Houston then...

[Amor de Cosmos]

Leave tomorrow, only got a week, and once obligations are out of the way there won't be a lot of time.

The Rothko Chapel is a must, as is the Menil Collection next door. I notice the Houston Gallery of Photography is close by, is that worth a look? Anything else?

[garcia]

Houston then...

i remember it as the worst city i've ever been in. like a giant ulcer on the face of the earth.

galveston's not too far and nice in a melancholy kind of way.

[ursus arctos]

Houston then...

Those were going to be my two Must See recommendations.

If you have access to a car, it is worth driving around just to see what happens to a major metropolitan area without zoning.

I assume that Galveston is out of the question, but you might want to breeze through Buffalo Bayou Park.

[garcia]

Houston then...

it is worth driving around just to see what happens to a major metropolitan area without zoning.

this is it, the hideous sprawl of houston is what happens when money shapes a city without any kind of plan.

you know those cauliflowers that grow in sort of fractal patterns? they're like, ten times as intelligent as houston.

[ursus arctos]

Houston then...

Indeed, I thought our essentially simultaneous posts complemented each other nicely.

Houston is an awful, awful place, but is remains better than Dallas in my book (largely due to the fact that it is significantly more diverse).

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Houston then...

When Garcia was in houston he sent me a don't mess with texas postcard and on the back of it was something very rude about houston being a sweltering shithole, and someone stamped the postcard, not by the stamp, but over the message.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Houston then...

garcia wrote: i remember it as the worst city i've ever been in. like a giant ulcer on the face of the earth.

galveston's not too far and nice in a melancholy kind of way.

Oh dear. Well depressing places offer interesting photographic opportunities. I'll have to see what I can find.

[Various Artist]

Houston then...

"Bit of a diversion there," would be what Kennedy's driver might more usefully have suggested that fateful day in 1963.

"Nah, carry on up the main drag. What's the worst that could happen?"

[Errorist Sympathiser]

Houston then...

I'd echo the "nothing much to see" sentiments and suggest a three-hour drive to San Antonio, which is much, much lovelier.

Alternatively, as others have said, Galveston is less than hour away, and last time I was there had feral cats living in the sea wall.

[Heliotrope]

Houston then...

When I used to travel occasionally for work, I would judge the locations as to whether I'd want to go there again on vacation or to live there, and two places met neither category: Houston and Orlando.

I did go to the Montrose neighborhood, which was the bohemian area at the time (mid 1990s), and if you're a foodie, the Washington Post food critic did give Houston a pretty good rank in his list of the top 10 food cities in the US: list here.
A week there seems like it would be interminable, though.

[Incandenza]

Houston then...

You might want to message Matt J and/or S.aureus. They might have more recommendations, but don't seem to be on here that often any more.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Houston then...

Enjoyed the City gallery very much. Enjoyed seeing some (modest) lightrail about.

People are nice.

[linus]

Houston then...

garcia wrote:

it is worth driving around just to see what happens to a major metropolitan area without zoning.

this is it, the hideous sprawl of houston is what happens when money shapes a city without any kind of plan.

you know those cauliflowers that grow in sort of fractal patterns? they're like, ten times as intelligent as houston.

The median house price in Houston is $150k, so there is at least one fairly notable benefit to a pro-growth urban planning approach. I find the other extreme, which is quite a common approach in many North American cities (see San Francisco, median house price of $1,100,000), to be a lot worse.

Houston is not that bad for a short visit. The food offerings are excellent in many categories (BBQ, Tex-Mex, Southern/Cajun, Indian, Vietnamese, middle eastern).

The weather is great this time of the year (at least if you're coming from the North), crisp dry nights and warm days, it's so far south that the winter sun feels pretty good.

The Arboretum and Nature Center, part of Memorial Park, is a nice place for a hike or to catch some rays with a good book by the pond.

The Montrose was the gay/bohemian neighborhood, it has gentrified a bit but still has a nice pedestrian pulse, which is a rarity in that metropole, and a cluster of good eateries and cafes. The Rice U. campus nearby is also worth a detour, and the adjacent Rice Village for a quick stroll and a meal. Some of the roads around campus have the arching live oak canopy, a very nice feature of older southern urban landscapes.

The original location of Beck's Prime, On Augusta off Westheimer in the Galleria area for one of the best burger experiences, on a sunny afternoon, its deck lies under a very old, sprawling live oak tree.



