What can I do in Texas or nearby?

kazjim · Jun 14, 2023

G'day all, my daughter lives in Houston (Studying at a Ballet school) and i'm looking to come over at Xmas and have a bit of a holiday with her.

I'll have around 2 weeks and have the option of picking up a car.

I was over there last year for 2 weeks and staying inHouston kinda sucked - after you have done the museum, space centre and zoo, you have done everything - so thinking grabbing a car andtravelling a day or three 'somewhere'

I was considering maybe follow the coast and head over to New Orleans, or something like that?

Is there anything you would recommend?

Kithani · Jun 14, 2023

Sir this is the screenshots forum

Is your daughter 18

edit: in all seriousness might also depend on where you’ll be staying there is a nice museum district and a bunch of parks to explore. I would say Houston’s biggest strength is the food scene overall though.

I have lived on the Gulf Coast much of my life and IMO once you hit 30 you realize New Orleans is just a shithole

kazjim · Jun 14, 2023

Kithani said:
Sir this is the screenshots forum

Is your daughter 18

edit: in all seriousness might also depend on where you’ll be staying there is a nice museum district and a bunch of parks to explore. I would say Houston’s biggest strength is the food scene overall though.

I have lived on the Gulf Coast much of my life and IMO once you hit 30 you realize New Orleans is just a shithole

No, sorry, 17 . . . .

Yeah, I know this is the SS forum, but it's also the one place that everyone congregates

We were thinking touristy things, but thanks

Sludig · Jun 14, 2023

the travel forum gets plenty of action.

if you ain't gay, many many gun and bbq activities. go blast some hogs.

Big enough to us own country, planning out of state troops seems almost silly. Did you go to the state museum of natural achieve that's near Dallas/ fort worth. I havnt been in 25 years but was quite amazon as a kid

kazjim · Jun 14, 2023

Sounds like a trip up to Dallas / Fort Worth might be worth looking at, thanks

TBT-TheBigToe · Jun 14, 2023

Cow Tipping.

Guurn · Jun 14, 2023

If you aren't from the US then hitting a great BBQ joint seems like a no brainer. Other than that it just depends on your interests, if you've always wanted to shoot stuff hit a range, if you want to see a park do that. Remember distances are larger than they appear.

Burns · Jun 14, 2023

kazjim said:
G'day all, my daughter lives in Houston (Studying at a Ballet school) and i'm looking to come over at Xmas and have a bit of a holiday with her.

I'll have around 2 weeks and have the option of picking up a car.

I was over there last year for 2 weeks and staying inHouston kinda sucked - after you have done the museum, space centre and zoo, you have done everything - so thinking grabbing a car andtravelling a day or three 'somewhere'

I was considering maybe follow the coast and head over to New Orleans, or something like that?

Is there anything you would recommend? View attachment 477891

If you want a road trip:

Corpus Christi is a popular vacation location that might be warm enough at Christmas? Outside of the normal beach stuff, they have the USS Lexington "The Blue Ghost" aircraft carrier, launched in 1942; it was the second carrier named Lexington to serve in WW2. Port Aransas and Rockport are the beach places, but the water will probably be on the cold side for actual swimming.
Big Bend National Park is one of the few places with zero light pollution. It is 8 hours from Houston, but you can choose to drive through Austin, Fredericksburg, and scenic hill country (although I dunno how nice it will look in December). Austin has Lake Travis, good BBQ, and a lauded music scene; Fredericksburg has shopping...I guess, I heard it oft mentioned, when I lived in Austin, but never been.
Galveston has rentable beach houses, which are neat, but it might be a bit too cold at Christmas. They may also do Christmas stuff in town.
Fort Worth has rodeo (Dec 14-17) and downtown (Stockyards) stuff going on at Christmas I think. Dallas has some popular museums, like the Ross Perot Museum (Fort Worth >>>> Dallas imo). Both cities have Zoos that are highly rated(?); I have heard conflicting reports of which one is better. The Gaylord in Grapevine is a fancy resort with a bunch Christmas stuff. The Great Wolf Lodge just down the street from the Gaylord is an indoor water park. Dallas and Ft. Worth both have well rated Theaters, if you want to see a play, but so does Houston.
San Antonio has the Riverwalk. The travel forum has a trip Sanrith Descartes took from DFW to San Antonio in it.
If you wanted to come a month early, you could catch Texas Renaissance Festival.
Have never heard a good word about New Orleans (outside of seeing tits and getting stabbed during Mardi Gras).

Deathwing · Jun 14, 2023

As much BBQ and Mexican food as you can stomach. If you want tex-mex, just get some Mexican food and dump a can of corn on it.

