What to Do in Houston? A Week of Not-So-Well-Known Activities

Sometimes, it's hard to figure out what to do in the city. Between school and homework and jobs and sleep, sometimes it's hard to find time to figure out what to do in the city. Worry not! Here's a list of seven free/cheap ways to pass the hours.

1. Enjoy a cup of coffee. While Starbucks is the obvious choice for your caffeine fix, why not try something a little more under-the-radar? My favourites include Antidote (a great place in the Heights conveniently situated next to a used bookstore...), Inversion, Salento, and Brasil. There are many more, of course, and I'll surely be posting something about them in the future.

2.Go to the Contemporary Arts Museum. Free every day, this corrugated-tin building is an awesome place to spend time. Right now, as I've mentioned, they're hosting a series of short films. Not only can you spend hours watching these, the gift shop (aaaah, I'm such a consumer) is fantastic. I've found many-a quirky birthday present there (think miniature cardboard art cars and various other hilarious, artsy objects).

3. Explore your neighborhood's used bookstores. Admittedly, it can be tiring (and painful) to find a good book and immediately fork over the contents of your wallet in exchange. I like Half Price Books (there are eight of these in Houston, so there's sure to be one near you) and Kaboom (there are two of these-- one at 3116 Houston Avenue, the other at 733 Studewood St). There's also Brazos Bookstore (though I've yet to check that out) and Lloyd's Bookshop (I have yet to find that on a map, but it's in generally the same area).

4. Go to open mic night at Taft St. Coffee. Hosted every Tuesday at 8 pm, this occasion is great for sharing your work (spoken word poetry, music, and the like), or merely sitting back with a cup of tea or coffee and listening to others.

5. Explore the wonders of the MetroRail. It's just $1.25 for a ticket, and the train goes up and down Main St. It gets you downtown, to the art museums and Hermann Park, and everywhere in between. Especially those wonderfully sketchy 24-hour flower shops.

6. Visit your family-friendly downtown park-- Discovery Green! It's a relatively new park, and fills an important niche in the community. Whether you want to sail remote-control boats, grab a hamburger (or sweet potato fries...yum...) or go to Saturday morning yoga sessions, this is definitely a place to check out.

7. Go to the Orange Show! This isn't free...it is, however, only a dollar (still student budget-friendly, I believe) It was built by Jefferson Davis McKissack, who must have been quite a strange guy. Careful-- it has some strange hours.

Have fun! Comment if you have any more ideas. I'll most likely have future posts like this.

Also! My picture of the day comes from a trip I took on the MetroRail.

Sara