Not only does Houston offer many attractions for adult travelers, but it also has plenty to offer young visitors. In addition to the zoo, aquarium, and entertainment area on Kemah Broadwalk, here is definitely that Children’s Museum for children up to the age of about twelve. Fourteen different hands-on exhibitions invite you to understand, including an ecological area in which everything revolves around environmental issues.
Other possible activities in Houston
- Shopping: According to acronymmonster, Houston has some large malls that make the shopper’s heart beat faster. The Galleria, Memorial City Mall, and Willowbrook Mall are the largest. Uptown Park offers a European-inspired shopping experience. In addition, souvenirs and souvenirs can be bought at all sights.
- Enjoy: The Texan metropolis offers an infinite number of restaurants of all possible ethnic backgrounds. A fabulous culinary variety, which probably does its part to ensure that the residents of Houston eat out more often than the national average. A total of 6.9 times a week. The Tris, in which unusual nouvelle cuisine is served, and the Indigo are worthwhile for gourmets. Cajun cuisine with authentic Texas flair is available at BB’s Tex-Orleans.
- Nightlife: Night owls also get their money’s worth in Houston. While techno fans can pursue their passion in “Gravity”, “Clé” offers more mainstream music. The Holman Draft Hall and Little Woodrow’s are also worth a visit. If you would like to try out several bars and discos in one night, it is best to take the party bus.
Events throughout the year in the Texan city
Houston hosts numerous events over the course of the year, and there is hardly a weekend when there is nothing going on. For example, the Houston rodeo is very popular.
Other special events include the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and Chevron Houston Marathon in January and the Chinese New Year celebrations in February. Also this month visitors can visit the world championship in barbecuing, the “World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest”, with over 250 teams and celebrate Mardi Gras together with the residents.
Houston’s “Art Car Parade” has been held in April since 1988. It is the world’s largest parade of its kind and an experience not only for car fans. Around 250,000 visitors admire the imaginatively decorated vehicles that take part in the parade every year.
The Houston Dragon Boat Festival is held in May, which includes a boat race on the Buffalo Bayou lowland river that flows through Houston, and the Free Press Summer Festival is held at Eleanor Tinsley Park each June. The music and art festival is a real experience.
Beer lovers will get their money’s worth at the beginning of September when over 1000 different craft beers are presented at the “BrewMasters Craft Beer Festival”.
Worthwhile day trips from Houston
Even if Houston offers so many attractions that you don’t really have to leave the city, there are still plenty of opportunities to go on day trips.
For example:
- Blessington Farms: About 60 kilometers from Houston is this beautiful self-picking farm, which is particularly popular with children.
- Railean Distillers: Friends of fine wines will get their money’s worth in Railean. Agave brandy, vodka, rum and whiskey are distilled here, just over 60 kilometers from Houston.
- Austin: Texas’ capital is about a two-hour drive from Houston and is best known for its live music scene.
- Sam Houston National Forest: The Sam Houston National Forest is one of the state’s four national forests and is approximately 50 miles from downtown Houston. There you can go hiking, mountain biking and walking.
- Galveston Island: Only around 80 kilometers from Houston is probably the most famous coastal holiday destination of the Lone Star State. In addition to the numerous traces of a varied history, visitors can expect over 50 kilometers of beach and those who want can watch dolphins from a boat in the Gulf of Mexico with a little luck.
A trip into the history of Houston
Houston looks back on a relatively young history. After the Allen brothers bought land in what is now the metropolis in 1836, twelve residents lived there in January 1837. The town ultimately consisted of a wooden house. But just four months later, 1,500 people were living in 100 houses on the Buffalo Bayou watercourse. It was named after General Sam Houston, made famous by the Battle of San Jacinto. The San Jacinto Monument is a memorial on the Houston Ship Canal commemorating that memorable battle. It is the second tallest monument in the United States.
And the city continued to grow, among other things due to German and Mexican immigrants between 1848 and 1860. At the same time, Houston also became the temporary capital of the Lone Star State and, in 1850, benefited from the construction of a railroad line from the port, which boosted shipping. Cotton and wood were the most important economic goods at that time.
The railroad tracks should prove themselves. Because when the first oil field near the metropolis was found in Spindletop in 1901, Houston became the most important port. Around this time, the first Japanese came to the Texan metropolis, who brought rice cultivation to the Texan city. Many Mexicans followed during the Mexican Civil War years. By 1940 the population of Houston had grown to 400,000.
The city itself also became more attractive. After the first urban airport was opened in 1937 with what is now William P. Hobby Airport, the first state university was founded in Houston only ten years later. Once known as the Texas State School for Negroes, it is now known as Texas Southern University. Houston became NASA’s manned spaceflight base in 1961 and narrowly missed a catastrophe in 1979 when a meltdown occurred at the nearby Harrisburg nuclear power plant. The international airport opened in 1990.
On August 26, 2017 and the following days, Houston was hit by Hurricane “Harvey” (a level 4 hurricane), which caused severe, widespread flooding. A real nightmare in which many main roads were flooded and made impassable. However, an evacuation was refrained from.
