Making My Own Worlds

I mentioned last week that my dad came to visit me in Houston, and we did a million things. There are many things I like about Houston, so if you’re thinking of visiting this city sometime in the future, hopefully this list will give you some ideas. Mostly I’m going to show you photos, but I would like to make it clear that the guide books don’t lie about the food here – there is a TON of delivious foods to experience in Houston.

Before I go into all that, I have a few words about World Cup. Yes, it is over for another four years, and this makes me sad. I am delighted that Germany won, and it has inspired me to embrace my half+ German heritage more than anything ever has in my life.

But within seconds of the end of the game, Twitter and Facebook exploded with comments from many people in the United States expressing their glee that “soccer is over.” It’s possible that I am biased, because I am indifferent to not-caring about all other sports. But I usually keep those feelings to myself. I find it really frustrating every time I read one of these anti-soccer comments. Living in the United States, I find it EXTREMELY difficult to watch soccer. The only time it really gets any attention is during World Cup, and good luck ever seeing it broadcast on network television. Specific bars might play it on their TVs (particularly those designing themselves with other countries in mind). Nearly every other major sport in this country can be found on network television during each sport’s season. So reading those kinds of comments is like a reminder of how little my favorite sport (and, might I add, the WORLD’S favorite sport) gets attention in my home country. Thanks for rubbing it in, friends. That’s just SO nice of you. So please, even if you don’t like soccer, can you keep it to yourself? It’s painful enough that it’s so difficult to watch live in this country without you rubbing it in after the biggest tournament the sport has.

Ok, stepping down off my soap box now.

1. Onion Creek

Delicious restaurant with great outdoor seating. Hotdogs are a big deal here for whatever reason, so I had a really fancy one with fancy mustard and grilled onions with sweet potato fries. They also have a great selection of local and non-local brews. Good music, too.

2. Brazoria

If you like wildlife, the Brazoria Wildlife Preserve is pretty awesome. We saw three emotions of alligator.

A. Friendly “feed me!” alligator. This guy came right up to the boardwalk dock. We could have touched him had we not been afraid of the thing chomping our hands off.

B. Get the F*** Away from my Nest! alligator. This one hissed real loud and stalked toward our car as we slowly drove past/stopped to take photos like idiot tourists.

C. Chillin’ in the Water alligator. This guy did not care about anything.

3. Gulf Coast

We drive north up the coast from Brazoria to Galveston, and discovered a gazillion pastel-colored houses on stilts. As a geologist, I think it is absolutely moronic for these people to live here, considering the danger of hurricanes and the fact that a beach is an EXTREMELY unstable place to build your home, but it certainly made for interesting photos.

4. Galveston

Galveston is extremely touristy. But we found this great Gumbo Bar for a delicious lunch (gumbo and fried okra), and briefly stuck our feet in the Gulf of Mexico, so that was cool. The water was freakishly warm.

5. NASA

We arrived to NASA rather late, but managed to get a tour in, during which we saw the original command center (“Houston, we have a problem,” happened here) and a Saturn V rocket. We also saw the moon rock and a bunch of other stuff. If you have kids, it’s a great place for them to check out. The tour was great for adult-level entertainment.

6. The Original Ninfa’s

Delicious Tex Mex food. I mean, REALLY yummy. My dad especially loved this place, and they have a stray restaurant cat that hangs around the outside seating area. Pretty sure my dad wanted me to take it home and feed it, but alas, I can’t have pets here, and I think the restaurant workers are rather attached to it (they’ve named it).

7. Soccer

We watched a World Cup game one morning. There are several British pubs here in Houston, which I found surprising. We went to Watson’s, which has a great outdoor area and a good beer selection, but the service and food leaves something to be desired.

8. Houston Museum of Natural Science

Aaaaah this place is amazing. It is my second favorite Natural History museum that I have been to, my first being that in London (mostly because the one in London is much bigger). They have an insane number of trilobites (I took about a thousand photos of them), not to mention a massive dinosaur and other creature bone collection. It’s worth the $15 admission fee just to see that collection. They also have a rather impressive mineral and gem collection. There is also an African animal display – beware if you have small children, some of the animals are presented in rather gruesome death poses.

9. Underbelly

The chef of this restaurant is a native Houstonian, and since Houston is a melting pot of pretty much every ethnic food ever, he has designed his menu around what he thinks of as “Houston food.” You also don’t order single dishes. No appetizers, no entrees, just food. My dad and I shared 3 dishes plus a dessert, and that was enough. They also have a great wine list. It’s pricy, but totally worth the experience.

10. Catalina Coffee

We found a local coffee roaster and it was absolutely delightful and had a cute little outdoor seating area. I don’t have any photos of this place, but be sure to look it up if you’re ever in town.

11. Tacos-a-Go-Go

Breakfast tacos are a big deal in Texas. The internet told me about this place, and we were not disappointed. It’s sort of a build-your-own kind of deal. You get eggs plus 2 additional ingredients for under $2 (unless you go fancy like avocado or something), and each extra beyond those two are only $0.25. Pretty sweet deal, considering two breakfast tacos is enough to fill me up.

12. Karbach Brewery

Houston doesn’t have many breweries, but this one probably produces my favorite beer. You pay $8 for a small glass and 4 beer tokens. Pretty sweet deal. Plus we got caught in our second thunderstorm of the weekend! #nofilter

13. Auto Art Show

There’s a random Art Car museum that has very artistic cars as well as a few random pieces of art. The collection changes frequently, so here’s a small taste of what they might have.

14. Beer Can House

This really needs no explanation, only photos.

15. River Oaks neighborhood

We were driving around randomly, checking out the neighborhoods, and stumbled upon the place where rich people live. I live-tweeted the experience, so I’m sorry if you missed it. It was a rather ridiculous experience. My dad and I decided the thing to do would be to park your car somewhere, and bring your dogs for a walk, so you could pretend that you actually lived in one of these mansions. I swear, some of them looked like small castles. Crazy.

16. We finished our day with cockroach hunting, because my dad likes bugs, and due to an earlier incident I knew where to find them after the sun set. This activity mostly consisted of me running and screaming, or freezing when I saw one, while my dad walked happily along trying to startle them into movement.

We visited a few other places, like the Rothko Chapel, at which I learned I don’t have a single spiritual bone in my body. Going in that place just felt oppressive and awkward. The outside garden area is pretty nice though. We also tried to see the Bayou Bend Gardens, but got there too late, and the bridge was broken, so I’d recommend checking that out if you’re here, because I’ve heard great things.

So while I certainly don’t love Houston (or its weather, ugh, please let it rain for five days I am so tired of the sun), there are quite a few fun things to do. I’d also have to say that Montrose is the most fun neighborhood. The Heights is also pretty good. Both of these have good food places and bars, and really nice homes. If I had to live here, it would be one of those places.

In other news – I finished editing my second draft outline for my urban fantasy novel yay! Now I can actually get back to the fun part of writing. If only we’d get a few decent days of rain here…