[eluded]

I went out to the street races. Our freeways are long and wide and straight. Awwww ya

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by Titan9

Houston metro and Galveston suck! I travel to Houston a couple times out of the year. Often scheduling around a rockets game or an astros day game. Downtown is a ghost town after 6.
Rice village is my go to when near downtown.

I only scratched the surface but my impressions of Houston and Galveston were mostly reaffirmed today.

Houston is a mega metropolis, and much like my hometown (Detroit) lacks a very vibrant city core. It's very suburban and sprawling. I get the feeling one can live a great life here but it's not the most entertaining place.

Galveston gives off a lot of "cheap tourism" vibes. It's not ghetto per say and there's some beautiful architecture, but is definitely a place I will never return to. I'm only here because of a conference. Still, it's cool to see the Gulf because aside from a desire to hit up New Orleans I never really planned on seeing the Gulf.

[Bluer2]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

uhhh 3 hours

Memory got lost there somewhere, oops

3 and half hours at about 80-85mph.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

I only scratched the surface but my impressions of Houston and Galveston were mostly reaffirmed today.

Houston is a mega metropolis, and much like my hometown (Detroit) lacks a very vibrant city core. It's very suburban and sprawling. I get the feeling one can live a great life here but it's not the most entertaining place.

Galveston gives off a lot of "cheap tourism" vibes. It's not ghetto per say and there's some beautiful architecture, but is definitely a place I will never return to. I'm only here because of a conference. Still, it's cool to see the Gulf because aside from a desire to hit up New Orleans I never really planned on seeing the Gulf.

New Orleans is worth the visit. Galveston, not so much.

[EricVR4]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

I only scratched the surface but my impressions of Houston and Galveston were mostly reaffirmed today.

Houston is a mega metropolis, and much like my hometown (Detroit) lacks a very vibrant city core. It's very suburban and sprawling. I get the feeling one can live a great life here but it's not the most entertaining place.

Galveston gives off a lot of "cheap tourism" vibes. It's not ghetto per say and there's some beautiful architecture, but is definitely a place I will never return to. I'm only here because of a conference. Still, it's cool to see the Gulf because aside from a desire to hit up New Orleans I never really planned on seeing the Gulf.

Native Houstonian here. Galveston is not my favorite.....it's dirty haha.

As for Houston, there are endless things to do here, you just need to know someone or know what to look for. Nightlife is enormous, parks everywhere, museums everywhere, art everywhere, food is some of the best and most diverse in the nation. If you ever come back, let me know what kind of stuff you like to do and I can give you some ideas/places.


Off the top of my head though:

If the weather is nice, rent a bike from anywhere in the city and ride around Buffalo Bayou and The Heights hike/bike trail.

Eleanor Tinsley Park

Buffalo Bayou Cistern

Any number of museums (Menil, MFAH, Natural Science, Contemporary Arts)

Hermann Park

Rothko Chapel

Sculpture Gardens

TONS of awesome art/graffiti all over the City (www.huemuralfestival.com for locations)

Discovery Green (lots of activities, art installations, festivals, etc here)

Houston Zoo

Rice University campus (beautiful place to go check out)

If you have a preference of food or type of bar, I can give you some ideas and areas that are best for each.

[EricVR4]

Also, I can echo the comments about going to check out the Austin/San Antonio area. The Hill Country part of Texas is one of my favorite places, there are so many things to do there. And so much good food.

All of the little towns in/around the area are pretty cool too. Also, some of the roads for driving are incredible (Devil's Backbone is one of them).

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by EricVR4

Native Houstonian here. Galveston is not my favorite.....it's dirty haha.

As for Houston, there are endless things to do here, you just need to know someone or know what to look for. Nightlife is enormous, parks everywhere, museums everywhere, art everywhere, food is some of the best and most diverse in the nation. If you ever come back, let me know what kind of stuff you like to do and I can give you some ideas/places.


Off the top of my head though:

If the weather is nice, rent a bike from anywhere in the city and ride around Buffalo Bayou and The Heights hike/bike trail.

Eleanor Tinsley Park

Buffalo Bayou Cistern

Any number of museums (Menil, MFAH, Natural Science, Contemporary Arts)

Hermann Park

Rothko Chapel

Sculpture Gardens

TONS of awesome art/graffiti all over the City (www.huemuralfestival.com for locations)

Discovery Green (lots of activities, art installations, festivals, etc here)

Houston Zoo

Rice University campus (beautiful place to go check out)

If you have a preference of food or type of bar, I can give you some ideas and areas that are best for each.

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually had some time free up so checked out downtown, Discovery Green, Buffalo Bayou, Eleanor Tinsley, and Rice Village.

Houston is a nice clean city and Discovery Green is especially impressive, but I have to admit that overall I found it sort of boring and lacking in natural beauty. I was also surprised by the lack of really any shopping downtown. I understand that the Galleria is just a bit west, but every downtown seems to have some shopping. Overall Houston lacks the density and vibrancy of the coastal cities, which probably has to do with how it was established after the invention of the automobile and how there's no geographical limitations.

I know it sounds like I'm shitting on the place but I'm really just speaking from a tourist's perspective. I'm sure it's a fantastic place to work and raise a family. There's a reason so many people are moving to Texas.

[EricVR4]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually had some time free up so checked out downtown, Discovery Green, Buffalo Bayou, Eleanor Tinsley, and Rice Village.

Houston is a nice clean city and Discovery Green is especially impressive, but I have to admit that overall I found it sort of boring and lacking in natural beauty. I was also surprised by the lack of really any shopping downtown. I understand that the Galleria is just a bit west, but every downtown seems to have some shopping. Overall Houston lacks the density and vibrancy of the coastal cities, which probably has to do with how it was established after the invention of the automobile and how there's no geographical limitations.

