to my dear fodorites!

My boyfriend and I will be staying in Space Center in July. Yeah, I know it will be really HOT and HUMID!!!!

We're planning to book our hotel in the Space Center Area (Webster).

We're planning to get to Houston by Friday afternoon (we'll be driving from Abilene, TX--We are long-driving people).. we're wondering what or we can do and see on Friday afternoon and evening. Is it do-able to go to Downtown Houston (or places of interest) from our hotel?

We're planning about spending the whole afternoon at Space Center, taking the tour on Saturday...

We'd like to get some ideas of where we could have a nice dinner... on Saturday night (my b-day).

Thanks!

yeah.... please suggest some places for us to go to..

i'm thinking about going to Galveston to see the coast.

Merci!

I would suggest spending Friday evening at the Kemah Boardwalk. There should be some fun concerts or other events going on in the summer, plus there are some good restaurants and other things located there to keep you busy. That might also be an option for Saturday if you don't go on Friday.

http://kemahboardwalk.com/flash_cont...h_content.html

As far as a special birthday dinner, I would suggest Mark's Place on Westheimer, but I'm sure you will get a lot of other ideas here. There are many great restaurants in Houston, so it's really hard to just choose one.

Do a text search for "houston restaurants" and there are some recent threads with a lot of suggestions.

Galveston is also an idea for some sight seeing, just as long as you know it is not the most attractive Gulf Coast area as far as beaches and the ocean go.

Good luck.

I would not drive into downtown Houston on a Friday afternoon due to traffic. Galveston sounds like a much better idea to me. There are zillions of good restaurants in Galveston. I don't know if Gaido's is still open or not, but that's an old fave from way back. There are a lot of good places near the Strand as well.

Another place I like very much is Kemah. They have a big boardwalk on the water with tons of good food and nice shops.

I see on the boardwalk's calendar that they have fireworks every Friday night in July at 9:30 p.m. That would be pretty over the water on the bay. You could also do dinner on the boardwalk.

Rock the Dock is also a lot of fun, but that is on Thursday nights.

BTW - Downtown is "doable" from your hotel. It would probably be about a thirty minute or so drive depending on traffic and time of day.

Traffic from downtown Houston going down towards Clear Lake on I-45 can be pretty bad in the afternoon rush hour. Try to get to your hotel a little early, or late.

You can go around Houston - see museums, Astro game if there's a home game - etc, before going to the hotel later Friday evening.

you guys are great! i'll do more research about Houston and nearby areas. But nothing beats the ideas of the locals and fellow travellers (not tourists lol!). Thanks for your help!

blinkygurl, I grew up in Webster/Friendswood and my family still lives there, so I am very familiar with the area. I live out of the country now, and only get to town about once a year, but I can certainly try to answer any questions you have about the Clear Lake area, as well as ask my family anything you are wanting to know. My sister is especially up on what's going on in the immediate area.

I'd be happy to help, so ask away.

You don't mention how old you are or what 'nice' might mean. I'll list some of my favorite restaurants in the Clearlake Webster area.

*Tommy's Seafood Steakhouse for a special dinner
*Perry's Steakhouse and Grille for Sunday brunch
*Tokyo Bowl for sushi
*Tookie's for burgers
*Star Cinema for dinner, alcoholic drinks, and a movie. Food is only ok though
*Mediterranian Market & Cafe for Greek food and great humus
*Angelos for Margherita Pizza
*Italian Cafe for tiramisu and cappucino
*Kemah Boardwalk for people watching and we'll sometimes eat at Cadillac Bar
*T-Bone Tom's for live music on friday and saturday nights. Food's good too.

If there's a specific type of food atmosphere you're looking for just let us know.

tlegray, you brought back some nice memories for me in your post. Not to mention some places we've been planning to make it to, but have yet to visit. Thanks.

And I didn't even put Pappadeaux's Seafood, the Classic Cafe, or Morning Kolache's. More of my favorites.

I could go on and on. As you can tell I don't cook much. (Really wish I could add a little bashful face right here)

in response to tlegray, i'm 24 yrs. old and a "nice" dinner to me for my b-day is a place where's it's of different ambience (cultural, i guess)... last year, i had dinner at a Polynesian restaurant where it had a show of polynesian and hawaiian dances in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

I've got some questions.. How is the beach in the Clearlake and Galveston area? I live in SoCal and I'm a big beach bum! It doesn't really matter to me if a coastal area doesn't have the most attractive beach. I just love the water (as long as it's decent clean)!

