A Visit to Houston, Texas

Today we entered the Lone Star State and headed to Houston.  We planned on staying at the Elks Club but when we arrived it wasn’t there.  It isn’t much fun being in a strange city and not knowing where to go.  We happened upon a really nice RV park by accident and checked in.  It is 93 degrees and very humid.  Needless to say the air conditioner is a necessity.

We headed to the Johnson Space Center today which is located about halfway between Houston and Galveston Island.  We had a wonderful time there – the best part was the tram tour which took us to Mission Control (the actual place where all of the Apollo Missions were controlled).  It was very nostalgic remembering the moon landings and picturing the control room from the TV shots during Apollo 13’s serious problems.  We also got a chance to see the Astronaut Training Facility where the astronauts who will be on the next mission (May 12^th) were training.  The rest of the time there was spent visiting exhibits, seeing films, and attempting mock landings of the shuttle (Mike and I both crashed into the runway).  It’s a good thing we aren’t in control. 

After our Space Center visit we headed on to Galveston Island and took a drive around.  There was a lot of Hurricane Ike damage still very evident.  There are many old historic homes in Galveston and a lot of them were damaged.  The newer structures seemed to fair well.

Today is Cinco de’ Mayo and we decided to take the Metrorail to downtown Houston.  On the way we rode by Reliant Stadium which is located right next to the old Astrodome.  I have never seen such a huge stadium – in dwarfs the Astrodome.  We wandered around downtown and visited Chase Tower – the tallest building south of the Mason Dixon Line.  Rode to the observation area and got a great view of the city.  We also stopped at Christ Church which is over 200 years old and a beautiful cathedral.  Houston has a large expanse of underground tunnels and skywalks connecting different buildings and areas.  There are places to eat and it is all air conditioned.  It was quite hot today so it felt nice to be inside.  At City Center in the middle of Main Street there is a water feature with timed spurts of dancing water.  It is truly beautiful and we enjoyed the show.  I have never seen a city with as many hospitals as Houston and they are all located in the same general area.  We rode by the Texas Children’s Hospital (huge), Shriner’s Hospital, Methodist Hospital, University of Texas Medical Center, and the Texas Heart Institute to name a few.  Health care must make up a large part of the economy here.  After we returned home we went for a swim to cool off.  We enjoyed our time in Houston – a really friendly city.