In this troubled economy, staycations – vacations where you take days off work and stay in your town of residence instead of traveling somewhere – are all the rage. You’ll spend little money on gas, nothing on lodging and can bring food with you to cut down on the cost of feeding a family on the go.
If you live in Houston with an end-of-summer break on the horizon but don’t want to end up broke after it, consider a staycation. Save money on everything while teaching your children about the sites that give the fourth-largest city in Texas its unique identity. Hit up one or visit them all, depending on the amount of time you have.
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Houston earned its nickname of “Space City” in 1967 because it is the home of NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, a center that designs, develops and tests spacecraft, trains astronauts and conducts manned missions, according to the NSTS Shuttle Reference Manual. Visit the adjacent Space Center Houston, the official visitors’ center for the Space Center, to see the Mercury-Atlas 9 and Gemini 5 capsules, Apollo 17 command module, Lunar Rover trainer vehicle and more. Kids 10 and younger will love the Martian Matrix play place, and everyone can watch films at the Northrop Grumman Theater or Destiny Theater. The Starship Gallery houses space-related artifacts such as moon rocks, space capsules and a full-scale Skylab trainer mock-up and the Neutral Buoyancy Lab is where astronauts perform simulated low-gravity tasks. Special tours are available at an extra cost.
Houston Museum District
If you want to get your kids’ inner cogwheels turning before school starts, the Houston Museum District, which houses 18 museums (11 of which are free all the time), galleries and cultural centers, is the place to be. According to the Houston Museum District web site, the 1.5-mile area celebrates art, history, culture and science with the Children’s Museum of Houston, The Health Museum, Holocaust Museum Houston, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston Zoo, John C. Freeman Weather Museum and Lawndale Art Center.
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
In the former home of philanthropist and Houston resident Ima Hogg, the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens is an accumulation of American fine and decorative arts, according to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston web site. More than 5,000 objects are installed in 28 period rooms, featuring the evolution of American taste from the Colonial to the Victorian era through furniture, art, silver, ceramics and glass. This staycation is ideal for families with older children or couples who wish to take a relaxing stroll through retail store and the gardens, bursting with magnolias, crape myrtles, camellias and azaleas.
Parks and Green Spaces
With the most total area of parks and green space in the United States at more than 38,000 acres, Houston is a great place to go outside and play. The city has 337 parks, including Hermann Park, Terry Hershey Park, Lake Houston Park, Discovery Green and Sam Houston Park, and more than 200 additional green spaces, such as the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. The Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park is a popular tourist draw, featuring a 64-feet tall, semi-circular fountain with 118 Texas live oak trees surrounding.