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HOUSTON
SPACE CITY- USA
By Ron Kapon
If you plan ahead, now is the time to get your 2004 Super Bowl tickets. The game will take place in the brand new Reliant Stadium in Houston. If you checked Sports Network.com you would have realized that the expansionist Houston Texans beat the "hated" Dallas Cowboys. When we visited Houston recently and toured the stadium with officials from the Texan organization (The Houston Oilers left for Tennessee after the 1996 season) that is all they talked about. "Our first season is already a success". But, there is more than football in Houston. There is basketball (NBA Rockets and WNBA Comets), with their new downtown arena scheduled to open in 2003; baseball (Astros), Soccer (Aeros), and the biggest spectator sport in Houston, the rodeo and livestock show. More of the sports scene later.
Let us start with the statistics, most of which were new to me: Fourth largest city in the US with almost five million people in the metro area; named after general Sam Houston (I knew that); over 39 million visitors-65% of which were leisure travelers; second to New York in number of theatre seats; site of the world's largest rodeo (this is Texas); a port that is the second largest in total tonnage in the US; home of the world's first domed stadium. Finally, the first word ever spoken from the moon was the name of this city, when on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong called, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
Continental Airlines took us from LaGuardia Airport to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in just over three hours. (The former President and first lady still reside in Houston). Our home for 4 days was the recently opened Intercontinental Hotel in the "Uptown" section of town famous for the Galleria Mall with its 320 stores, indoor ice rink and 16 million visitors annually, and located about a half-hour from the airport.
Your first stop should be at the Visitors Center, the largest in the US, located in City Hall in the "Downtown" section, 15 minutes from our hotel -www.Houston-spacecityusa.com –(800) 4- Houston. The theatre district has over 16,000 theatre seats and eight resident professional performing arts groups within a 17-block area in downtown's epicenter. The city is home to more than 500 cultural, visual and performance arts organizations; only New York City has more. We walked to the brand new Hobby Center for the Performing Arts for a backstage tour and then to the nearby Lancaster Hotel (a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World) for dinner. Minute Maid Park, formerly Enron Field, with its retractable roof, is the home to the Houston Astro baseball team. Speaking of Enron, our group wanted their picture taken in front of the now empty Enron building next to the infamous E sculpture, which was sold recently on E-Bay.
The Houston Museum District is only a few minutes from downtown and home to ten museums, including The Museum of Natural Science, a trove of the rare, beautiful and record-breaking. It is located within Hermann Park, which contains a golf course, the Houston Zoo and free Shakespeare at the Miller Outdoor Theater. We toured the Titanic Artifact Exhibit, the Hall of Gems & Minerals, the Butterfly Center, the Planetarium and Imax Theatre. The Children's, Fine Arts and the Holocaust Museum are also located in this area. Nearby is the Texas Medical Center with 13 hospitals, several medical schools and Rice University. There are over 130 biomedical firms located within the city limits.
Also close by is the new Reliant Stadium with its retractable roof and seating for 70,000. The new stadium was built right in front of the old Reliant Astrodome which, when it opened in 1965, was called the Eighth Wonder of the World because it was the first domed stadium in the world and led to the introduction of Astroturf. Its future is uncertain at this time since the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (the world's largest) drawing over two million people during its 17-day run in February/March will move to the new stadium. This may be the bargain of the whole country as a post-rodeo music concert takes place and is included in the price of admission, which tops out at $32. The highlight of the rodeo is the opening parade, which draws over 6,000-trail riders.
A half-hour outside town is George Ranch (not that George) and Historical Park. It is a 480-acre outdoor history museum within a 23,000-acre working ranch. We got a chance to see the Old West come alive in this living history park, featuring Texas ranching and cowboys circa 1830 to 1930, with costumed re-enactors, cattle and horses surrounded by a working ranch and homes typical of those times. Lunch was "chuck wagon" style cooked outdoors on an open fire. If you are craving for a dinner of real beef, try the Taste of Texas Restaurant renowned for its steaks.
Our trip coincided with the Ballunar Hot Air Liftoff Festival. At the crack of dawn we were at the Clear Lake area, 25 miles southeast of downtown. (800) 844-Lake. After our balloon ride we walked over to the visitors center of the NASA/Johnson Space Center. -www.spacecenter.org. There are live shows, interactive exhibits, hands-on simulators, and space themed movies with a behind-the-scenes tram tour. New is the Robot Circus, the world's first robotic performing troupe. Our group had a private meeting with Dr. Bonnie Dunbar an astronaut who has been in space five times, from 1985 to 1998. This is also the home to the Mission Control Center, where the Space Shuttle missions are run, astronauts are trained and the Space Shuttle program is managed. It also directs the International Space Station program.
In a few minutes we were at the Kemah Boardwalk on Galveston Bay, halfway between Houston, Galveston, and the Gulf of Mexico. Our lunch was at the Aquarium Restaurant that is billed as "an underwater dining adventure". This one-of-a-kind restaurant features three large aquariums and a sea-themed décor. A 50,000-gallon aquarium allows floor to ceiling viewing through acrylic observation panels. Divers make frequent scheduled feedings throughout the day that guests can view. Our final dinner was at Americas Restaurant with its cutting edge décor and creative menu featuring the food of South, Central & North America.
Houston is a very diverse city with over 60 languages, other than English, being spoken. In four days our group did not even scratch the surface of all that the city has to offer. The summer weather is a killer, but the average winter high is 66 degrees, and it is around 80 in the fall and spring. Space City is definitely out of this world and worth a return visit.
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