A Fun Weekend in Houston, Texas

It was time for a getaway and what a great one it was. My weekend started off early Saturday afternoon with a fun filled trip to Houston, planned out just so because of the many places to visit. Our first stop was to check in to the Hilton Americas Hotel located at 1600 Lamar in Houston across the street from the George R. Brown Convention Center and within walking distance from Minute Maid Park. This hotel is top notch with beautiful blown glass chandeliers of orange and yellow hues gracing the lobby areas. The guest rooms are spacious, immaculate and come with a refrigerator full of any type of drink one might want to partake of. The king bed, so very comfy, gave us the sense that we were laying on light, fluffy clouds. I have only slept on one bed more comfortable and that was at The Inn Above Onion Creek in Kyle, Texas The hotel offers a shuttle service that will take you anywhere in the downtown area free of charge.

The Downtown Aquarium, Houston, was our second destination to visit, located at 410 Bagby @ Memorial. We rode the Diving Bell Ferris Wheel that can be seen from Interstate 45 and gave us a fantastic view of the downtown area including the Hard Rock Café across the street with a huge guitar on the roof of that establishment. After riding the wheel and carousel, we rode the miniature train around the complex and went through a tunnel area that made one feel they were in the middle of an aquarium amidst sharks, sawfish and other predators of the deep. The actual aquarium tour exhibited sea creatures of every shape and size including turtles, piranha's moray eels, miniature crocodiles and snakes. Finally we visited the White Tigers of the Maharajah's Temple exhibit, observed the animals in a beautiful, natural looking environment, and watched as they were being fed. We called the hotel shuttle and they picked us up returning us to the hotel to get ready for the activities of the evening.

Dinner was had at Birraporetti's Italian Restaurant staring off with a great Margarita and ordering an appetizer of crab cakes. The dinner menu was extensive but we decide on Chicken Picatta served with broccoli and a helping of fettuccini alfredo along with a basket of garlic break. MMMMM good.!!!

To top off the evening, we attended The Wedding Singer performed at The Hobby Center just two blocks from the restaurant. Because we were feeling full from the great meal we had just indulged in, we decided to walk the short distance to the theater. The performance began promptly at 8pm and the singers, actors and music were superb, making it an outstanding musical show. Once again, we called upon the hotel shuttle to take us back to our room for the night.

Sunday morning, we ate in one of the hotel restaurants and split a western omelet. It was a little pricey but very delicious. We then walked over to Minute Maid Park to attend the graduation ceremonies for the University of Houston Downtown where my girlfriend's niece was to graduate. That ceremony was very nice and made me wish I had gone down the college road in my years after high school to get a degree.

There are many things to see and do in Houston, Texas but I have mentioned a couple here that my girlfriend and I enjoyed doing very much and hope that anyone who reads this will find it helpful in making their weekend trip more enjoyable.