Furry · Jun 14, 2023

Go swim in the wonderful texas gulf water near corpus christi. The Fecal colored water of the houston coast tells you just how clear and natural the water is. It even comes with free brain-eating cute amoebas.

TheBeagle · Jun 14, 2023

Go to Surfside if you want to hit the beach a little water is way better than Galveston. It's a half hour south of Galveston. Rent a side by side and drive on the beach. Weather is hit or miss that time of year, you might get sunny and 70's or cloudy, windy and 40's.

boozebagbeefhole · Jun 14, 2023

The brewery scene is pretty good here if that's your style. Otherwise go to New Braunfels and float the river.

Hatorade · Jun 14, 2023

kazjim said:
G'day all, my daughter lives in Houston (Studying at a Ballet school) and i'm looking to come over at Xmas and have a bit of a holiday with her.

I'll have around 2 weeks and have the option of picking up a car.

I was over there last year for 2 weeks and staying inHouston kinda sucked - after you have done the museum, space centre and zoo, you have done everything - so thinking grabbing a car andtravelling a day or three 'somewhere'

I was considering maybe follow the coast and head over to New Orleans, or something like that?

Is there anything you would recommend? View attachment 477891

If she lives in Houston, ask her what she likes to do there already as it is very diverse. Sounds like you don't know the spots.
A lot of them aren't every day but things like Old Garage Inc are good times, free beer for you, endless clothes shopping for her. Some cool vendors out front etc.

Going out of town to spots like Austin, Dallas etc with out a hobby just leads to more of whats above but with more driving.

-Moody Gardens is always a hit if you like aquariums and the rain forest pyramid is fantastic.
-Traders Village flea market is a good all day event as well.

-For the off the books stuff there is a ton of hike and bike trails or even the excellent sugarland pump track that Velo Solutions put together.
-If either of you into motorcross or want to try it out got a backyard spot for pitbikes that is a blast.
This is from over a year ago and since added more lines and a couple grand worth of dirt.

We might throw another anthills jam in Dec. if the weather cooperates

Sanrith Descartes · Jun 14, 2023

Burns said:
If you want a road trip:

Corpus Christi is a popular vacation location that might be warm enough at Christmas? Outside of the normal beach stuff, they have the USS Lexington "The Blue Ghost" aircraft carrier, launched in 1942; it was the second carrier named Lexington to serve in WW2. Port Aransas and Rockport are the beach places, but the water will probably be on the cold side for actual swimming.

Big Bend National Park is one of the few places with zero light pollution. It is 8 hours from Houston, but you can choose to drive through Austin, Fredericksburg, and scenic hill country (although I dunno how nice it will look in December). Austin has Lake Travis, good BBQ, and a lauded music scene; Fredericksburg has shopping...I guess, I heard it oft mentioned, when I lived in Austin, but never been.

Galveston has rentable beach houses, which are neat, but it might be a bit too cold at Christmas. They may also do Christmas stuff in town.

Fort Worth has rodeo (Dec 14-17) and downtown (Stockyards) stuff going on at Christmas I think. Dallas has some popular museums, like the Ross Perot Museum (Fort Worth >>>> Dallas imo). Both cities have Zoos that are highly rated(?); I have heard conflicting reports of which one is better. The Gaylord in Grapevine is a fancy resort with a bunch Christmas stuff. The Great Wolf Lodge just down the street from the Gaylord is an indoor water park. Dallas and Ft. Worth both have well rated Theaters, if you want to see a play, but so does Houston.

San Antonio has the Riverwalk. The travel forum has a trip Sanrith Descartes took from DFW to San Antonio in it.

If you wanted to come a month early, you could catch Texas Renaissance Festival.

Have never heard a good word about New Orleans (outside of seeing tits and getting stabbed during Mardi Gras).

kazjim as Burns pointed out we spent a week in Texas last summer just tooling around. No set agenda or specific "things" to see. Just explored. You can spend a couple days in San Antonio and wander around. It is easily one of my top five cities in the US to visit.

Also, you definitely want to rent a car. Texas is fucking huge, go explore it.

Ps.. Dealy Plaza in Dallas was great if you are into the historical shit and want to see where JFK got popped. It was eye opening seeing it all.

Morsakin · Jun 14, 2023

Wine country in Fredricksburg -- see if any of the vineyards allow your daughter to drink if you hand her the beverage? It's a case-by-case basis by proprietor, generally speaking.

Houston specifically: downtown tunnels? Not sure what it's like post-COVID but it was basically a city in miniature that has tons of places to eat or even shop.

