Visiting the Houston area... questions

Greetings!

Apologies for the wall of text. I've stated elsewhere that I have family in Texas that I would eventually be visiting. Well, it looks like that visit is going to be happening next month, and I have some questions that I am hoping to get info on.

Currently I am still waffling between driving down or flying and renting a fun car for around town.

If I were to drive I can handle all my Wyoming travel up to Laramie. Then, using the questionable navigation of Google and setting it to avoid tolls, I am given 3 routes. See the picture.



If I drive I think I will have my dog with me, so any hotels I stay in will have to be pet friendly. This might cause some variation to the routes, but nothing major. Given what I have so far what would be your recommendations?

• Anything neat along any of these paths that I should check out?
• Have any of you travelled along these routes?
• Hotels to look for, or hotels to avoid?
• Overall, any experiences along these routes that would justify driving over flying?

Once I am in the Houston area:

• How bad is Covid messing things up?
• Where can I get good sushi? Been craving it.
• Activities or attractions?
• Places or activities to avoid?

I thank you all in advance for any wisdom shared.

 

There isn't much to see or do between Dallas/ Ft Worth to Houston except maybe a big Buc-ees about half way in between. Borders on a dreadful drive. The Hill Country is a little more scenic,, Austin & San Antonio areas but are not a direct shot.
Covid is just masks everywhere, more so in the higher populated areas.
Lots of good food all over Texas.

 

Good info. Guess I should add a poll, but it sounds like you'd recommend flying down and just having a car while I'm there?

 

I can't think of many reasons to make the Texss portion of the drive. Others may think different.
Palo Duro Canyon in the TX. Panhandle would be worth a visit. And there's always the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo.

 

If you drive TX will mail you the toll bills. Its worth it depending on the time of day you are in DFW or Houston.

Flying would give you more time with your family. I've done a few 10-12 hour drives and back in a short time and don't mind it if I'm the only one. If anyone else is with me I'd rather fly. They have this need to stop before the fuel tank is empty and want crazy things like food and bathroom breaks.

 

So I should not trust google maps on the route to avoid tolls? Or do you mean if I drive while in town with a rental? Wyoming has no tolls, so it's all a foreign concept to me.

 

Haven't been to Amarillo but you will have toll options once you get to DFW. If it's near rush hour or you see a slow down on your map it's worth taking them. I use them every chance I get in Houston since it's feels like it's always rush hour there.

 

I've taken the 287 route several times when traveling from Houston to CO Springs. That stretch is doable in 1 day (albeit very long). We usually stop in Dumas overnight on the way up and Wichita Falls on the way back. Most of the drive is 75 mph with the occasional small town speed trap. Like others said, not much to see though. Its mostly just a quiet peaceful drive.

 

I hate flying and love driving but that looks to me like 2 to 4 days of driving, depending how slow and relaxed you want to take it. How long do you have with your family (or how long do you want to have)?

As for stuff to do there, I'm only ever in Houston for work so I just hit up the steak houses. I've heard Nasa is cool if you're over near Baytown but I have no idea if it would be worth the trip if you're not.

 

It depends on whether you prefer the journey or the destination, and have unlimited time for driving and/or visiting family. If you drive, you won't have the expense of a rental car to experience complete exploration freedom.

The days of eighteen hour drives are over for me, especially with needy passengers onboard. Two days down and two days back will cut pretty deep into a week off. If you're retired and have unlimited time off with few commitments, you can do both. Heck, stay a month, and let your family put you up.

I'm pretty sure you can find sushi in Houston, but since it's raw fish, better look up the reviews. When country Texans like us go to Houston, seafood is the word, preferably Cajun style: Pappas/Pappadeaux, etc. If you stay long enough to get tired of seafood, then there's authentic Tex-mex, barbecue, and steak houses.

Spring is north of Houston. Baytown, where Humble Oil Company began, is east of Houston. Clearlake, NASA, and Galveston are south of Houston.

 

If you're going north towards Spring, go a little farther to the Woodlands and hit up the nice restaurants.

 

I've driven those routes once each. The most interesting part was when driving between Denver and Colorado Springs and being caught in this crazy storm. Other than that, once you leave Colorado Springs, the scenery is kind of boring. Once you get into Texas, still boring, flat, dusty, dry conditions in that pan handle area. When you get to Houston, as previously mentioned, use Yelp/Google to find restaurants. The museum district is always fun and interesting. From science to art to health, they have a lot of good stuff. NASA/Space Center Houston is fun and interesting. The zoo is cool also. Chinatown on the west side of town is interesting. Bring masks and hand sanitizer because most places that are open, do require you to wear one. And keep in mind, in Houston, you could leave the house in shorts and need a coat, umbrella, etc shortly there after. Have fun while you are here!

PS..driving..if you drive I-10 headed west...watch for speed traps, seems like that's the only place in town cops give tickets now. If you drive I-59 headed southwest..it feels like you are driving in a foreign country..I-45 north is starting to feel that way also.

 

In what sense? Been a while since I drove I45.

 

People weaving and swerving in and out of their lanes with no signals, no respect for the lane lines. It's an adventure!

 

I tend to take the toll road if I'm going north out of Houston because my company is paying anyway and I45 can grind to a halt.

Not sure I agree with you that Americans don't and haven't always driven like that, though. Traffic in the U.S. is terrible!

 

Place to avoid: Any major thoroughfare during peak hours. You’ll have never seen so many damned vehicles jammed into a single area in your life.

 

I travel some of that route quite a bit for work. I am originally from Amarillo. Definitely check out Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo if you can, also the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo is a cool place to visit and grab a bite to eat, home of the 72 oz. steak!!! Also as someone else mentioned, the Cadillac Ranch is a must see! The alternate route I see going through Northern New Mexico is a very pretty drive as well. But who knows what weather conditions would be like.