I know it sounds like I'm shitting on the place but I'm really just speaking from a tourist's perspective. I'm sure it's a fantastic place to work and raise a family. There's a reason so many people are moving to Texas.

Oh absolutely, I can understand all of that haha. It's definitely not a tourist town in the sense of scenery and weather, but it's a great place to live/work/have fun because of the cost of living and massive diversity of people/food.

Downtown has changed a lot in the last decade or two as well. It used to have a lot of shopping but now it's mostly just offices and bars/restaurants. The shopping is spread out in other locations (much like the rest of Houston is haha). The big shopping areas inside or around the loop (610) are the Galleria, Upper Kirby, River Oaks, Highland Village, Memorial City, and Rice Village/West University.

The city itself is also very spread out with pockets of "downtowns" so-to-speak. There's the actual Downtown, Galleria, Uptown, Greenspoint, Greenway Plaza, Upper Kirby, Memorial City, Energy Corridor, Midtown, Westchase, and the Medical Center....all of which house a lot of office buildings and various other things.

Glad you were at least able to explore a few things though! If you ever end up back here and need a tour guide for more stuff, let me know!

[EricVR4]

Originally Posted by Herdalum

If James Coney Island is still in Houston go there for hotdogs and chili. It's an institution or used to be, I'm admittedly way out of date on that.

They're definitely still around. So is the Delaware Punch

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by EricVR4

Oh absolutely, I can understand all of that haha. It's definitely not a tourist town in the sense of scenery and weather, but it's a great place to live/work/have fun because of the cost of living and massive diversity of people/food.

Downtown has changed a lot in the last decade or two as well. It used to have a lot of shopping but now it's mostly just offices and bars/restaurants. The shopping is spread out in other locations (much like the rest of Houston is haha). The big shopping areas inside or around the loop (610) are the Galleria, Upper Kirby, River Oaks, Highland Village, Memorial City, and Rice Village/West University.

The city itself is also very spread out with pockets of "downtowns" so-to-speak. There's the actual Downtown, Galleria, Uptown, Greenspoint, Greenway Plaza, Upper Kirby, Memorial City, Energy Corridor, Midtown, Westchase, and the Medical Center....all of which house a lot of office buildings and various other things.

Glad you were at least able to explore a few things though! If you ever end up back here and need a tour guide for more stuff, let me know!

Thanks so much you are too kind lol.

You make a good point about how spread out everything is. I really only scratched the surface. Houston's city limits seem to go on forever and a lot of the neighborhoods feel quite suburban.

I did drive around the Medical Center too. Being in the medical field I wanted to see the massive campus. It didn't disappoint.

The weather cleared up beautifully after a bad morning. Galveston really came alive in the evening.

[EricVR4]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Thanks so much you are too kind lol.

You make a good point about how spread out everything is. I really only scratched the surface. Houston's city limits seem to go on forever and a lot of the neighborhoods feel quite suburban.

I did drive around the Medical Center too. Being in the medical field I wanted to see the massive campus. It didn't disappoint.

The weather cleared up beautifully after a bad morning. Galveston really came alive in the evening.

Yeah Houston has a huge suburbia and it's just as boring as it sounds

I grew up in the suburbs but have lived downtown for a while now. But a lot of people just say they live in Houston even if they're 30-40 miles away because it's easier to say instead of explaining which area/suburb they're from haha.

Med Center really is an impressive place, for a number of reasons. It's chaotic and has a ton of traffic but it's also got a lot of pretty parts around it, and the people that do what they do there are awesome

I know I kind of crapped on Galveston at the start but it really isn't THAT bad, it's just not pretty. There's a lot of really cool history there. If Galveston never existed then Houston probably wouldn't be here today. Plus there's some decent seafood and while growing up I made a lot of trips out there to go fishing/crabbing, going to beach houses, etc. Plus the Pleasure Pier is actually pretty fun, especially if you can catch it when the weather is just right. Some decent beach bars down there too that you can catch the sunset from

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by EricVR4

Yeah Houston has a huge suburbia and it's just as boring as it sounds

I grew up in the suburbs but have lived downtown for a while now. But a lot of people just say they live in Houston even if they're 30-40 miles away because it's easier to say instead of explaining which area/suburb they're from haha.

Med Center really is an impressive place, for a number of reasons. It's chaotic and has a ton of traffic but it's also got a lot of pretty parts around it, and the people that do what they do there are awesome

I know I kind of crapped on Galveston at the start but it really isn't THAT bad, it's just not pretty. There's a lot of really cool history there. If Galveston never existed then Houston probably wouldn't be here today. Plus there's some decent seafood and while growing up I made a lot of trips out there to go fishing/crabbing, going to beach houses, etc. Plus the Pleasure Pier is actually pretty fun, especially if you can catch it when the weather is just right. Some decent beach bars down there too that you can catch the sunset from

I wrapped up my work in Galveston early today and my flight is late. I just couldn't think of anything I would do in Houston so I stuck around in Galveston. The weather was beautiful, and there was a cruise ship docked so the town was quite lively. I checked out Pier 21 and the oil rig there, really cool stuff. Charming architecture around as well.

I'm sure I'll find my way back to Houston one day for the NASA center or a sporting event.

[rad doc]

Originally Posted by Titan9

Houston metro and Galveston suck! I travel to Houston a couple times out of the year. Often scheduling around a rockets game or an astros day game. Downtown is a ghost town after 6.
Rice village is my go to when near downtown.

Torchys tacos is a chain taco shop. You've probably had better living in SoCal. If you want authentic Texmex, go to ninfas.

As mentioned above, get in a car or hop on plane out of hobby to dallas or Austin/SA.

Eh, having living in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, LA I strongly disagree.