Houston Vacation Highlights

There were different posts for our awesome 4th of July mini vacation to Houston, but I wanted to share a wrap-up so you can see just how much you can enjoy in a few days in Houston!
Right now it’s about a 3 hour drive for us to visit Houston, so we left here on July 4th just before noon and arrived at the perfect time to check in at Hotel Sorella. It was pretty easy to find even though we didn’t know where it was before we took this trip. We also got a great parking spot in the parking garage.

We saw Studio Movie Grill was in the same parking garage, which was on our list! I guess we wouldn’t have a hard time finding it when we were ready to go there! We didn’t have time that evening, though, because we had dinner reservations at The Bistro and, of course, would be watching fireworks that evening! We had a wonderful dinner, and they were so accommodating!

We went back to our room to get ready to go out to the fireworks, but our youngest ended up totally crashing out. Luckily, though, we had an amazing view right from our room! It worked out perfectly! We didn’t have to deal with the crowds and still had a great view! I’m glad we stayed in our room.
The next morning we were ready to put our CityPASS to use! First we wanted to grab a bite to eat, though, because we missed breakfast. So we headed over to SmashBurger. It was our first time at a Smashburger, and they were so friendly and helpful! Plus the food was fantastic!

Once we had full bellies we were ready to go!
We knew we wanted to start at Space Center Houston. I hadn’t been there since before I was a teen, so I couldn’t wait to go again. Wow, has it changed! We really had a great time, and the kids LOVED the Space Angry Birds Matrix! It was REALLY crowded being a holiday weekend, so we enjoyed a few great highlights and were ready to head on to the next adventure!

Next, we went to Kemah Boardwalk which holds great memories for my husband and me. We used to go there frequently before we were married. It was such a great experience seeing it from the eyes of a family perspective. They have so many fun things for the kids to do that I didn’t even know were there! We rode a few fun rides and, of course, went on the train. Our little guy slept through the whole train ride! We used the Cool Zone for breaks to stay cool and headed out around dinner time.

We knew we had time left to visit the Downtown Aquarium as it is open fairly late. So, we went there next after grabbing dinner to go. We enjoyed looking at all the aquatic creatures as well as the white tiger and parrot. We also got to pet the stingrays, which the kids thought was really neat! We passed on the rides since we had just ridden a few rides at Kemah Boardwalk. It was a nice way to wind down.

The next day was our last day in Houston, and we had to make the 3 hour drive back home, so our time was limited. We didn’t get to do anything else on the CityPASS unfortunately. We did start with breakfast at the hotel before checking out. Then, the kids enjoyed some time running in the Plaza until our brunch reservations at Straits. We opted to sit outside and enjoy the nice day while we ate. It was so nice! Brunch was great, too!

After that it was time to head to Studio Movie Grill for Despicable Me 2. It was almost sold out already when we got there, but luckily there were 5 seats in a row left near the front. So, we snatched them up and waited to be seated. This was a new experience for all of us! We loved it! We didn’t order more than just popcorn and drinks since we just came from brunch, but it was so neat not having to wait in line to get them! The movie was great, too!

We sure felt like we did a lot in just a few days, and the kids had so much fun! They’ve been stir crazy ever since! haha Have you ever been to Houston? What are your favorite highlights?
Here is slideshow of our trip! If you are unable to see it you can also view the full photo album.