Statia, I think we're going to take your suggestion and we'll go to Kemah Boardwalk on that Friday evening. Thanks muchos!

There's no beaches in the Clear Lake area. Well, at least nothing I'd go to.

You need to get down to Galveston. The beaches are pretty nice, but the water is usually brown in color in this part of the Gulf Coast.

blinkygurl, I think you will like Kemah Boardwalk. When I talked to my sister last night she said there is always a lot going on there on Friday nights during the summer.

I think Galveston would also be a nice outing, but I think you will find the beaches/water don't offer as much as SoCal. I could have a biased opinion, however, with having lived in the Caribbean for 13 years now. There is still The Strand, Moody Gardens and various other things to see and do there. And, of course, you may still very much enjoy a stroll on the beach.

Enjoy your trip and please post back on how things go!

I use to live in the Torrance/Redondo Beach, CA area and now I live in Clear Lake, TX. I was terribly disappointed about the beaches in Galveston. To me they are dirty, but that's my opinion. Just don't get your hopes up.

My favorite Galveston restaurants;
*Sky Bar-sushi and martini bar
*Saltwater Grille-Seafood/Asian fusion
*Rudy and Paco's-South/Central American food (reservations suggested;dress code)
*Mosquito Cafe-ecletic american (more health oriented)
first 3 are upscale. last one is casual

The problem w/ Galveston beach water is the amount of sand that is stirred up. I don't find it to be especially nice water.

I thought I'd also put in my vote for Kemah for a fun evening out. I especially like the Aquarium's menu.

If you are going to venture into Houston, you might want to check out Body World at the Science museum. I've chickened out of going based on the subject, but several friends have highly recommended it. http://www.hmns.org/

i'm back! i'm leaving to see Houston in 2 weeks!!! i'm very excited because I'm going to take a tour of the NASA Space Center . My boyfriend and I both like aerospace and planes stuff.

He and I will be travelling overnight so we can get to Houston by 10 am... just on time to take the tour. Tour gets done by 4pm.

I know for sure that we will have little sleep.. We will try to see Kemah Boardwalk in the evening. I'm excited to see this place, too.

Saturday, we're just planning to have dinner in downtown Houston or surrounding areas.

Sunday (daytime), we might go to one of those nice parks I saw on Houston tourism website... So if you guys have any suggestions for us to go.. let me know. I also want to check out that candy store in the mall... i heard it's a big candy store. We don't have one of those in LA, as far as i know!

Sunday evening, we travel back to Abilene.

I'm excited!!! I cannot wait!

Thanks for the upate, blinkygurl. Let us know how the trip goes!

Hi Blinkygurl
We live in ClearLake & involved with JSC. Glad you are making a trip down there & hope you enjoy the Space Center.

I recommend Hermann Park. Hermann has the Natural Science Museum (which is very nice with the Butterfly area & IMAX). It also has the Houston zoo, but it is not that great. The park usually has alot of things going on. Great for people watching.

For dining downtown, I recommend Ruggles Grill for something in a pricier range. We also enjoy Osaka's Japanese Restaurant on Westheimer. It is inexpensive for the quality of the food. Here are some reviews:
http://www.b4-u-eat.com/houston/rest...ws/rsv2091.asp

Also, since you will be staying in Webster (I assume near Bay Area Blvd.) & if you just need a quick but fun (& large) lunch, Freebirds is a fun place to go. It is similar to Chipotle.

I hope you have a great time.

When you are downtown, if you make it before, say, 6pm, check out the JPMorgan Chase tower at 600 Travis St. They have an observation deck on the 60th floor that's free to go up to. Nice views. Very cool at night - worth checking into if you happen to be there -- security guard may let you go up if it's not too busy -- but not a guarantee.

There are some very good restaurants downtown and around. I highly second the www.b4-u-eat.com -- lots of ways to search on what you like -- by area or food type and see recent reviews.

I live near JSC for 30+ years. Happy to answer any questions on the area.

Kevin.