Best places to visit in Houston (Pasadena, Center: coupons, home, school)

[houstoner]

Oh, well, since we're busting out the Orange Show... lol

Go visit Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery where Lightnin' Hopkins and other famous Houstonians are buried, and then Glenwood Cemetery where Howard Hughes and more people whose names you'll see on airports and street signs around town are buried. Check out Hong Kong City Mall... W. 19th Street on a weekend... head to the Montrose for lunch and Rice Village for an afternoon stroll... Don't forget to go see the ginormous Xmas tree at the Galleria and go ice skating; it's a Houston tradition... and while you're there you won't want to miss the Water Wall and the Transco, I mean, Williams Tower... nothing quite says Houston like that spot right there. lol

For outdoorsy, exercisey stuff Memorial Park is better than Hermann and you'll see more people, maybe even a pro athlete or two... the Arboretum is close by, too. It's worth it for the drive down Memorial alone... although it's better coming back towards downtown, where you have a magnificent view of the skyline.

That's all I got for now... oh, you said gardens so check out Bayou Bend. Ima Hogg, first lady of Houston arts and culture, once lived there. And yes, that is her real name. And Rienzi, another house museum.

[modster]

Naomi's breakfast tacos on Park Place near Broadway get very high marks from food Editor Allison Cook, Taqueria Del Sol on Park Place just on the other side of 45 is good too. There are also a couple of good coffee houses in the area:

http://www.bohemeos.com/

http://www.cafeflores.com/

[daisybear]

I second Citizen Jane...check out the Museum of Natural Science and the Zoo.The whole museum district is pretty. If you have kids with you, the Children'ts Museum is great too. Walk around Hermann or Memorial Park.

As or Mexican food, there are so many to choose from! Off the top of my head, I like 1308 Cantina on Montrose which has a lot of interesting dishes, some game and outstanding fajitas. I also like Molina's, El Tiempo (same owners as 1308) and El Rey which is little more than a taco stand. I've never had the food, but the drinks at Cyclone Anayas in Midtown are yummy. Try your luck at any hole-in-the-wall place. They are usually the best and most authentic.

Molinas
www.eltiempocantina.com
www.1308cantina.com

[usc619]

I would start from the woodland and make my way down to Spring, kline, and ckeck out the downtown area. The next day I would look at cypress, katy, and the memorial area. On the third time out check out Mo. city, sugarland and richmond. that should give you a good ideal what you will want.

[tstone]

Space Center Houston is worth an afternoon, especially if you can find a coupon. This is on the farthest SE corner of the city limits. For dinner afterwards, Kemah is worth a look. You'll spend a good $50 for 2 people, though.

[glorplaxy]

The Museum District...self-explanatory. Hermann Park is also near there which is nice.

You should know Spanish for the best Mexican restraunts because there is a ton of Tex-Mex crap around here that isn't real Mexican food at all. There are a ton of small, privately-owned taquerias that serve great food...made by Mexicans for Mexicans. This usually scares the sheltered people but they have great food. They're not going to pounce on you and kidnap you.

[tstone]

Funny, I've eaten at plenty of hole in the wall Tex-Mex places in the largely Hispanic SE and SW parts of town and never needed to speak Spanish. And the food was great... going in at least.

The city was close to 40% Hispanic in 2000 not counting the undocumented, so one would have to be pretty sheltered indeed to stay away from these places. Oh well, more for me!

[glorplaxy]

I live in the NW area inside the loop which has a pretty large concentration of Hispanics. In 9/10 of the places around here the workers do not speak English. Every time I've gone in any of them I haven't seen a single white person inside, and I've gone to them quite a lot of times in my life.

[glorplaxy]

Oh, and I need to add that these are NOT Tex-Mex places. These are MEXICAN places. There's a noticable difference.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by glorplaxy

I live in the NW area inside the loop which has a pretty large concentration of Hispanics. In 9/10 of the places around here the workers do not speak English. Every time I've gone in any of them I haven't seen a single white person inside, and I've gone to them quite a lot of times in my life.

At first I was like "huh?"

Then you said NW side.

Now I understand!