Things to do in Houston, Texas

Houston has it all, and the only trick is picking a compass heading and kicking it into overdrive without getting whiplash.

Shopping? The Galleria. Yes, the mothership of showcase malls has landed. 610 loop off Westheimer. Start there, but don't think you'll be toting around Nieman Marcus bags for hours.

Wear your kneepads and be prepared to strap on the ice-skates at the world-class ice rink.

Art? Try The Museum of Modern Art, near Rice University, in the Montrose area. Manhattan's MOMA and SoHo galleries have nothing on the mind-boggling art and sculptures inside this space.

Did we say space? Aah yes, NASA it is! Check out NASA's Space Center Houston, an incredible entertainment facility with films, interactive exhibits, and Skylab tram tours, for some Texas good times, lunar-style.

History & Facts

Largest city in the Lone Star State. Fourth in the U.S.  Second largest U.S. port, tonnage-wise. Greater Metro Population bordering on 4 million.

But the energy marquee is really just a subtitle. Like any charming southern town, you never saw it coming in the early days. All slow drawl and laid back. Before you know it, oil gets discovered around 1900, and prosperity's jetting into the stratosphere like a NASA space shuttle. Suddenly the corporate commerce backbone starts taking shape.

International commerce. Imports. Exports. All booming thanks to the Port and two International Airport hubs. Manufacturing firms. $55 billion worth. Petrohemical Factories. Texas Medical Center. Rice University. U of H. And hey, we're just getting started here... But really, we're just a lazy little Texas sleepy hollow.