Houston

i am in the rice area (rice grad student) and im not sure what there is to "see" but the trees are cool if you get off on that sort of thing. hell my favorite thing to do is look at the houses in river oaks.

we went to the space center for a field trip when i was 14 or so, i cant really remember much, other than it had just opened. im sure it is a lot different now, it's been about 11 years.

http://www.orangeshow.org/orange.html

i spent a lot of time in the blue building up there

My weekend was for sightseeing, and was very pleasant. I missed out on the Space Center due to the tourgroup being totally disorganized/unprofessional, but this was a blessing in disguise, as I wouldn't have had time for the other stuff I wanted to do - lots of walking and museum-visiting. On Saturday, I took the light rail down to midtown and had catfish and (my first) grits and specialty coffee at The Breakfast Klub, which was great food and a great (youngish, buppie-ish) scene - crowding around the coffee jugs, football with an r&b/jazz soundtrack, voter registration table-to-table, in-depth conversations about MF Doom. Outside, I chatted with the rep of the local Af-Am theatre about his first trip to New York and the nice people there and tasted some Texas microbrews. Then off to the Natural Science museum to check out the well-financed, computer-heavy oil and gas exhibit, followed by the Texas stuffed-animal exhibit and briefly the native American (North and South) collection, all of which were pretty well-done. Then went into the butterfly center - a walk-in rainforest with butterfiles flying all around you - which was amazing. Walked into Hermann Park - pretty boring at first, and my lemon ice was alien green, but then there was the little train, a little half-hearted but cheerier, followed by this great DC Mall-like marshy area with big pond and little bridges and boats and lots of ducks (!), including local ones, and all was redeemed. Then walked around Rice, which was a bit samey muted version of UCLA/Cal-Tech/Stanford, but generally nice-looking with staggered trees, beach volleyball and horseshoe courts, a not-too-terrible Michael Graves dorm, and a big U-Dub-like football stadium. Continued into nice West U. area before coming to very deserted, more depressing Rice Village on my way to - getting worse - strip-mall arterial crossroad where I chose (poorly) the supposed best barbecue in town over haute-chain South American. Maybe it's just that chicken is the wrong choice (but I'm not eating unknown beef), or that I'd eaten way too much earlier in the day, but I felt like I get better Texas barbecue on the upper east side (though this was smokier, admittedly). My Lone Star was tasty, though. With blisters and bug bites, I took the bus home.

Sunday I went to the Menil Collection, which was fantastic. The Renzo Piano building perfectly suits its environment. The Surrealism stuff, which I've never been a big fan of, was stunning. I spent maybe a half hour just in the small room of artifacts, mostly Northwest Coast and Oceanic, that the surrealists collected. The other 20C stuff was very good, but I spent too much time there when the Antiquities were waiting. I'm going to have to go back to the old stuff in the Met that I used to find boring. And then there were Tony Smith (yay) sculptures and enough space for an enormous Dan Flavin installation whose impact was heightened by coming in from the heat. Didn't get to see the Twombly exhibit, unfortunately. The Rothko chapel didn't quite do it for me. Some great houses in the neighborhood (in fact I saw a few nice international style-ish buildings elsewhere, in unexpected places).

Was on expense account, so I ate in a handful of nice restaurants. The best was an outpost of a NY restaurant empire, but I also found a very nice place in midtown (next door to the Breakfast Klub) called T'afia. The kind of place with the right attitude - local, fresh, simple, feminine, intelligent and interesting waitstaff - but with an unusual focus - cheese and fruit (perhaps just the season?) more than vegetables, though their herbs stood out more than anything. A good place to support. And not terrifically expensive - you can get out with two small plates and a glass of pretty good Texas wine for under $25, and an app and entree for under $35. On the cheaper end, I ate at a Ninfa's takeout, which was worthy - I don't want to know what's in the great beans, but they'll fill you up for hours and hours. And Treebeard's was decent. Unfortunately, maybe, no Vietnamese, only discovering I had been past Mai's a few times right before I left.

So it was nice, but I was pretty ready to get back - never been so happy to see lights on in apartment towers and people wearing white belts. I don't feel any need to go back, but I wouldn't despair at getting shipped there again. I'd like to see the Medical museum, perhaps.

uh, that should be make do, i think. er.

i have to say that whenever i am in big cities like chicago or new york, you know REAL cities and not just the intersection of several suburbs and sprawl, i find it very exciting but also vaquely clausterphobic and threatening. no space, no light, no sky or horizon! it would take me a long time to adjust to that. i like my buildings FAR apart thanks very much!

Anthony was otm above. Where are these William Norman Floyd houses? Are they the ones in the Menil's neighborhood?

Or drive up Hillcroft, if you're in the mood for something else. South of 59, it's Central American, all pupusas and gorditas. Drive north and you hit first Little Bombay, then Little Tehran, then Little Beirut, all of which are interspersed with random stuff like Mexican hip-hop clubs, Tejano gay bars, and a "Flying Pizza" joint straight outta the 1950s.

Or drive down Bissonnet west of the little enclave city of Bellaire. There you'll find African CD and Video shops run by Cote de Ivoirian women, the Moo Hive Honey Ice Cream Parlor, an outpost of Pollo Campero, and the Tat Dat Azz tattoo parlor. There's a little Havana down there, not to mention Colombians, Nigerians, Katrina Exiles, Salvadorans, Filipinos, Hondurans, Belizeans, etc.

