Day 4 of our trip brought on a day-trip to Houston. It's about a three and a half hour drive from San Antonio and we had good intentions of leaving early. The place we're staying in is actually a timeshare condo in which my mom owns; and they were plying her with her with a 'visitor packet' and saying they wanted to meet with her. Uh, once you buy the timeshare, aren't they supposed to STOP harassing you? Guess not!
Anyway, a person from guest services (or whatever they call themselves) came up to chit-chat with my mom. She didn't show until 8:30 am, so we were waiting around. Our original goal had been to leave at 8, so we didn't think it would be a big deal. The lady came in, made herself comfortable on the coach, and started asking a whole list of questions from a sheet. I thought we'd never get out of here, but the lady was kind enough to ask what we were up to today. When she found out we were headed to Houston she made another appointment with my mom and took off.
So, we could finally get on the road, right? Haha! We had yet to grab some breakfast, so I found Einstein Bros. Bagels on the map and thought we could access it from the street. After circling around the address I finally let my mom and thckblckglasses out of the car to search on foot. Half-hour later they had ordered and made it back to the car. Leaving San Antonio around 10 am, with a 3.5 hour drive, and NASA closing at 5 pm, was cutting it close!!!
Driving between the two cities wasn't terrible. The normal crazy truck drivers that pull out in front of a speeding (80 mph or more) vehicle to pass a fellow trucker at 70 mph did nothing for the car's gas mileage. We came into Houston at mid-day so at least it wasn't rush hour. I'm pretty sure I got into the HOV lane when I wasn't supposed to (EZ Tag only signs prevailed - whatever that is!), so I may receive a ticket in the mail soon.
Our first stop was NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. We bought tickets online because they were half price, which was a good deal because most of the attractions were for children. The daily schedule that's handed to you upon arrival gave the suggestion of a tram ride, space gallery show, blast off! show, and something else (slips my mind!). My first thought was to hop on the tram for a tour of the grounds. I'm glad we did that, apparently this was a popular destination for spring breakers and we stood in line for almost an hour.
The tram drove past the buildings were NASA scientists, engineers, and other busy bees were hard at work planning the next mission to space. The tour took us through the training facility for astronauts preparing to stay on the International Space Station. Usually, it goes through other training facilities too, but as they were currently in use we were unable to see them. The campus is huge and built like a typical college campus to encourage comradeship. The last stop is a walk-through tour of the storage facility for the Saturn V rocket. Several rockets and components sit outside the building (including the Mercury - Redstone), but upon walking inside the view of the fully restored rocket is incredible!
At the end of the tram tour we had just under an hour to explore everything else. Many of the suggested shows were already in progress for their final run of the night. Math Alive! was front and center, so I did walk through that a bit, but realized that it would have be much more exciting and fun with a kid. I thoroughly enjoyed the tram ride, but would mostly suggest this visit to families with children.
For dinner we met up with my cousin at a cajun restaurant she suggested. It was just a little out-of-the-way place called BB's Cafe, but those are usually the best. My cousin explained that many of the displaced New Orleans-ites came to Houston after Hurricane Katrina and set up restaurants. Yum! Authentic cajun food!
The drive home took only 3 hours, so with relief I crashed on the bed. It's tough to do a day-trip to Houston from San Antonio, but I'm glad we did it :)
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