Now that the Art Car Parade is history, would you like to know what else there is to do in Houston? The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau has a resource for you.
The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau unveiled a new link on its Web site, www.visithoustontexas.com, that highlights things to do in Houston.The link, Houston 365, will provide residents with suggestions on restaurants, theme parks and sporting activities. It will include everything from professional baseball games to the locations of the city's pools.
"We have great activities in our own back yard," said Houston Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado, who made the announcement Friday while surrounded by costumed mascots, including a giant penguin from Moody Gardens, a giant flea from Traders Village and an "astronaut" from Space Center Houston.
"We don't have to drive to San Antonio or that other city — Dallas," Alvarado said.
The bureau will spend $30,000 to advertise its new Web link.
Typically, tourism-sponsored Web sites are promoted to out-of-town visitors. But the convention bureau in Houston wants to encourage residents to also take advantage of its site.
"We're suggesting that instead of leaving town and spending money outside of town, discover something you may not have discovered in Houston," said Jordy Tollett, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We'd like to keep this money home."
Thanks for link. More ammo to get my DC pals to visit. Of course, I'm as bad as you describe; I can't tell anyone details on the many tourist sites in Washington despite living there for eight years!
Posted by: John on May 14, 2005 4:53 PM"I grew up in New York but have never visited the Statue of Liberty."
You should know that most tourist guides will advise you to save the money and see the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry. :-)
Then again, I've been meaning to take my camera with me to work one day so I can take pictures on the way home.
Posted by: William Hughes on May 15, 2005 9:58 AMI've often complained that Dallas doesn't seem to have something like this. Good job, Houston!
Also, I think Dallas should officially adopt, "That Other City - Dallas!" as its motto, making Fort Worth "That Other, Other City," and Denton and Arlington get to be "Those Other, Other, Other Cities."
Posted by: kodi on May 15, 2005 1:13 PMHouston does have the best Children's museum in the state of Texas by far. As a parent of 2 young kids I gotta tell you that Houston's Children's museum is world-class. Austin's Children's museum is OK but not as big as Houston. San Antonio is also pretty nice and it's right downtown a block from the Riverwalk. Dallas is absolutely pathetic. The Dallas Children's museum is a dirty crowded storefront spot in an old mall that looks like it used to house a gap store.
Oh, and for those of you driving up and down I-35 with kids, I gotta tell you that the Mayborn Museum on the Baylor Campus in Waco is one of the best in the state. Half the museum is a very hands-on kids museum and the other half is a more traditional natural history museum. Very much worth the stop.
The Cameron Park Zoo in Waco is also a nice surprise, gotta be the nicest zoo in the entire country for a city of this size. When you have young kids, it really beats the heck out of fighting the big crowds at the Fort Worth Zoo.
Posted by: Kent on May 16, 2005 9:14 AMas long as you like indoor activities or outdoor activities that can be done on cement, Houston is a great town to live in. If you like to camp, hike, climb, or mountain bike then you'd better like driving great distances to do so.
Posted by: dude on May 17, 2005 2:32 PM