It’s typical for many people to take a vacation in the summer months. In the U.S., summertime is often when kids are out of school, work slows down, and the air is balmy with a sense of adventure. Some people use this time to travel north and escape their heat. Others use it to soak up the sun in a warmer destination. My immediate family and I enjoy traveling together, using the “it takes a village” approach to vacations. The kids love it because they get to spend tons of time together. The adults love it because we can rotate whose hotel room bed gets jumped on each night.
This year we traveled to a destination that, if I’m being totally honest, I didn’t think was going to be as awesome as it was - Houston, Texas. You see, I live in Texas and don’t typically think of Houston as a hotspot for tourism. I generally consider it to be a sprawling suburbia full of people working and living their lives, which it is. There are single family homes as far as the eye can see and industry abounds. There are, however, several attractions that we thoroughly enjoyed exploring together.
Here are a just few:
The Space Center in Houston is not to be missed. It features tons of informative and interactive exhibits for space lovers of all ages. We got to hear a presentation from a real astronaut and tour the training facility where all the latest models of space exploring vehicles are stored. Don’t skip the tour of the Historic Mission Control Center where the Apollo 11 mission was monitored. It’s the closest thing to time travel I’ve ever experienced.
About 40 miles west of downtown Houston, you’ll find the Rosenberg Railway Museum. This was a repeat visit for us. We have a few hardcore train lovers in our family and it feels like this little gem was built just for them. They offer guided tours throughout the day that begin in the impressive outdoor model train garden and end with a grand finale at an indoor collection of model trains running on lovingly crafted displays. Operational tracks run along the backside of the museum grounds, so you might just get lucky and catch a real freight train passing by!
We spent a full day at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and I still feel like we just scratched the surface of all they have to offer. Enjoy getting lost in their expansive Morian Hall of Paleontology. Marvel through the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals. If your younger explorers get antsy between the more cerebral exhibits, take them for a twirl around the Matter & Motion installation and let them take a run on the human hamster wheel.
I crave unplugging regularly for vacation. It offers me a well-earned break from the grind of running my business and enriches my personal life with experiences that inform my creative work throughout the year. For example, want to inject a little frustration into a character? Yep, I have an emotional reference for that. I’ve had a tense moment with my brother at a Cracker Barrel off I-10. Need a “wow” feeling in a script read? Sure, I can deliver that. I’ve seen the stars on a clear night in New Mexico.
The only question remains…where to next?