No, the suburbs are not dull here. The far ring is; the inner ring, esp. on the SW side, is the immigrant city of the future.

I went to Smith & Wollensky recently and got their highly praised pork shank with applesauce and wanted to throw up afterwards. It was shit. The service was shit. Everything was shit. I would've faired better with IHOP.

If you're downtown then Zambuka (not sure if that's spelled correctly) is a lovely place. For sushi I love Koko's Yakatori on Richmond. Yum, yum. Houston's is always a good bet. It is comparable to Capital Grille but has a more local flavor.

Try Thelma's just east of downtown. You won't forget it.

http://american.com/archive/2008/march-april-magazine-contents/lone-star-rising

(Joel Kotkin alert)

saw dude at the Lyle Lovett show tonight wearing Goode Co t-shirt

he probably says it to all the audiences, but Lyle remarked that in his experience, New Yorkers make great Texans

reading old city/tourism threads kinda fascinating.

Houston living

I hear there's a store in Houston that has a HUGE selection of Bollywood/Indian flix. Anyone know the name?

i'm going in a couple of weeks, so bump more for convenience as it seems to be quite a thorough thread. no idea how much free time i'll have, the rothko chapel and menil collection are probably top of my list should i get enough time to myself, but is there anything which hasn't been covered here already?

http://kr3wdenim.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/lowlife025B-2.jpg

it's possible I could wind up visiting Houston, Austin and Phoenix next year. More far-flung outposts, I would depend on the kindness of drivers.

i'm going in a couple of weeks, so bump more for convenience as it seems to be quite a thorough thread. no idea how much free time i'll have, the rothko chapel and menil collection are probably top of my list should i get enough time to myself, but is there anything which hasn't been covered here already?

i have the day to myself in houston today. my plan is more or less the same as lex here - any more tips??

is the contemporary arts museum worth visiting?

The CAM is a large box with month-long exhibits. The Fine Arts Museum across the street is good, the De Menil collection a mile or so away is excellent, for permanent exhibits.

thx. rothko chapel & de menil were both great. loved some of the stuff in the surrealist exhibition.

stopped somewhere for lunch on the way back. they seemed to be doing bottomless cocktails and everyone was getting wasted despite the fact there was absolutely no way to get to this place without driving. i don't get this place!

driving back out west to my hotel i saw this lakewood church. man what the hell is that??

It's the largest (in membership) single site church in America, with 43,500 attending attending weekly sermons of prosperity theology. The building is a former basketball arena once known as The Summit.

http://lightingdesignalliance.com/project_images/lakewoodchurch002.jpg

I commuted by it daily and found it deeply repulsive.

I figured it was a former hospital by the looks of it.

People drive everywhere in Houston all the time whether wasted or not. It is the driving-est city I have ever experienced (note: I have not experienced L.A.). Also the only city in Texass where I regularly stop for drive-thru margaritas. I heart Triple Shot Tuesdays!!!

(I figured Lakewood was a former hospital from the outside, that is)

I knew Houston was a little fucked up since it has NO ZONING LAWS, but I didn't realize how ridiculous it got in some places.

For example, see this nice little residential neighborhood with townhomes and sidewalks? Great place for a CREMATORIUM.

http://i.imgur.com/160lnGH.jpg

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At least when you have parties here, your guests won't have to park on the street.

http://i.imgur.com/jiXQRLq.jpg

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Plenty of parking here, for at least the first 4/5's of your car.

http://i.imgur.com/3FTt9pv.png

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Maybe you're looking for something within walking distance of all the shops....

http://i.imgur.com/Q7UpfUp.jpg

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Imagine a backyard where every day there's a solar eclipse!

http://i.imgur.com/p4c89S7.jpg

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You only thought Dillard's sold everything.

http://i.imgur.com/GjH7AEp.jpg

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And I had to doublecheck, but no, this isn't a screengrab from that Woody Allen movie.

http://i.imgur.com/hbSDlfL.jpg

reasons why limited government is bad, part #27548

i can't stop laughing at ZONE D'EROTICA tho, the d' really classes it up

I just realized the name of that place rubs the lack of urban planning in the city's face.

hahaha, Zone D'Erotica is even more hilarious when you know they plunked one right next to the Galleria, one of the most upscale retail areas in the city.

i've changed my mind, limited government is good again

Tbf, I'm pretty sure that crematorium was there before those apartments.

Fun Fact: The Zone D'Erotica building started out as a Roy Rogers burger stand way back when. These days I think it's a Houston 420 shop, although I haven't looked in that direction the last several times I was in the neighborhood.

Didn't Zone D'Erotica come after the Houston 420 at the Galleria location? I admit I... zone it out and don't really notice anymore. It's just that hilarious prurient retailer next to 610 at the Galleria. It's like all the Planet Ks in Austin, you don't notice them until you need to get your bong fixed.

As of February 2017, still Zone D'Erotica, per Streetview. It was there dating back to the mid-90s (at least), if memory serves.

Going to Houston for a quick weekend at beginning of June for baseball. Also Looking for Vietnamese, African, Creole/Cajun, and barbecue food ideas.

rent a car so you can drive to all the good restaurants, which mostly live in strip malls in the vast suburbs ringing the city.

yeah a vehicle is a must-have in Houston

preferably an F150 pickup