Visiting Houston Next Week.. Recommendations (Dallas, Laredo: fit in, 2014, transfer)

[haudi]

The beaches in Bolivar are ok so long as the beach trash doesn't wash up. And I'm talking about people, not garbage. There are so many trashy people that show up on Bolivar on weekends that it can absolutely ruin the experience. You can find a few stretches of beach that are quiet if you get there early enough though.

Originally Posted by elnina

What about beaches in The Bolivar Peninsula?

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by rockinar

Galveston is the worst beach I have ever seen in my life. Not sure why anyone would want to go there other than to see Moody Gardens.

Originally Posted by statisticsnerd

I spent some time in the Florida keys a couple of years ago, and when I came back home I visited Galveston one weekend and had an immediate "eww" reaction. Brown, muddy water and the ghetto feel of Galveston doesn't do much for me.

About the only place in Texas you can visit a halfway decent beach is on South Padre Island.

I'm glad you don't like it, hopefully that means you don't ever go there, and I don't risk bumping into you.

I absolutely detest whiny people. You know the ones you run into that are always griping about something and telling you they've been to somewhere better.

Me, "What a beautiful sunset."

Them, "Oh, this is nothing compared to the sunset we saw over the Grand Canyon once. This is boring compared to it."

Me, "Wow, that's a cool waterfall."

Them, "Obviously you've never been to Hawaii, their waterfalls are so much better it makes this look like water coming out of our sink."

Me, "This is pretty dang good BBQ."

Them, "We went to the world championship cookoff in Kansas City with VIP passes to all of the tents. After having that, any other BBQ is garbage."

You know those people.

[Mandres]

yea, don't go to the beach. I like to take guests around the museum district - go to the Menil collection and then head over to the Galleria and see the Williams tower water wall. Maybe a show downtown? Tons of great bars and restaurants all over, really too many to list. The Yelp app is really helpful for finding good food nearby.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by UAE50

Because Houstonians are deprived of nice things like nice beaches. People here have no choice but to go to Galveston.
It's still disgusting.

I have been to Galveston more times than I can count and never once was deterred from going into the water. I have been to every beach on the Texas coast , a few in Florida and Cali and will say Galveston is OK, it does the job for me and most people who are looking for a beach experience.

BTW I didn't recommend Galveston to the OP I merely said there will be a lot of people there over the Memorial weekend. If the OP would give a few more details about his visit I would give more specific suggestions.

[PinkLadyK]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

I'm glad you don't like it, hopefully that means you don't ever go there, and I don't risk bumping into you.

I absolutely detest whiny people. You know the ones you run into that are always griping about something and telling you they've been to somewhere better.

Me, "What a beautiful sunset."

Them, "Oh, this is nothing compared to the sunset we saw over the Grand Canyon once. This is boring compared to it."

Me, "Wow, that's a cool waterfall."

Them, "Obviously you've never been to Hawaii, their waterfalls are so much better it makes this look like water coming out of our sink."

Me, "This is pretty dang good BBQ."

Them, "We went to the world championship cookoff in Kansas City with VIP passes to all of the tents. After having that, any other BBQ is garbage."

You know those people.

Also would be easier to accept someone's opinion if it weren't stated as fact and SO EXTREME in every.single.post. Rockinar, you can dislike things, but everything can't be the worst. It's not actually possible. One thing can be the worst/most dangerous/crime-ridden/smelly/ugly/congested/awful. All of the others have to be only "bad." It would help people if we could give them reasonable expectations. Galveston is not the nicest beach in the world by far. But it is one of the top 5 beaches that you can drive to from Houston in less than 90 minutes. See how I did that?

[hendersj31]

OP, where are you coming from? Whatever you decide to do you should make food a part of it. Houston has some good food.

El tiempo for carnitas cooked old school crispy, Pappasitos or Sylvias beef fajitas, Laredo Taqueria
Crawfish Shack out in crosby - make a fun trip byob and mudbugs. Go early when they open or wait in line

These are a few of my favorites and of course this is subjective, everyone has their favorites.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by rockinar

Some Houstonians may not care because they have no choice. But I would never recommend a visitor go there. It's dirty, it stinks, you get tarballs all over your feet that don't come off without washing your feet in gasoline, every inch of the beach is lined with rotting seaweed....

Great seafood and the trout fishing along the Texas City **** is good. Galveston beach itself. Horrible. I'd never recommend a visitor go to the actual beach. I have never seen a worse beach anywhere in the world.

Its not dirty. It doesn't stink. I haven't seen tarballs since the 70s. They used to be all over the beach. Seaweed depends on the season. That's actually something that's relatively recent to Galveston. I was at San Destin, a great beach, one time when they were overrun with seaweed even though that's not normal there.

You just don't go expecting crystal clear water and white sand beaches like the Carribean.

Someone warned me that Venice, Italy was dirty and it stinked before I went there. I was prepared for that and so Venice was wonderful. Galveston is fine if you go with the right expectations.

[crono_clone]

Originally Posted by SincereRegal

My girlfriend and I are visiting Houston next week, during Memorial Day weekend, can anyone give us some recommendations of either events, areas or landmarks to visit while we are in town.

The biggest thing happening that weekend will be the Comicpalooza convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown, if you two feel like hobnobbing with geeks and meeting some celebrities (like a couple of them from the Avengers movies).

There's plenty of landmarks and areas to see in the city, so let us know what kinds of things you're interested in so we have a better idea of what to recommend. Otherwise we'll just tell you to go to NASA or the Galleria.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by bu2

Its not dirty. It doesn't stink. I haven't seen tarballs since the 70s. They used to be all over the beach. Seaweed depends on the season. That's actually something that's relatively recent to Galveston. I was at San Destin, a great beach, one time when they were overrun with seaweed even though that's not normal there.

You just don't go expecting crystal clear water and white sand beaches like the Carribean.

Someone warned me that Venice, Italy was dirty and it stinked before I went there. I was prepared for that and so Venice was wonderful. Galveston is fine if you go with the right expectations.

A lot of this depends on the season, I think.

Expect less seaweed at Galveston this summer | KXAN.com

So much seaweed landed in Galveston last year that officials were unable remove it from some beaches.

(2014)

Beach Advisory

Back in March, there was an oil spill in Galveston Bay. The tar balls from that one seem to have hit Mustang Island and Port Aransas.

Apparently, though tar balls from natural oil seeps are common.

[SincereRegal]

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

How are you traveling, are you flying in, or driving in ? Are you staying with friends ? What part of town will you be staying. Is it just for the weekend? Are you in on Friday and out on Monday ?

A lot of people n Houston go to Galveston on holiday weekends, but let me tell you it will be crowded..

We are flying in but renting a car, and we will be staying in the Downtown area.. Coming in on Thursday and leaving Monday around noon.