Maybe see if there are any outdoor events around Discovery Green taking place while you're there, or perhaps something in the Heights if it's during Christmas.

Cukernaut · Jun 14, 2023

-The culinary gravitas of Houston is actually amazing in terms of BBQ, Steak, and ethnic foods as well -- Houston is actually the most ethinically diverse city in the US.
-Austin is cool to visit - you can go tubing in hill country etc over there and lots to see. I would go visit Austin over Dallas.

Haus · Jun 14, 2023

First, it will depend on what you and your daughter consider fun.

I agree with most that the 2-3 hour drive from Houston to Austin is worth it for both food and a number of sights in Austin to see. Dallas/Ft Worth can be nice for some things. In the winter there will also be Stars hockey going on in Dallas in case you or her are into Hockey.

Now for where I start a fight with my other native Texans in here......
If you want the pinnacle Mexican food, That would be San Antonio.
Best BBQ IMHO is in and around Austin
You can get a good steak in almost any major city and honestly it's like a good steak almost anywhere. Personally I'd rather hit a good BBQ joint and get a massive beef rib instead.
Best Asian food is in Houston (they have an far larger Asian population than you'd expect for a Texas city). So with gorging yourself in mind I would suggest the following "Food triangle tour of Texas"...

Start in Houston, enjoy the Asian around town. (Although if you want wacky Asian fusion , that will be an Austin thing) Goode's if you want Houston BBQ, IMHO.
Head to San Antonio (take 10 west from Houston). Spend a day or two, enjoy the riverwalk, and look up some of the good Mexican spots in town. They also have a place which serves donuts the size of your head, for the novelty dessert action...
Head North to Austin (I-35W heading north), but make a detour to the lovely little town of Lockhart. It's BBQ Mecca. I personally prefer Black's, but Smitty's and Kruez Market both have their high points.
Now continue to Austin, Touristy stuff around the State capitol, boggle at how we built a semi-replica of the US capitol out of pink granite. There are some other interesting things to do around town. It's where we try to contain all our hippies, so their pride themselves of being odd. There's enough around Austin to enjoy a day or two there... Lots of fusion whatever nonsense if you're that kind of foodie...
Now keep going up 35W towards Dallas. You'll pass through Waco most interesting thing about Waco is if you like a good burger stop by "Health Camp" Waco Health Camp for a straight up simple and good burger and shake.
Heading north from Waco you'll pass through the lovely little town of West, this is the area of Texas where a ton of German immigrants settled, which means it's time for Kolaches! (And remember, Kolaches are the pastry with the fruit, if you want the sausage roll that's a Klobasniky.)
Head out of West and keep going north to get to DFW. I'll let some of the wacky Ft Worth folks fill you in on that scene (touristy stuff for people wanting cowboy experience abound there!), but in Dallas we also have some nice museums, hockey, basketball, and Football in the winter if you're in such sports. And here is where I'd recommend grabbing your steak. And a place which is a good steak, but also somewhat uniquely odd to Dallas... Bob's Steak and Chop House.
From Dallas, it's 45 South back to Houston.

Additional note, you'll pass at LEAST 3 , if not 4 or 5 , places called Buc'ees along the highways. You do owe it to yourself to experience one of these uniquely southern places. Lovely video of some brits going to Bucee's for the first time :

In fact, if you're wanting to see it, they did their own food tour of Texas.

Kithani · Jun 15, 2023

kazjim said:
No, sorry, 17 . . . .

(I’m sorry had to double down. I would also check to see if there are any concerts going on at Minute Maid Park while you’ll be in town, that can be a fun time since it won’t be baseball season)

kazjim · Jun 16, 2023

Sweet, thanks for all the info guys . .

I might have forgotten to mention that I"m coming in from Australia, so . . . yeah, 2 hour drives are what we call 'going to the letterbox'
(Well, not me, but you get the idea)

I can drive for 10 hours straight and still be in the same state - have done it at least 3-4 times a year on my Bike.

We also have the option of flying to another state, but I also like the idea of exploring where she lives - she's in Downtown Houston, and we have explored the tunnels, museum, zoo, space centre, all that stuff - so thinking Austin, Dallas and things like that.

Big thanks all, might see you around in December / Janurary.

Cheers!

Sludig · Jun 16, 2023

Of your own to flying, depending on time there's always going to further away states and see how extreme the differences in different areas of the country. Nothing like 70f Texas winter and go to 4 foot of snow Minnesota. Our Florida humidity to Arizona dry

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What can I do in Texas or nearby?

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