Andrea3

We are planning to visit Houston and San Antonio( A short 3 day trip)in August 07. We have two kids 4 and 6. So it is going to be a very children centric trip.

Fly to Houston Hobby on a Thurday. Drive to San Antonio the same day. Hopefully we will get to San Antonio soon enough to still be able do do some fun things. Spend all day Friday in San Antonio (need suggestions here because of the short time). What are some must see/do things in San Antonio?

Start for Houston early Saturday and visit the Space center (and what else?). Fly out Sunday morning.

I was reading previous posts on things to see and do in Houston.

I have a little confusion about NASA center. Is the Space Center the same as Johnson Space center? On the same premises? Or is Space center a separate museum for kids located else where?

Are there any guided tours of the Johnson Space center? Where can I get information about this?

People have mentioned using Priceline to get good deals for hotels. How does this work?

Thanks in advance.

volcanogirl

Hi, Andrea - I'd recommend you go to spacecenter.org - it will give you all the info. about touring the space center. It's all the same, but there's the part where people work and the part you can tour; they offer a lot for children - Kids Space Place, IMAX, etc. I haven't been for a few years, but they used to have a tram that would drive you outside around all the rockets as well.

While you're in that area, it would be fun for you to go to Kemah, which is close by. They have a lot of restaurants where you can sit by the water, and they have rides that your kids would like - even a train that runs around the properties. We've gone out sailing there on a boat called the Captain Kid - very fun if your kids are up to it.

If you want to venture a little further, Moody Gardens in Galveston is great for kids. Check out their website.

In San Antonio, you could go to Sea World and eat dinner on the River Walk - also the Alamo if your kids like history.

dfr4848

Space Center Houston is not the same thing as the Johnson Space Center. SCH is more of an exhibit, museum, hands on type of entertainment/educational center - kids usually enjoy it. It's located next to JSC, which is really what you think of when people say NASA. That's the center for flight operations. It has separate tours and is most interesting while there's a flight in progress. Both JSC and SCH are located on NASA Rd 1.

Near there, is the Kemah Boardwalk which I would recommend, especially with kids. It's right on the water (Clear Lake) and has lots of good restaurants, entertainment, an acquarium, etc. Check out www.kemahboardwalk.com

In San Antonio, of course there's the River Walk and Sea World. With your limited time, I'd concentrate on those two. Sea World is in NW part of town and I'd get there when it opens - gets crowded fast in the summer. August will be hot, so I'd do the River Walk late in the day and plan on eating dinner there - plenty of places to eat, although some are definitely more touristy than others.

dfr4848

Well, I see volcanogirl and I were posting at the same time but came up with the same general suggestions!!!

Andrea3

There is a pakage deal for hotels that advertizes '3 days/2 nights at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel or comparable area hotel + 2 seaworld tickets'.

Is something like this a good deal and a good hotel to stay at?

volcanogirl

Wow - almost word for word, too! That is too funny!

volcanogirl

I'm not familiar with that hotel. Do you know where it's located? We always like to stay on the River Walk, so we stay at the Marriott Rivercenter. I would recommend staying on the River Walk or near Sea World.

One thing not to miss at Sea World - they have a dolphin feeding time where you can buy little fish and feed the dolphins; my friend's 2 little boys loved it.

dfr4848

Andrea, that sounds like a pretty good deal to me. The Gunter is across from the Alamo and is an old classic built around 1909 or so. It's just about a block from the River Walk. I've always liked it very much and prefer it to most of the more modern hotels along the River Walk, but haven't been there since Sheraton took over management. It's used to be rated 3/4 diamonds by AAA and would assume it's still a very nice place to stay. Not sure what other hotels they specifically mean by "or comparable" but would simply double check any other hotel suggestions they offer.

ilovetulips

If you plan to take the kids to Sea World and you will be in San Antonio one full day, it would make more sense to me to stay close to the park itself. Sea World is a bit of a drive from the Riverwalk and you are already doing quite a bit of driving going to and from Houston which is easily a 3 to 3.5 hour drive. If you want to concentrate on the downtown and Riverwalk area then I think it is good to stay there, but remember August is typically pretty hot in San Antonio so I am not sure how much the kids will like it in the heat. Just my 2 cents.