08-12-2008, 08:31 AM

So, since the CP community is so helpful, any ideas of exciting/fun/good things to do down there??

Going to be there for a week with the g/f, and two things we are already doing are going to a Texans game, and checking out NASA... what else is there to do in the city??

burn_baby_burn · 08-12-2008, 08:33 AM

Astros game? I was in Texas at the end of May and the heat was unbearable. Expect to sweat a lot.

kermitology · 08-12-2008, 08:33 AM

Eat?

I'm not one to ask.. I don't like Houston very much. But there is a chain of restaurants that are an all you can eat meat house.. it's so good. The salad bar helps you poop!

Also, drink Shiner Bock. It's GREAT Texas beer (because it's German)

psicodude · 08-12-2008, 08:35 AM

We drove down to Galveston for a couple of days when we were down there, and it was pretty cool if you are looking to relax on the beach.

NASA was really cool as well, definetly save a day for it.

Oh, and prepare for the most uncomfortable heat and humidity of your life!

Bring_Back_Shantz · 08-12-2008, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kermitology

Eat?

I'm not one to ask.. I don't like Houston very much. But there is a chain of restaurants that are an all you can eat meat house.. it's so good. The salad bar helps you poop!

Also, drink Shiner Bock. It's GREAT Texas beer (because it's German)

My buddy has eaten there a bunch of times, it's called Fogo De Ciao (I'm pretty sure that's the spelling).
It's Brazilliam BBQ and if you want to go to a place like that in Calgary, there is a place called Bollero that is pretty good. It's in the same building as Smugglers.

REDVAN · 08-12-2008, 08:53 AM

Go to the mall downtown, the zoo, we went to a basketball game when we were there. We saw the aquarium, and my uncle took us to a bbq out of town that was great. Don't know exactly where everything is, but there are bound to be plenty of good places. However, there are also areas of town you need to avoid...

Be sure to try everything you can, and have a great time!

I_H8_Crawford · 08-12-2008, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psicodude

We drove down to Galveston for a couple of days when we were down there, and it was pretty cool if you are looking to relax on the beach.

NASA was really cool as well, definetly save a day for it.

Oh, and prepare for the most uncomfortable heat and humidity of your life!

We'll see about that last part... NYC in July isn't exactly comfy!

redforever · 08-12-2008, 08:58 AM

You are around 3 hour drive from San Antonio as well, which I prefer. The Riverwalk and the Alamo are in San Antonio, beats anything you will find in Houston. Lots of outlet shopping at San Marcos which is minutes away from San Antonio. The German town New Braunfels is just minutes away as well, they even have an Octoberfest and all the festivities that go along with that. Guadalupe River runs through New Braunfels, river tubing is very popular. Scenery is totally different than Houston as well. Gruene (pronounced green) is just minutes from there as well and is the historic capital of Texas, antiques galore.

Personally, I would spend a couple of days in the San Antonio area if you are that close.

And as someone else did, I would recommend Galveston as well.

pepper24 · 08-12-2008, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

We'll see about that last part... NYC in July isn't exactly comfy!

I was in Houston late June for business and it was 52C with humidity. It's the oppposite of our cold winters where you rush from car to hotel to get AC and limit your time outside. It's literally unbearable. I just came back from NYC on business a few weeks ago and it was nothing in comparison.

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (NASA) is a must if you have time. Galveston is nice for beaches and Minute Maid Park is a great place to catch the Astros. Besides that there isn't much to do besides eat which you can find tons of restaurants at very affordable prices to stuff your face.

burn_baby_burn · 08-12-2008, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

We'll see about that last part... NYC in July isn't exactly comfy!

I was in Texas in May and NYC in early July. Although NYC was pretty hot and humid (the heat in the subway was surprising), Texas had it beat.

psicodude · 08-12-2008, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

We'll see about that last part... NYC in July isn't exactly comfy!

I was in NYC about 3 years ago and was surprised at the humidity, but my opinion is that it isn't even in the same league as Houston (just the heat, I mean). I am not sure how there are so many fat people there....you would think they would lose a ton of weight every summer just from sweating alone.

