Johnson Space Center

 NASA’s official visitor center provides a glimpse into the exciting world of space exploration through a multitude of exhibits, theater presentations, and attractions.  Guests can visit the historic Mission Control Center, get an up-close look at the world’s best collection of spacesuits, and experience the realistic thrill of landing in space, complete with rocket boosters and billowing exhaust at the center’s Blastoff Theater.  A visit to the Living in Space module presents a humorous look at how even the simple tasks of showering and eating are much more difficult to accomplish in the microgravity environment of space.

www.SpaceCenter.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Houston Galleria

As Houston’s top tourist destination and the nation’s fourth largest mall, The Houston Galleria features more than 375 shops and restaurants to explore.  There you will find the designs of such fashion visionaries as Chanel, Christian Dior, Versace, and Valentino alongside those at popular retail outlets such as Banana Republic, Gap, and J.Crew.  With an ice skating rink, two hotels and a multitude of restaurants from which to choose, you can easily wile away the day and soak in the sun streaming from its soaring glass balconies. 

www.galleriahouston.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downtown Aquarium

At this 500,000 aquatic complex, you can view living coral reefs and a giant Pacific octopus when you step inside the sunken hull of a 17^th century Spanish galleon at the aquarium’s shipwreck exhibit.  Other fascinating exhibits to explore include Mayan temple ruins which house tarantulas and a python that is more than 20 feet long.  And you can top off your virtual travels by visiting ancient Maharaja’s temple of India, which showcases rare white tigers lounging and playfully romping amidst the temple’s ruins.

www.AquariumRestaurants.com/DowntownAquariumHouston

 

 

 

 

 

 

Houston Zoo

The Houston Zoo features fascinating animals from every corner of the globe.  At the Wortham world of Primates, you can visit Cheyenne, a 38-year-old orangutan who has raised three young orangutans who were unable to be cared for by their birth mothers.  After watching the comical antics of monkeys, sea lions, and meerkats, you can stroll over to the reptile and amphibian building for a closer view of some of the zoo’s more sinister residents, including some of the world’s most venomous snakes, the black mamba and Black forest cobra.  A variety of exhibits in the zoo’s Natural Encounters Building allow visitors a glimpse at seven different ecosystems, including a coral reef, rainforest, and bat habitat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downtown Houston

Since its urban revitalization began in the mid-1990s, more than  $4 billion dollars have been poured into Downtown Houston’s parks and infrastructure, transforming it into a vibrant urban scene for the arts, sports and fine dining.    With the most theater seats in a concentrated area outside of Broadway, guests can view world class ballet and opera performances and catch the fast paced action of one of the area’s professional sports teams, the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets.  Or pack a picnic lunch, and savor the peaceful surroundings at one of its many parks, including the 12-acre Discovery Green.  Downtown features hundreds of restaurants and attractions to visit, including jazz lounges, a brewery, and the Downtown Aquarium.

www.HoustonDowntown.com

 

 

 

 

Houston Museums

Houston is a world class cultural arts center housing many fine museums and art galleries.  Seventeen of these are within walking distance of each other in Houston’s Museum District, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Contemporary Arts Museum, and The Houston Museum for Photography.  At Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts, you can view such ancient artifacts as Egyptian and Roman sculptures, and Hellenistic gold wreaths, or enjoy the more modern works of the Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Picasso.  In 2004, the museum acquired Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Young Woman.  For a closer look at the wonders of the natural world, visit the Houston Museum of Natural Science for a glimpse of 450 fossils, dinosaur skeletons, and some of the world’s rarest and most beautiful gems and minerals.

www.HoustonMuseumDistrict.org