Houston Chronicle

‘100 THINGS TO DO IN HOUSTON BEFORE YOU DIE’ TODAY WE DO 5 OF THEM

Author reveals well-known spots and hidden treasures

- By Maggie Gordon

“One of the things that really frustrates me is that people say, ‘There’s nothing to do here.’ ”

A.J. Mistretta

A.J.Mistretta sits at Ninfa’s, flipping through the pages of his new book, “100 Things to Do in Houston Before You Die,” trying to map out the perfect Houston afternoon. Between ideas, he reaches for the tortilla chips in the middle of the table, munching for a second before calling out a location.

“What about the Art Car Museum?” he asks, lifting an eyebrow.

The museum is No. 24 in his book, which was published earlier this month by Reedy Press. The paperback includes places to eat and drink (the original Ninfa’s on Navigation made the cut at No. 16 for its legendary margaritas) as well as spots to soak in arts and culture, participat­e in sports and recreation­al activities and shop. But on Tuesday afternoon, Mistretta isn’t looking for the list of a lifetime. His mission is to cram as many Houston activities as possible into one afternoon. And while the museum sounds promising, a quick smartphone search reveals it’s closed on Tuesdays.

No worries. Mistretta has dozens of backup ideas. For the senior public relations manager at the Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, knowing the best way to spend a day in Houston is an essential job skill.

“One of the things that really frustrates me is that people say, ‘There’s nothing to do here,’ ” says Mistretta, a New Orleans native who moved to Houston six years ago. “And I say, ‘OK. Where

have you looked? What have you been doing?’ So here’s 100 things that I want you to be able to say you’ve at least tried before you look at me and say there’s nothing to do in this town.”

After lunch at Ninfa’s, the first stop on our afternoon whiz-bang tour is Buffalo Bayou.

“There’s so much to do in this town,” Mistretta says, using a phrase that becomes his mantra for the day.

“It’s not like some other cities where you walk out the front door and it’s all laid out in front you. You might have to dig a little bit, you might have to look underneath a few rocks and may have to check out a few websites, and maybe even a book,” he says, pointing to the neon green cover of his book with a grin. “But you’re going to find some awesome things to do, and you just have to look beyond your own worldview.”

The circuitous route from Ninfa’s to the bayou gives Mistretta the opportunit­y to point out interestin­g spots as he drives — like No. 51 Fonde Rec Center, where he suggests joining a pick-up basketball game; and No. 63, the Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark.

He stops at the Sabine Street Bridge to catch a glimpse of downtown. It’s a familiar scene for Mistretta, who runs a four-mile loop in that area. But instead of running, or grabbing a kayak as his book suggests (No. 55), he dips his credit card into the B-Cycle Station (No. 79) to pedal around on one of the bike-share cycles. This stop is textbook Houston, and Mistretta acknowledg­es that his book has plenty of that — something that could come in handy for the 15 million people who visit Houston each year. But he also made sure to find things that may surprise native Houstonian­s, including a few not-to-be-missed spots outside Houston’s city limits.

“I wanted it to have a sense of discovery, and certainly there are some things in there that people know about already. Some of it’s not off the beaten path, but a lot of it is,” he says as he walks back to his car, a little sweat lingering on his gingham shirt after the bike ride on the trails at Buffalo Bayou Park, acknowledg­ing that a bayou visit might be better suited for October than August. “My hope is that everybody gets something out of it. It’s not like a guidebook, per se, with a 30,000-foot view of the city, but a little bit of the nook and cranny, and a little bit of the everyday experience.”

At the next stop, Cactus Music off South Shepherd (No. 69), Mistretta dives in to a collection of albums recorded long before he was born 34 years ago. The old-school shop is known for its massive selection of vinyl and for hosting regular live performanc­es. For Mistretta, it’s where he went to help his parents rebuild their collection after Hurricane Katrina.

Like any neighborho­od music shop, Cactus has its regulars, but owner Quinn Bishop says out-of-town visitors make up a big portion of the customer base.

“There are a lot of people visiting Houston that come here for business and don’t have a music store in their hometown, so they come here to shop,” Bishop says. “They come here, they buy records and they go back. We’re kind of everybody’s record store at this point.”

After a few minutes poking around, it’s time to head to the final stop of the day, the Houston Museum of Natural Science (No. 35), to check out dinosaur bones and a massive collection of gemstones. He’s been there more times than he can count — both for work and for pleasure — but there’s something about the dinosaur exhibit that keeps it fun for him no matter how many times he walks through the stacked-up skeletons.

“Sure, it can get a little old … if I’m here with, say, my parents, and they want to stop and read everything, it’s like, ‘Mom, come on,’ ” he says, winding past a mold of a super-shark Megaladon’s jaw. “But the great thing is that everyone finds something different they like about it.”

 ?? Gary Coronado photos / Houston Chronicle ?? No. 55 A.J. Mistretta, author of “100 Things To Do in Houston Before You Die,” checks out Buffalo Bayou from the Sabine Street Bridge.
Gary Coronado photos / Houston Chronicle No. 55 A.J. Mistretta, author of “100 Things To Do in Houston Before You Die,” checks out Buffalo Bayou from the Sabine Street Bridge.
 ??  ?? No. 79 There’s no need to walk when you can jump on a B-Cycle for a ride around town.
No. 79 There’s no need to walk when you can jump on a B-Cycle for a ride around town.
 ??  ?? No. 69 Cactus Music offers one-stop shopping for rare vinyl albums, CDs, used DVDs and more.
No. 69 Cactus Music offers one-stop shopping for rare vinyl albums, CDs, used DVDs and more.
 ??  ?? ‘Things to Do in Houston BeforeYou Die’By A.J. Mistretta Reedy Press, 146 pp., $16
‘Things to Do in Houston BeforeYou Die’By A.J. Mistretta Reedy Press, 146 pp., $16

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