Another thing I remember about Houston is that it is a huge "car is king" city. I honestly can't remember seeing any mass transit at all. The freeways are bananas though. You will laugh at Deerfoot after driving in Houston for a few days.

nik- · 08-12-2008, 10:00 AM

Definitely go to an Astros game if you like Baseball. Minute Maid park is a great place to watch a game.

Galveston was a neat place as well. When I was there I also went to the San Jacinto Monument which was pretty cool.

Psicodude is right, you definitely need a car there, and the freeways there will definitely make you laugh at the Deerfoot and "calgary traffic" when you return.

RubberDuck · 08-12-2008, 10:22 AM

Westheimer Road - Lots of great bars, restaurants and shopping.

Pappadeaux - Fantastic seafood. Only time I've ever tried alligator and I liked it. I think there is more than one in Houston.

Taco Cabana - My favorite mexican fast food.

Also try Rolling Rock Beer. Not exclusive to Texas but it's darn good and we can't get it here.

You will also note that Texans are extremely friendly and courteous. Make sure you hold open doors for people, let women go first etc. or they'll think you're a yankee!

ZDogg · 08-12-2008, 10:32 AM

I would definately do NASA, Galveston and the San Antonio river walk if you have time. If you like amusement parks they have a pretty sweet Six Flags located accross from the Football Stadium. If you like shopping (high end shopping) hit up the Galleria. As I recall they also had a good museum downtown, although that may depend on the feature at the time.

REDVAN · 08-12-2008, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZDogg

I If you like amusement parks they have a pretty sweet Six Flags located accross from the Football Stadium.

Houston Six Flags isn't open anymore, and San Antonio Six Flags isn't near the football stadium.

To_be_Quite_Honest · 08-12-2008, 11:43 AM

In Houston, Clyde Drexler's BBQ was pretty cool, classy place with lots of cool basketball artifacts. His team USA stuff, his buddies, Barkley, Akeem left him some jerseys, there is even a half court, you can shoot some free throws, it is near downtown, a few blocks from the Toyota Centre (which is in the same area as the Astro's diamond.)

The cool thing about Reliant Stadium, not only the tailgating, but it is in the same lot as the old Astrodome, wasn't it billed as the 8th wonder of the world? Well they still use it but just for highschool football. But what's crazy as big as it is it looks like you can fit the old House of Pain inside Reliant when the roof is open.

For the old lady, there is also a huge mall i think it was called the Galleria or something. Very nice, huge selection of stores & american resturaunt chains, i was pretty sure it was bigger then WEM, in fact made WEM look like Deerfoot mall.

henriksedin33 · 08-12-2008, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by To_be_Quite_Honest

In Houston, Clyde Drexler's BBQ was pretty cool, classy place with lots of cool basketball artifacts. His team USA stuff, his buddies, Barkley, Akeem left him some jerseys, there is even a half court, you can shoot some free throws, it is near downtown, a few blocks from the Toyota Centre (which is in the same area as the Astro's diamond.)

The cool thing about Reliant Stadium, not only the tailgating, but it is in the same lot as the old Astrodome, wasn't it billed as the 8th wonder of the world? Well they still use it but just for highschool football. But what's crazy as big as it is it looks like you can fit the old House of Pain inside Reliant when the roof is open.

For the old lady, there is also a huge mall i think it was called the Galleria or something. Very nice, huge selection of stores & american resturaunt chains, i was pretty sure it was bigger then WEM, in fact made WEM look like Deerfoot mall.

according to wikipedia, WEM is considerably bigger (2.4m vs. 3.8m squareft retail)

Tiger · 08-12-2008, 04:03 PM

Go to Fogo da Chao brazilian steak house on westhiemer rd (sp)?. best meal ever... do not waste your time on the salad bar... if the g/f is veggy eatter than don't go to Fogo da chao's

kermitology · 08-12-2008, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiger

Go to Fogo da Chao brazilian steak house on westhiemer rd (sp)?. best meal ever... do not waste your time on the salad bar... if the g/f is veggy eatter than don't go to Fogo da chao's

I think this is the place BBS and I were talking about. The salad bar is just there to help you poop later..

Erm.. of course it is.. I didn't look at who posted that..