I'm back for my second post on Houston, the largest city in the state of Texas and one of the best foodie cities I have been to. For suggestions on casual dining restaurants in Houston, see my last post, and for fine dining suggestions, stay tuned for my next post. This post however, will focus on some of the places I visited during my trip.
In addition to having a population of over 2.3 million, Houston is an extremely large city geographically. It sprawls over 665 square miles. To put that in perspective, that is larger than Miami, New York, Seattle, Boston, San Francisco and Minneapolis combined.
With that amount of ground to cover, I barely scratched the surface during my visit, but am excited to share the sites I did discover, and what I learned about Houston in the process.
First, I learned that Houston is a wet city. Annually, it receives more rainfall than Seattle. On the negative side, with an average elevation of only 50 feet in downtown areas, the city is particularly susceptible to flooding.
McGovern Centennial Gardens
Garden Mount at Centennial Gardens
On the positive side, with all of that rain, it's no surprise that Houston has more than 650 green spaces. The first of these that I visited was McGovern Centennial Gardens.
The gardens include everything from plants and flowers to a Woodland Walk and dogs are welcome to all.
Garden Mount Waterfall
The crown jewel of the gardens is the Garden Mount. A waterfall cascades from the top of the mount and flows to a reflection pool that extends to the opposite end of the park.
Hermann Park
Sam Houston Monument
McGovern Centennial Gardens is located in Hermann Park, a 445-acre urban oasis. You can enter the park through the grand gateway which features this 1925 statue of Sam Houston, the first president of the Republic of Texas.
Pioneer Memorial Obelisk
Near Lake Overlook you will find this obelisk which honors the early pioneers who founded the city of Houston.
Dusk at Scenic Lake Plaza
I wandered around this park for quite some time and still wasn't able to take it all in. I came upon this spot, as the sun was setting. This is Scenic Lake Plaza and I suggest coming at dusk when the sunset colors from the sky reflect on the water beautifully.
Rice University
Hermann Park is adjacent to Rice University, one of the nation's top universities, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report.
This private institution was founded in 1912 and is a pioneer in research. While wandering the campus, I also learned that Rice opened the first space science department in the United States in 1963.
Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park
Another park I really enjoyed visiting was the Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park which features what else, but a wall of water. The picture captures neither the beauty nor the scale of the Waterwall.
Here's a video that will hopefully do it better justice. The postmodernist Waterwall is 64 feet tall and pours 11,000 gallons of recirculated water per minute. It is quite the spectacle.
Cullen Sculpture Garden
Not far from the Waterwall is Cullen Sculpture Garden which features works by 20th and 21st century sculpture artists. Below are some of my favorite pieces.
La Riviere by Aristede Maillol, 1938 - 1943
Two Circle Sentinel by David Smith, 1961
Bird (Oiseau) by Joan Miro, 1968
Decanter by Frank Stella, 1987
Vertical Vibrante by Alejandro Otero, 1988
Buffalo Bayou Park
Buffalo Bayou is the principal river in Houston. It meanders through the city for 53 miles. One of the best places to view the bayou is from Buffalo Bayou Park. The 2.3 mile park is also a great place to watch the setting sun.
Houston Skyline from Buffalo Bayou Park
Once all the daylight has dissipated, you will also get stunning views of the Houston skyline all lit up, from the same location.
That concludes my tour of some of Houston's sites. There is so much to see in Houston that I would like to return with more time. Next up are two incredible fine dining restaurants I visited within the city, and another located about 30 minutes east on the waterfront.
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