As far as hotels go, I'm not sure about ones that take pets, but there are plenty of Holiday Inns, a good one in Childress, TX, some Best Westerns along 287 near Bowie, TX. I'm sure some of them take pets. If you don't want to stay in DFW there is a hotel in Decatur that I know takes pets but I can't remember which one it is. The drive on 287 between Amarillo and Ft. Worth is somewhat boring. I don't drive between Ft. Worth and Houston very much so I don't know much on that route. I have family in Houston and visit frequently, The Woodlands is a great area for shopping and dining, also the west side Memorial Drive area there is City Centre which has shopping and dining as well. Downtown is also fun to explore, especially during the holidays as they have everything lit up!

 

You’re not wrong. I fought against rolling down my window and screaming at people driving into ONCOMING TRAFFIC just to get to the front of the drop off line at my local middle school this morning. We have a ton of dumb shit drivers here.

 

My google maps always tells me that the route has tolls, I think it gives you the option to select non-toll routes. Stay off of Beltway 8 in Houston to avoid tolls.

 

Fly. There's not much to see after Colorado. TX drivers are a little crazy, so it's not much fun. I once got caught in a freak snow storm driving from Phoenix to Dallas to visit my parents for the holidays. I only drove to bring back a boat I was buying from my uncle. Luckily, I had a 4runner with 4x4 and just made it before they closed the interstate. TX doesn't have the infrastructure to deal with snow or ice storms. Everything shuts down. I'm not sure how much risk there is for that when you go, since TX weather is so random. NASA is cool. The food in Houston is good, steak, bbq, cajun, texmex, chicken fried streak, burgers, even vietnamese. Generally, not going to find many veggies unless fried. I don't know about sushi.

 

I've been told the Galleria area is nice, too.

 

Ah yes, the Galleria is a very nice area to shop and eat as well!

 

Are you me?

 

This. If you want fancy sushi, the Westheimer area is your best bet.

 

This time of the year, if you have to be to Houston or back home on a schedule, you'd best fly. Freak snowstorms, or even ordinary winter weather can wreak havoc on your travel plans if you're driving. EVen north Texas gets ice storms on occasion. West Texas and the panhandle are a bit icey today. https://drivetexas.org/#/7/32.340/-99.500?future=false

And winter has just begun.

 

Izakaya Wa, Nobu, and Uchi are the best for sushi, IMO. If you drive or have a rental car its nice because the city of Houston has little areas that are spread out and not very walk-able between.

Galleria is nice, that's where Nobu is, but it gets crowded and the malls are dead right now because of the whole Covid thing. So kind of just an area for food at the moment.

The Heights Mercantile area as well as Montrose (westheimer and dunlavy area) are my 2 favorite areas to hang around. Each area has plenty of walk-able spots and places to eat.

Downtown Houston is awesome too but parking can be a bit rough if you are trying to park for free. Bravery Chef's Hall is a awesome little food hall and has a great outdoor bar called the "secret garden", I am partial though, as we built the greenhouse its located in. Finn Hall is also a food hall down there that is cool to check out. Lots of food in Houston as you can see.

If you really want the best of Chinese food and stuff I'd suggest China Town in the Bellaire area. Even the street sings are in Chinese, food is amazing and cheap, karaoke, all kinds of craziness but it is somewhat far from the "inner loop"...I say far its maybe 15 min.

We have some really awesome breweries but again they are spread out everywhere. If there was one to try out of them all id say SpindleTap. 11 Below, Karbach, Sigma, Baileson, Holler...all are great...Buff Bayou Brew is cool too but small spot and always packed.

For BBQ my favorite right now is The Pitt Room....its really that good.

If you like parks or being outdoors Memorial Park just did a really cool expansion and oriental garden and lake area. Buffalo Bayou is a cool park too but bc of recent rain its all washed out.

Galveston Beach is literally 45 min from downtown. We frequent there a lot, there's breweries, the Strand area to walk, etc and its a super easy drive straight down 45. I went on Sunday and it was awesome, beach to ourselves and weather was great.

 

Los Angeles calls you on that one.

 

I make the trip from Summit County Co alot, here is my advice, that the route over Raton Pass, thats the route through Trindad Co, However Instead of taking googles route the rest of the way I would suggest that you take either Texas Hwy 36 to I-10 at Sequin or Tx Hwy 6 into Houston, its a much nicer drive. I like 36 better. Either way there will be more to look at and more interesting places to stop for a break.

Also get you some TX BBQ in Lockhart if you need a detour. Smittys is where i would stop. If you decide to take 6 or 36 watch your speed when coming up on the small towns.

287 is a pain in the behind because of all the trucks, the interstate from Dallas to Houston is a snoozer and can have quite a bit of traffic. Plus all the nutjobs are on the interstate and they seem to congregate at the fuel stops and rest areas.

Galveston is nice and on the far west end at San Luis Pass you can drive on the beach, just watch the puddles when you are getting to the beach under the bridge some are truck eating deep, if it has rained recently.

 

Uchi has the best sushi in Houston. It’s expensive but worth it, IMO. I’m not sure how they’re doing happy hour right now with Covid, but that used to be a good deal. Call ahead and see what they say.

 

All good suggestions. If you like to eat then Houston is your place. It's a big melting pot with so many different cultures here. There is good American, Italian, Mediterranean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Mexican, Tex-mex, Burgers, BBQ, Steak, Cajun, Soul food, etc. And yes the weather here can be wonky sometimes this time of year. It can be 80 degree hot clear sunny day in the and turn into a 40 degree cold rainy storm in minutes. So pack summer and winter clothes.