A Quick Weekend Getaway in Houston, Texas

Stoney Keeley recaps a fun couple of days in Houston on the latest travel blog on SoBros Network.

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As the clock struck midnight, two weary travelers of the night made their descent into the Lone Star state off a late night flight from Nashville, Tennessee. Rugged and tired from a flight made later by a delay, our travelers slumped their way from the Budget Rentals office at Houston-Hobby to the Hilton Garden Inn off Almeda. I don’t know if I’m making this introduction dramatic enough after all, so I’m just going to get right to it – these travelers are my wife and me. This isn’t short fiction – you guys don’t need elaborate scene-setting. We went to Houston, Texas last Thursday night. Garth Brooks was playing NRG Stadium, and we had tickets to the big show with an extra day to mill about town to spare. By the time we were settled into bed, it was nearly 4AM central. I turned my phone off so that visions of bulls, cowgirls, and BBQ could dance in my head.

I don’t think I’ve done this since college, but I was out cold past 11AM the next morning. The trip in exhausted us so much that we lost half of our first day in town. We wanted to scope out the area, and with NRG Stadium right down the road from us, we thought that was the first place to start exploring. After driving around and checking it out, we were ready for some lunch. We came to town completely unprepared, without a list of things we wanted to do, recommendations, or anything. So, my wife just ended up on the Google machine, finding some random “best lunches in Houston” list – we wanted BBQ, and on said list was The Pit Room, complete with a photo of some damn good lookin’ BBQ. Away we went.

It was in this moment that I realized everything really is bigger in Texas. I was starving. My wife was starving. Not realizing that the tacos were twice the size of what we normally get, we ordered six – three brisket, three pulled pork. I got a cup of chili (I’ve always wanted to try real Texas chili), and for sides, we each got potato salad while I went with coleslaw and my wife went with mac and cheese. What we got was enough food to take care of the whole crew at the next family reunion. The chili was probably the best I’ve had in my life. I could’ve bathed in it. The tacos were perfect, but it was specifically the tortillas themselves that actually stole the show. I wasn’t going to let any of the food go to waste, so after my wife tapped out after two tacos, I finished the table. I was miserable. It was some of the best BBQ I’ve had in awhile, but I was legitimately worried about throwing up in the middle of the restaurant because of how much I had eaten. Needless to say, I needed a nap. A food coma, as they say.

Because all we do on trips is eat, the first question upon waking several hours later was “what’re we gonna do for dinner?” We wanted to explore a little downtown and find a rooftop bar somewhere. We checked out the Skylawn only to discover that there wasn’t a bar on the rooftop. Great planning on our part. We snapped a couple of good photos of the city skyline and laughed at some influencers in the wild who were clearly there to get some photos for the Gram. And then we found an actual rooftop bar a few blocks away at Buffalo Bayou Brewing. Wild brews and extraordinary apps – my kind of place.

We sat there taking in the city skyline (I used our view from Buffalo Bayou’s rooftop as the featured image on this post) for awhile before we decided to head inside to order dinner. Again, we were taken by the “everything is bigger in Texas” mantra. Thinking we’d just have a light dinner after a heavy lunch, we ordered some tikka masala tots and birria nachos, and of course, it yielded enough food to feed us for the rest of the month. The tots were probably the highlight of my entire weekend. I washed it down with a peach cobbler stout and a Mexican hot chocolate stout, and we polished the evening off with some peaches and cream empanadas. Why do I do this to myself? Why couldn’t I have learned from lunch? I was sweating. My stomach was in knots. Every bit of weight I had lost since our wedding in May had come back to me in a single day. We went back to the hotel for a gin and tonic night cap while watching the air guitar championships on The Ocho.

The next morning, it was up and at ’em. We drove around the Hermann Park area admiring the scenery. We bought tickets to check out the Houston Zoo, and left saying it was one of the best we’d ever been to. This despite the fact that I was LEAKING sweat all day. At one point, my wife said “aw, you must have sat in something.” I replied with “I haven’t sat down since we got here.” Nope – that was swampass. I was sweating through my khaki shorts. I also had to kick my flip flops off and walk around barefoot because parts of the track were wet and muddy. It was awesome. My favorite part was watching gorillas being gorillas. It never gets old.

After the zoo, we went back to the hotel for a…you guessed it…nap. I think that might’ve been why the whole trip just felt a little off. I don’t know that in my three mornings waking up in Houston, I ever caught up from what that first late night took from me. Nonetheless, at this point, it was go time. We grabbed lunch at a little spot called Liberty Taco on the way over to NRG Stadium, then parked and got in line for the Garth show. NRG Stadium was delightful – first and foremost, air conditioning. That’s it. That’s the tweet. A big stadium with a dome that holds in cool air? Sign me up. Take my entire salary in taxes if it means you can put air conditioning in the stadium, Nashville. You hear me?

Garth Brooks is a legend, man. I don’t see how he does it. I’m a reasonably healthy 36-year-old and I was exhausted just watching that man run around the stage. I think he’s probably in NRG Stadium still playing songs somewhere at this very moment. That’s the trick – he never stops. I don’t think he wanted to either – someone probably had to physically remove him from the stage. He played all the hits, covered a few classics, and sent that Houston crowd home happy.

The next morning, we were up at 5AM and on our way to return the Jeep we rented and get back to Houston-Hobby for our flight back to Nashville. I will say that I loved the smaller airport, but the only real notable thing that happened there was that we saw some old Karen take on TSA and actually kinda sorta win. This lady was way out of line – I guess she was lost….or didn’t have a boarding pass…or something. The agents were telling her to go somewhere else and she just didn’t listen. She just kept marching on towards the gates. She cuts the entire security line, tries to walk through the metal detector with a bag and everything. For some reason, NO ONE puts this lady in check. They just tell her to take off her shoes and walk back through. She was complaining and mouthing off the whole time – I couldn’t understand her. But, I was in awe of the balls she had to just literally walk by the hundred people in line and cut them right in front of their faces, and to clearly defy TSA to their faces and not be pulled into a detention room or something.

So, that was it – that was our quick weekend getaway in Houston. My impressions of the city were, by and large, good. It reminded me a lot of Atlanta – it’s a massive city…very spread out…and there wasn’t a whole lot of action going on downtown. Like, we were riding through downtown Houston at what I thought would be rush hour on a Friday evening and there was just…no one out and about. But, it probably plays a lot different if you have a tour guide or a friend who’s a local that can point you to where the real hot spots are at…like Atlanta. That’s what it felt like to us – we didn’t really see the heart of the city, and because of that, we left feeling like there was more to be seen.

But, as for NRG Stadium and the food we ate, man, that made for a hell of a weekend. I actually told my wife that that whole area is perfect for a quick weekend trip. It’s only an hour and a half flight from Nashville. You just go to where the show’s at, stay nearby, and you still get some good, unique food, and you’re not far from downtown at all if you can find a little trouble to get into down there. Maybe they’ll let us come cover a Titans-Texans game at some point. Hell, we’ll even come cover the Texas Bowl if they’ll have us! Whatever the event, that felt like a pretty good spot to hang tight for a couple of days.

Food Pics

Brisket tacos, potato salad, and coleslaw from The Pit Room.
Tikka masala tater tots (top) | Birria nachos (bottom) from Buffalo Bayou Brewing.
Peaches and cream empanada from Buffalo Bayou Brewing
Ready to take this honey chipotle short rib taco (left) and brisket taco (right) from Liberty Taco to pound town.

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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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