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Houston, TX |
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| Hotel: - Your choice of hotel | |||||
| Car: - Your choice of rental car |
| Package prices include all tax recovery charge & service fees | |
| Leaving Thu, Sep 9 | |
| Returning Sun, Sep 12 | from $108 per person |
| Returning Mon, Sep 13 | from $141 per person |
| Returning Tue, Sep 14 | from $162 per person |
| Leaving Fri, Sep 10 | |
| Returning Sun, Sep 12 | from $76 per person |
| Returning Mon, Sep 13 | from $108 per person |
| Returning Tue, Sep 14 | from $141 per person |
| Leaving Sat, Sep 11 | |
| Returning Mon, Sep 13 | from $75 per person |
| Returning Tue, Sep 14 | from $108 per person |
| Leaving Thu, Sep 16 | |
| Returning Sun, Sep 19 | from $108 per person |
| Returning Mon, Sep 20 | from $141 per person |
| Returning Tue, Sep 21 | from $163 per person |
| Leaving Fri, Sep 17 | |
| Returning Sun, Sep 19 | from $81 per person |
| Returning Mon, Sep 20 | from $115 per person |
| Returning Tue, Sep 21 | from $149 per person |
| Leaving Sat, Sep 18 | |
| Returning Mon, Sep 20 | from $75 per person |
| Returning Tue, Sep 21 | from $107 per person |
Houston, TX: Why Go
Deep in the heart of Texas lies an enormous city that's home to NASA's Johnson Space Center, borders the Buffalo Bayou, and sizzles in the summer.
Dress code: Might as well sink your spurs into the country-Western look, which is always in vogue in Houston. Get your Garth Brooks shirt out from the back of the closet, break in your denim jeans, find any belt with a gigantic buckle, and put on your favorite pair of faux alligator boots. A Stetson hat is optional, but definitely scores you extra points.
Place we love, even if it's touristy: Take a virtual trip around the cosmos at NASA's Space Center Houston. You get the out-of-this-world experience of seeing real astronauts training for missions. During your visit, be sure to take a behind-the-scenes tram tour, and reach out and touch a rock that once stared at Earth from the moon.
The real deal: Tasted true Tex-Mex recently? Go to Westheimer, which is as close to a main drag as you'll get in Houston. You'll find iconic, feisty Tex-Mex food at Pappacitos Cantina (order the frozen margaritas along with your fajitas and flan) or at the somewhat trendier Lupe Tortilla.
Editor's favorite watering hole: Groove to everything from hip-hop to jazz--sometimes simultaneously--at this artsy space near Montrose and Midtown. With two floors, you'll sometimes find intriguing juxtapositions, like puppet performance artists upstairs and blazing bluegrass downstairs, but one thing's a constant: the mixed drinks are popular--and potent.
Where the locals go: The Aquarium is more than just a restaurant, it's an entire entertainment complex, complete with over 20,000 gallons of freshwater tanks on display. During the season, you might see pro football players chowing down on the seasoned calamari, red snapper, and other seafood specialties.
Get out of dodge: Head to the Kemah Waterfront Boardwalk, which sits on the coast about 20 miles from downtown Houston. See how many pelicans and seabirds you can spot from atop the Ferris wheel, get your boardwalk funnel cake and fries, and hold hands during a seaside sunset stroll--we don't think that's cheesy.
Good to know: To cover Houston's colossal sprawl in any kind of efficient manner, you definitely need to have a car. The running in-town joke is to say "I'll see you in 20 minutes," which seems to be the standard amount of time it takes to go just about anywhere.
Recommendations & Suggestions
Children's Museum
Contemporary Arts Museum
5216 Montrose Blvd
Phone: 713.284.8250
Just a stone's toss from the Museum of Fine Arts, the Contemporary Arts Museum offers visitors a very different museum going experience. Instead of maintaining a large permanent collection, the CAM's focus is on bringing in new works in traveling exhibits. Always changing, and frequently wonderful, the Contemporary Arts Museum offers viewers new visions through new works.
Admission to the museum is free.
Houston Ballet
1921 W. Bell St.
Phone: 713.523.6300
Though far from Britain in the state-of-the-art Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston, this Texas toe troupe is steeped in the technique of the Royal Ballet and imbued with the theatricality of West End musicals. This is largely due to the company's artistic director, Ben Stevenson, who studied in England and directs in the British style of ballet rather than with the usual Balanchine bias.
The ballets performed are an eclectic mix of classical (Swan Lake, Cleopatra, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote) and modern (the Cullen Contemporary Series). Visit www.houstonballet.org for performance schedules and ticket prices.
Houston Museum of Fine Arts
Phone: 713.639.7300
The definitive art collection in the Southwest, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts is packed with extraordinary works of art from a variety of disciplines. From Native American pieces to Asian delights, the MFA has a premium collection.
Among the can't miss collections is the Glassell Collection of African Gold and the Beck Collection of Impressionist and Modern Paintings.
Houston Texans
Two Reliant Park
Phone: 832.667.2000
The National Football League's newest expansion team finds its home in Houston. Ever since the Oilers abandoned their home city for Tennessee, the biggest city in the Lone Star state has been praying for a team, and thanks to a bold bid outdoing Los Angeles, they finally got one. Second-year quarterback David Carr led the 2003 Texans for the team's second season, and was joined by outstanding rookie receiver Andre Johnson. Reliant Stadium was home to the 2004 Superbowl. Football is almost a religion in Texas, so look for a boisterous crowd and a team intent on keeping their fans happy.
Museum of Natural Science
1 Hermann Circle Drive
Phone: 713.639.4629
One of the most respected science museums in the country, the Museum of Natural Science in Houston is the fourth most-attended museum, following 2 Smithsonians and The Met. The museum features a wide array of exhibits, from gem and mineral specimens to dinosaur skeletons, American Indian artifacts to space-station models, from hands-on to please-don't-touch! The Cockrell Butterfly Center is home to thousands of live butterflies in a beautiful glass atrium filled with tropical flowers, trees and lizards. The Burke Baker Planetarium offers up star shows and laser-rock shows and you can see IMAX films on a six-story screen at the Wortham Theatre.
NASA Space Center
1601 Nasa Road
Phone: 281.244.2105
Tour the right stuff. Visit NASA's Mission Control Center, the heart of every one of America's space missions. It's easy to spend 5 hours at the Space Center walking the fascinating attractions and exhibits here. Learn what its like living and working in space via a 20 minute "Living in Space" presentation. Test your piloting skills by landing an 80-ton orbiter via simulation or retrieving a satellite with the Manned Maneuvering Unit. Admission to the center is $13.95 for adults and $9.95 for children. Parking is $3.00 per car.
