Houston Travel
Around Houston
Houston's double-edged status as having both historical importance and all the trappings of a hyper-modern "space city" is exemplified by two major attractions, both about twenty miles south of the city.
NASA
NASA has been controlling space flight from the Johnson Space Center , 25 miles south of Houston off I-45 (bus #246 from downtown), since the launch of Gemini 4 in 1965 locals love to point out that the first word ever spoken on the moon was "Houston." As a working facility, it's not fully geared to tourists, but three tram tours will give you a glimpse into different parts of the grounds. Start with an impressive array of hands-on exhibits at the Space Center Houston (summer daily 9am7pm, rest of year MonFri 9am5pm, Sat & Sun 10am7pm; $14.95; tel 281-244-2100, www.spacecenter.org ); you get to try on space helmets, inspect moonrocks and some remarkably rickety-looking rocket replicas, join astronauts and scientists in the cafeteria, and stock up on gimmicky space-themed merchandising.
Reliant Astrodome and the Orange Show
Around three miles south from the Museum District, down Kirby Drive, Houston's legendary Reliant Astrodome was the first domed, climatized stadium in the world when it was built in 1965, and lends its name to astroturf which was first laid down here. It was home to the NFL's Oilers before they relocated to Nashville a few years ago and, with the Astros having played their last baseball season here in 1999, its sparse usage is now restricted to big-wheel truck racing, trade shows and, in March, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo predictably, the world's largest. Pro sports is set to return to the area in 2002, upon completion of a football stadium for the Houston Texans. A few hundred yards beyond, on the far side of the Loop, the big attraction at the Six Flags Astro World theme park is yet another mighty roller coaster, the suspended-looping "megacoaster" Serial Thriller (opening hours vary; $37.99; tel 713/799-8404, www.sixflags.com ).
Despite the dreams of its creator, The Orange Show , five miles east at 2401 Munger Ave, just off I-45 at the Telephone Road exit, is an altogether lower-key affair (MarchDec Sat & Sun noon5pm; summer also WedFri 9am1pm; $1). Promoted as Houston's most original piece of folk art, it's not really a show, but a suburban house transformed by the monomania of former salesman and would-be inventor Jeff McKissack into a paean to the orange. With one simple purpose "to get more people to eat more oranges" McKissack spent twenty years covering his home with celebratory tiles, ironwork and slogans, with placards displayed by such oddball mannequins as the son of Santa Claus. The fabric of the place is solid ("weak construction would make the orange look weak"), but much of the mosaic work is surprisingly delicate, and it's not quite as garish as it might sound. When he finally opened it to the public in May 1979, McKissack confidently predicted that eight out of every ten Americans would visit. Depressed at the lack of crowds, the author of How You Can Live 100 Years And Still Be Spry (in which oranges played a starring role) died in June 1980 aged 77.
San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Park
San Jacinto Battleground , 22 miles east of Houston off I-10, was the site of an eighteen-minute fight, two months after the Alamo in 1836, in which the Texans all but wiped out the superbly trained Mexican army. You see little but miles of flat land from the observation deck ($3) of the tallest stone column monument in the world (570ft, topped by a 34ft Lone Star), but the Museum of History inside is more interesting, with the stirring 35-minute movie Texas Forever ! (hourly 9am5pm; museum daily 9am6pm; $3.50; www.sanjacinto-museum.org ).
Galleria
The ultramodern Galleria hypermall lies just west of the Loop, on Westheimer Road. Its three hundred or so smart shops, movie theaters and restaurants, plus skating rink and health club (with indoor tennis courts!), and ornate street lamps and signage, exemplify Houston's love of modern architecture, upmarket style and Texan tack. Across the way, a waterfall-sized fountain cascades outside the 64-story, black-glass Williams Tower , particularly breathtaking when lit at night.
Houston
HOUSTON has relentless Texan pride, and above all its refusal to take itself totally seriously, give it a perverse appeal, while its well-endowed museums and rich nightlife mean there is always something to do. That Howard Hughes came from Houston makes absolute sense; eccentric, domineering and sordid, the millionaire typified all that makes the city intriguing.
There is good reason why Houston exists at all; it was founded on a muddy mire in 1837 by two brothers from New York who hoped it would become the capital of the new Republic of Texas. For all their wild claims about its potential as a port, and its (imaginary) urban attractions, the more promising site of Austin was made capital in 1839. However, by then Houston had somehow established itself as a commercial center. Oil discovered in 1901, and, like the city itself, unpredictable and heading for obsolescence became the foundation, along with cotton and real estate, of vast private fortunes. Among the most famous of the philanthropists responsible for the development of downtown Houston was the cruelly named Ima Hogg. Her city improvement projects were largely cosmetic, however, and the contradictions of urban life are still writ large here, where abject poverty coexists with ostentatious wealth.