IT’S A GOOD TIME TO SAY ‘HOWDY’ TO HOUSTON
Party town, arts hub, foodie favourite: The Bayou City has it all
If you’ve never said howdy to Houston, there’s no better time than right now, pardner. There is a palpable frisson in this city, still exuberant over its success as host city of Super Bowl LI. The Big Game helped to spotlight Houston’s diversity: More than just Big Oil, it is also a party town, arts and culture hub, and culinary destination.
On a recent visit to the Bayou City, my husband and I discovered Houston was in party mode yet again. This time the city was celebrating its signature event, the 20-day Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, where twang is optional but Stetsons and cowboy boots are de rigueur.
There’s a trade show and carnival but it’s the rodeo that’s the main event and, naturally, it’s behemoth in Texas. At the 72,000-seat NRG Stadium, we watched bronco-busting by the pros, calf scrambles by teens vying for scholarship funds, even an adorable mutton bustin’ event featuring helmet-clad youngsters determinedly clinging to lambs just as determined to shake them off. A concert followed immediately afterwards — Alicia Keys the night we attended — on a giant stage rolled out over the stadium’s dirt floor.
If barrel racing isn’t your thing, no worries: Head over to the Houston Museum District, where you’ll find 19 museums and galleries in a beautifully designed walkable area.
With our CityPasses in hand, we made the Houston Museum of Natural Science our first stop. From the striking dinosaur hall to the thousands of gentle butterflies whirring about in the Cockrell Butterfly Center, the museum has something for all ages and interests.
At the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, what a stroke of luck for us that 13 works of hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck were on exhibit. We saw sculptures of an older couple at the beach, two old women gossiping, a woman giving birth — all so realistic that they seem ready to spring from repose at any moment.
To take in Houston’s top attraction, NASA’s Johnson Space Center and its official visitor facility, Space Center Houston, we set aside a full day and we’re glad we did. Top marks to this brilliant attraction, especially Historic Mission Control, from where NASA’s brilliant minds sent brave astronauts safely to the moon and back. Their computer capabilities at the time comprised five IBM computers that collectively had nine megabytes of power — the equivalent of about five digital photos today. Especially cool: Seeing the speaker from which those famous words were heard: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
If you’re feeling peckish after all that sightseeing, you’re in the right city. Houston’s proximity to Mexico and Louisiana, not to mention its ethnic diversity, means its cuisine has a unique blend that draws food lovers from all across North America. It seems restaurants just pop up everywhere; Caracol, an authentic Mexican restaurant helmed by five-time James Beard-nominated chef Hugo Ortega, is one of those spots, set incongruously within a cluster of office highrises. Make sure you try the Gulf oysters roasted in chipotle butter.
Another evening we went downscale, rolling up our sleeves at the Ragin’ Cajun restaurant to devour Louisiana-style crawfish.
Houston is sprawling and it can be exhausting, but we found respite at two attractions right in the centre of the city: The Downtown Aquarium is a soothing blue- and green-hued oasis in a sea of concrete. And if you want to find your bliss outdoors, you can cycle, kayak or just people-watch at Bayou Buffalo Park, 65 hectares of tranquillity with the gleaming skyline as your backdrop.
At the end of our day, we were always glad to return to the decadent comforts of the St. Regis Hotel. Much obliged, Houston … we hope to see y’all again real soon.