For daytrips (or overnighters, really), Austin is a bit closer than San Anton., but if you do go to SA you might want to take the slightly longer way back through Austin.

[linus]

Houston then...

Carnivorous Vulgaris wrote: ...Being able to look out of the neighbouring window to where the rifle was discovered and see that a trained marksman could quite easily hit a slow moving target from such a short distance was enough to finally debunk any lingering doubts I might have had about Oswald's guilt.

JFK's head and upper body snapped backwards, indicating that the shot had come from the front.

[anton pulisov]

Houston then...

I drove from Corpus Christi to Houston Airport in November.

Around halfway between aforementioned Corpse Christ and Houston I passed through some kind of bible belt area, which made for interesting local radio. The radio host was going off on one: "Well.... if there's one good thing that might come from this terrible tragedy in Paris it's that it might wake the world up to radical Islam. I've read the Koran. I assure you, it's a violent and radical religion. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for next year, far from me to do that, but vote for the candidate that represents your Christian values." While I was listening to this in my rental car with out of state plates (New Mexico), the local sheriff from Shit Creekville was patrolling the interstate in a massive car adorned with SHERIFF, decorated with what looked like spurs and complete with blacked out windows. He decided to follow me for 15 km, staying in my blind spot in the lane next to me the entire time. Very responsible driving on his part.

Houston:

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Houston then...

Who was the footballer/pundit who upon being taken to the 6th floor depository window (as part of the World Cup in 1994, I think) exclaimed "I could have got him from here! No problem!" before realising that wasn't really the right thing to say?

[Central Rain]

Houston then...

Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote: Who was the footballer/pundit who upon being taken to the 6th floor depository window (as part of the World Cup in 1994, I think) exclaimed "I could have got him from here! No problem!" before realising that wasn't really the right thing to say?

Think it might have been Tony Gubba.

[ursus arctos]

Houston then...

Give that man a prize.

[MsD]

Houston then...

Ooh. Will you be taking your camera?

[Amor de Cosmos]

Houston then...

MsD wrote: Ooh. Will you be taking your camera?

Two of them. Though experience tells me I'll probably end up with tourist snaps. You need a fair bit of time to get under the skin of a place — or I do anyway.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Houston then...

So Houston came on pretty much as advertised by garcia and ursus. Innumerable ten lane freeways with Monopoly buildings scattered between them. I never knew exactly where I was at any given time because there really are no landmarks.

The family live in a 4,500 sq ft house in one of the many gated enclaves, where security patrols cruise constantly. A cross between Disney World and The Prisoner they possess a kind of sinister twee-ness, exemplified in the street names:





Everything is very tidy at the front, you'll be reported if it isn't. The backs are frequently more informal/human however:



Behind the house is a large wildlife reserve, by far the best thing about it. Lots of birds (must take a long-lens next trip) deer and other beasties. Sadly, besides freeways, Houston is intersected by bayous which overflow during heavy rain depositing garbage everywhere. This seems never to be picked up, so adjacent parkland looks like a badly organised municipal dump:



We did get to Galveston, which I definitely want to spend more time in. At least a couple of days with a camera — proper Walker Evans-ish it is: Meanwhile here are local seagulls patiently waiting in line for...?



I did get to the Rothko Chapel (twice) and the Menil Collection both of which more than made the trip worthwhile. We'll likely be visiting regularly over the next few years, so I'm hoping to uncover more delights in the future. Someone told me Corpus Christi is worth some time, is that true?

[anton pulisov]

Houston then...

Corpus Christi is one of the worst places I have ever been. But the Port Aransas / Padre Island area is nice.

San Antonio is quite interesting for a day trip. They have cafe-lined canals, which I really didn't expect. And they kept more of their early 20th century buildings, which makes it Texas' most real city centre.

[Flynnie]

Houston then...

Heliotrope wrote: When I used to travel occasionally for work, I would judge the locations as to whether I'd want to go there again on vacation or to live there, and two places met neither category: Houston and Orlando.

I did go to the Montrose neighborhood, which was the bohemian area at the time (mid 1990s), and if you're a foodie, the Washington Post food critic did give Houston a pretty good rank in his list of the top 10 food cities in the US: list here.
A week there seems like it would be interminable, though.

Count me glad to see San Francisco still kicking ass. I just made a longlist of things I want to do when visiting this summer and my food list was about 25 items long. Nomnomnomnom.