Travel Destinations

Cowboy Diaries 2013: J.W. Harris, Rodeoing Is His Vacation

True cowboys are hard to find, but not at the Houston Rodeo. Life on the road leads them here this time every year for the biggest rodeo in the world, where they'll ride and wrangle livestock for cash and glory. Each day, Hair Balls will spotlight one person with enough dirt on his boots to call him ... More >>

Holiday Light Tour with the Houston WAVE

''Foley’s Department Store: Houston's Community Partner, 1900-2005''

Ridley Pearson: Choke Point

The 2012 Houston Modern Market

Douglas Demmon: Former National Park Ranger Convicted of Child Porn

National Park Rangers are an American icon, with their Smokey-Bear hats, green uniforms and eagerness to help everyone enjoy the great outdoors. And then there are the Park Rangers like Galveston's Douglas Demmon, who has entered a guilty plea on charges of distributing child porn. Demmon, 65, is ... More >>

Discover Houston Ghost Walks

Glenbrook Valley, Our Recent Cover-Story Subject, Becomes a Historic District

​Just before 10 a.m. today, Houston City Council approved the historic district applications for Glenbrook Valley, Woodland Heights and Heights South. The mid-century modern neighborhood Glenbrook Valley, at the center of a contentious debate and the subject of the Press' June 23 cover story, ... More >>

Cover Story: Glenbrook Valley's Historic Preservation Fight

​Robert Searcy and Joe Ablaza have something in common: They each think they're doing good things for their neighborhood. And that's about it. Real estate agent Searcy and working professional Ablaza live in Glenbrook Valley, the southeast Houston subdivision that's striving to become Texas' ... More >>

Chills & Thrills Teen Book Tour

Bikes on Easements

North-south cycling trails could be a go!

East Montrose Home Tour and Art Walk

Houston Bike Paths: "Easing" Their Way To A Glorious Future?

Open spaces begging to be used​About a year-and-a-half ago, as a sidebar to an article we wrote on the perils of urban cycling here in Houston, we cast our battle-tested, road-weary eyes longingly toward the possibility of CenterPoint Energy surrendering their scores of miles of utility easeme ... More >>

Wedding Vow Renewal

Don't Kill the Messengers

How bike couriers plan to survive the internet age.

Cover Story: Keeping Up With Old Man Tim

To get this week's feature, I knew I would have to learn firsthand what it is to be a bike courier. While I have been an almost daily bike commuter for over a year, I knew that my bike was not up to the task.

10 Pumpkin Dishes to Try in Houston, #8: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin from Stone Mill Bakers

​I adore pumpkin. It's orange (my favorite color), healthful (fiber! Vitamin A!), and associated with two lovely, food-centric holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving). Starting around October, I always find myself on the hunt for pumpkin-flavored foods, and this autumn is no exception. So, betwe ... More >>

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Collections and Exhibits

I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): Back To School Edition

School's only been in session for two days, yet some teachers are already piling on the homework. This isn't a huge deal for home-schooled kids, who pretty just much have to memorize which animals God created on which day, but it can be a real pain in the neck for those in public school.The dogs in ... More >>

Human Trafficking In Houston? A Bus Tour Will Show The Signs

Know the 'red flags'​Did you know that blacked-out or barred windows and 24-hour massage parlors are "red flags" that human trafficking may be afoot? Nor did we.If you want to heighten your human trafficking awareness, all you need to do is hop on a bus with the Houston Rescue & Restore Coalit ... More >>

Top Five Appetizing Spa Treatments in Houston

Zeetz JonesNot just for eating...​These days, it seems food and drink are meant not just to be eaten but also to be massaged into our skin, soaked into our hair and rubbed into our nails. (Perhaps this is also why spas offer "menus" of services.) And forget the old cucumbers-over-your-eyelids ... More >>

Tails on the Trails

Do it doggie style

Don't Believe the Hype

Houston's Most Overrated Attractions

Raul Dominguez's Playitas

​Raul Dominguez is a good bartender. Not only did he incite fervency in the crowd at the Iron Bartender competition recently, he also knows how to charm the bar patrons at Yelapa Playa Mexicana (2303 Richmond). We can't get enough of his sweet and spicy creations, such as the oft-yearned-for ... More >>

Historic (For Houston) Immanuel Lutheran Church Is Preserved

​Sure, it's younger than Angie Dickinson, but the Immanuel Lutheran Church at 15th and Cortlandt in the Heights is still historic. (So's Angie, to Police Woman and Rat Pack fans.)"The building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a wonderful example of early 20th ce ... More >>

Campfire Christmas

Step back in time to the holidays, 1890s style

ArBOOretum 2009

Do something different, trick-or-treating through the woods

Texas Traveler: Galveston Ghosts

Photos by Brittanie SheyDash Beardsley starts the tour.​Dash Beardsley is a legend, both in his own mind, and in real life. The Robert Plant look-alike, owner and operator of Ghost Tours of Galveston, shows up for tours wearing a floor-length black duster, silver rings on every finger, and sun ... More >>

"Topiary Text Lead"

Web exclusive

Texas Traveler: Waterin' Holes

Photo by David A G WilsonHamilton Pool, Austin​School starts soon and Labor Day will eventually herald the unofficial end of summer. But as Houstonians know, the sweaty season lasts well into fall around here. There's still time to dip your toe in a stream or two, so Texas Traveler presents to ... More >>

A Chat with Trey Lindberg of Benjy's

Photo by Sarah RufkaIf you want to chat up Benjy's barkeep Trey Lindberg -- and why wouldn't you? He's cute and makes a seriously decent mojito -- then bring up football. Trey, a former high school player, Texans season ticket holder and aspiring coach, is obsessed. He's on a flag league out in Katy ... More >>

Where Are We Eating?

It's proven to be easy to guess a restaurant by its dining room. But is it as easy to guess the dining destination by its menu? Seen here, the food offered at this place may make the type of establishment easy to peg, but the name might be more difficult to pin down. Can you guess where we're e ... More >>

The Strand's Historic Buildings Get A Boost

Photo courtesy Galveston Historical FoundationThe Strand, downtown Galveston's most historic district, is getting a little help today in its efforts to preserve itself.The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named "The Cast-Iron Architecture of Galveston" as one of its 11 Most Endangered Hi ... More >>

Upside Down, Inside Out

Web exclusive!

Houston: Come for the Renovations, Stay for the Electric Cabs

While trolling the nether regions of the UK press, we came upon this, touting the wonders of Houston as a luxury vacation spot. It's all enough to make Hair Balls wish it didn't live here already so it could start making travel plans now!We cannot help but imagine how impressed our luxury-seeking Li ... More >>

Buffalo Bayou Canoe Trip

Web exclusive!

“Yuletide at the Bayou Bend”

The Birdpeople

Young Americans Comedy Tour

From girlfriends to groupies, this is sausage fest humor

Border Fence May Destroy Wildlife Habitat

U.S. Fish and Wildlife services spent $80 million to reclaim wildlife habitat in South Texas. Now Homeland Security is ready to wipe that out.

Dark Water

A reporter, a photographer and canoeist Tom Helm paddle from the Galleria to Galveston Bay by canoe and kayak, finding beauty, danger and urban debris in equal measure

Finding Wonderland

The Concretes

The Concretes (Astralwerks)

Best Dog Trainer

Best Car Wash

Best Day Spa

Trellis at the Houstonian

Best Place to Water-Ski

Lake McQueeney

What A Girl Wants, What A Girl Needs

Women's gifts

Best Neighborhood Spot Outside the Loop

Barcelona

Shermann Bilks's Top 10 Signs of Blight Slippage