HO2007 - Area - Nine Ways To Love Houston

1 Dynamic Downtown

Downtown loft dwellers and out-of-towners all relish downtown’s concentration of restaurants, casual cafés, coffee shops, theater performances, and sports venues. Get oriented with a stop by the Houston Visitors Center at City Hall, or if you simply love the nightlife, head for downtown’s Main Street. Dance clubs, pubs, live music venues, and sophisticated restaurants line this thriving thoroughfare. Survey the scene via the city’s light rail line.

2 Architecture & Public Art

Houston’s skyline showcases modern architecture, much like Paris’ La Défense. Architectural visionary Philip Johnson conceived or consulted on many of the city’s iconic structures, including the Williams Tower in the Galleria area and the ornate Bank of America Center. Don’t miss the public art, such as the red, white, blue, and black Monument au fantôme by Jean Dubuffet at 1100 Louisiana, and Tony Cragg’s ponderous, freeform sculpture In Minds in front of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts on Bagby. At Sesquicentennial Park next to Wortham Center, you can experience Mel Chin’s Seven Wonders.

3 Shop Nonstop

Designer boutiques fill The Galleria and Highland Village areas, and the funky antique and craft shops in the Montrose area and the Heights district always reveal treasures. Rice Village southwest of downtown provides a shop-and-stroll scene dotted with quaint cafés and pubs. Great malls, such as Memorial City and Willowbrook mall, unfold in every sector of the metro area. Sugar Land’s Town Square in Fort Bend County offers restaurants and boutiques, as well as events throughout the year, while Katy Mills in Katy has bargains that are worth the trip. The Woodlands’ Market Street offers a walkable village of shops, restaurants, and scenery.

4 Culture Cluster

South of downtown, glorious oaks and the beguiling Hermann Park surround Houston’s Museum District. Spend an entire day or two surveying more than a dozen museums. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; Houston Museum of Natural Science; The Children’s Museum of Houston; the Holocaust Museum; and others are within walking distance of one other. Down the road, the Menil Collection features one of the most important private collections of the 20th century in its sublime and airy art space.

5 Urban Green Spaces

Picturesque parks and greenbelts create an urban paradise. Memorial Park west of downtown and Hermann Park in the Museum District offer golf courses, picnic space, jogging trails, and more. Runners in Buffalo Bayou Park enjoy the scenic stretch between downtown and the mansions of River Oaks. By early 2008, Discovery Green will open as a nearly 12-acre, Wi-Fi connected park across from the George R. Brown Convention Center to host events, festivals, dining and, of course, relaxing retreats.

6 Flavors to Savor

Houston is a culinary powerhouse. Celebrities book tables at Tony’s on Richmond, and steakhouses such as Morton’s, Capital Grille, and Vic & Anthony’s constantly compete for bragging rights to the best steak and wine selection in the city. Café Annie’s Robert Del Grande stirred a culinary revolution in the 1980s, and the momentum continues. Today’s young mavericks, such as Monica Pope and Scott Tycer, garner national accolades. At Pope’s midtown eatery, t’afia, local food rules. Pope works with area growers and producers to deliver “garden-to-table” dining. In fact, Houston now has several burgeoning farmer’s markets. Check out Midtown Farmers Market at 3701 Travis, Houston Farmers Market in the Heights, and the Rice Village and Bayou City Farmers Market off Richmond Avenue west of the Galleria.

7 Phenomenal Festivals

Modern flair prevails, but come springtime, rodeo rules. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is like every great event you’ve ever heard of, rolled into one. For 20 days, rodeo fever transforms the city. Massive trail rides, a downtown parade,music superstars, a carnival, wine extravaganza, and the rodeo itself comprise the enormous event. Other knockout festivals throughout the year, such as the Houston International Festival and the Bayou City Arts Festival, capture Houston’s irresistible spirit.

8 Off the Wall Art Scene

Folk art gems provoke the inevitable gawk, gasp, and grin, as everyday objects are transformed into artful assemblages. The East End’s Orange Show shines as an architectural maze of walkways, balconies, arenas, and exhibits decorated with mosaics and brightly painted iron figures — all in homage to, yes, the orange. The Orange Show Foundation produces the Art Car Parade each May, a spectacle of rolling art that celebrates ingenuity and imagination.

9 Easy Day Trips

Houston’s proximity to the Gulf Coast makes it a hub for cool day trips. In less than an hour you can be strolling along the Kemah Boardwalk on Galveston Bay, as sailboats drift past. Here, families enjoy many attractions, especially the dancing fountains and carnival rides. Drive a bit farther south and you’ll reach Galveston Island’s beaches, historical Strand District, antiques shops, art galleries, and attractions such as Moody Gardens and Schlitterbahn Galveston. An hour north, Old Town Spring — a quaint, turn-of-last-century time warp — has shops, restaurants, museums, and galleries in its scenic blocks.

GuestLife Don't Miss — Cultural Exchange

You can sample the culture and heritage of many nations in Houston. Southwest Houston in particular has become an international maketplace, home to intriguing stops you will not find in guidebooks. Dozens of Indian, Pakistani, and Middle Eastern restaurants are minutes from Harwin Drive, along with sari shops featuring elegant silk fabrics in beautiful jewel tones. Nearby on Hillcroft, the Middle Eastern market Droubi’s sells all kinds of delicacies, including fresh pita bread, hummus, olives, and hot meals. A short drive west on Bellaire Boulevard reveals one of the city’s biggest Asian neighborhoods. Giant Asian grocery stores, bakeries, teahouses, clubs, stores, and restaurants give you a taste of Houston’s diverse culture. To explore the district as part of a group, contact the Chinese Community Center for its Asian Heritage Tours to a tea ceremony, a temple and of course the Hong Kong City Mall. Info: Asian Heritage Tours: (713) 271-6100, ext. 113