It’s kind of hard to explore all the cool things Houston has to offer these days. Hard, but not impossible. Enter this fresh take on our “Actually Cool” lineup, which zips through seasonal activities and al fresco opportunities you can partake in from a safe social distance (because Houston’s never really that cold), virtual and at-home experiences (brunch from bed, anyone?), and other fun things that will at the very least keep you distracted while we all get through this:
$-$$$ Montrose Fireside s’mores, Irish coffees, and plates from spiced frites to chicken liver mousse are all a part of the après ski-style experience at patio pop-up The Chalet at Rosie Cannonball. So is the Donna Meagle Special, which takes a bottle o’ Krug and pairs it with a dozen beautiful oysters. The space operates on a walk-in basis (but they will accept socially distanced large party reservations of up to 12 people or full buyouts of the space).
$ Downtown … or your lack of ice skating skills. Either way, The Ice at Discovery Green is back for another season now through the end of January. This year, you’ll need to secure a specified time slot in advance of hitting the rink. Check out Friday DJ nights, Cheap Skate Mondays, and Skating with Santa.
Cheers the holidays at a pop-up cocktail bar
$-$$$ Heights & Downtown The halls are decked at two holiday-inspired pop-up cocktail bars this year. In the Heights, Miracle at Johnny’s has taken over Johnny’s Gold Brick with kitschy decor and serious cocktails (reserve a time slot online). And the Jingled Up experience will be open in Downtown through the end of December in old BirdDog Saint (buy tickets online).
King’s BierHaus
King’s BierHaus
Get back into the patio groove
$-$$ Houston Seems like it’s at least kind of okay to be socializing outdoors now, with proper distancing of course. So there’s no time like the present to remember why we all love living in Houston so much: its plethora of patios (most of which are now heated). Some of our current favorites include spunky Mexican-American haunt Monkey’s Tail, super chill craft beer garden Axelrad, even chiller old school spot West Alabama Ice House, Truck Yard, a bonafide adult playground that rocks a ferris wheel you may be able to ride again one sweet day, and King’s BierHaus, which is has that glühwein we speak of.
Snag hyper seasonal produce at a local farmers market
$-$$ Houston Urban Harvest’s legendary Saturday farmers market is a really, really good place to start, but so is urban farm Finca Tres Robles, where you can drive through and get a “plow” produce basket, pastured eggs, ground sausage and beef, raw honey, and pint of ice cream (we’re sure you can Chopped yourself a dinner out of that, right?). Or the Hope Farms market, which runs on Saturday mornings and has goods from rainbow beets and seasonal squash to locally made fresh egg pasta (it’s operating as a drive-thru and has an order ahead option, too).
Have no shame in your Holiday beer game
$-$$ Houston Since we all have some extra time on our hands these days, it’s the perfect opportunity to track seasonal releases and hunt down some local favorites, including Saint Arnold Christmas Ale, Eureka Heights Holly Jolly Jorts, Buff Brew’s Gingerbread Stout, and Karbach’s Yule Shoot Your Eye Out.
Free Memorial Park Memorial Park’s freshest green space is ready and waiting for you. Located in the southeast pocket, the Clay Family Eastern Glades has reclaimed 100 acres of previously inaccessible parkland. Now, you’ll find serene trails, wetlands with sunset views, native tree-lined nooks and crannies, and a grassy central lawn that makes a choice spot for naps and picnics.
Free Montrose This local jewel reopened to the public in the fall, with reservations open for free timed entry. Hit the art museum for one of the best collections in town, complete with new exhibitions and Insta-worthy standbys like the Dan Flavin Installation and the spiritual Rothko Chapel (because we can all use a little zen right now); and if you’re hanging out in its greenspace, be sure to park yourself at least 6 feet away from others. Though it’s free, donations are welcomed, too.
Free-$ Shady Acres Every Wednesday, King’s BierHaus offers guests a complimentary glass of its famous wintry drink, glühwein, a blend of red wine, brandy, cinnamon, and cloves served hot. Try that, or go for other boozy seasonals like spiced hot chocolate, Berlin eggnog, and we are actually in Houston and not Vienna, the pomegranate citrus margarita.
Reserve a seat for an intimate cocktail experience
$$-$$$ Montrose High-class cocktailery Tongue-Cut Sparrow can’t currently operate out of its tiny space Downtown, so it moved shop and reimagined the formal drinking experience in the old Penny Quarter space off Westheimer. Reservations are live on Resy, and walk-ins are welcome if space is open. Also just opened is MARCH, the fine dining concept from Goodnight Hospitality, which was supposed to open just as the pandemic hit. Though the restaurant portion isn’t open quite just yet, its lounge is here for an epic tasting of drinks, snacks, and sweets for a $48 ticket reservation (available via Resy).
$$-$$$ Greenway (& pop-up locations) Pork ribs by the rack. Five-pound briskets. Smoked, pulled chicken. Links on links of sausage. It’s all chilled, vacuum sealed, ready-to-heat, and available for preorder from one of Houston’s finest BBQ joints (and there are quarts of braised collards, sweet potato-banana mash, and loaded potato salad, too). For the time being, Feges BBQ will be dishing out the bulk BBQ at its Greenway Plaza location on weekdays (in addition to its limited lunch menu) and at its weekend pop-ups at the Urban Harvest Farmers Market on Saturdays and Heights Mercantile Farmers Market on the second and fourth Sundays.
$$ EaDo Ending its run at the Sawyer Yards pop-up drive-in, Rooftop Cinema Club is now taking its retro movie experience over to EaDo, set in the former Space City Shows space. Look out for hits from the Home Alone and Love Actually to Spider-Man: Far from Home. Cost is $28-$35 per vehicle, regardless of occupancy, and you can tack on concessions, food, and beverages from Rooftop Cinema Club or local food trucks The Burger Joint and El Patio.
evrymmnt/Shutterstock
evrymmnt/Shutterstock
Nama-stay away from others with a sunrise yoga sesh
Free Buffalo Bayou Park Imagine this: It’s early morning, before the sun and your fellow Houstonians rise. You wipe off your wine mouth from last night’s driveway happy hour and get your bottom over to Buffalo Bayou Park, where you can set your yoga mat down for a responsible, socially distant yoga sesh under the Houston skyline. If you need guidance, several Houston workout studios have online workout classes available for streaming, including Black Swan Yoga, DEFINE Body & Mind, and BIG Power Yoga.
$-$$$ At-home One of the reasons Houston is so cool is its culinary community, and the open, collaborative nature of our local chefs is a huge part of that. While we’re all doing our best to stay home, a bunch of top chefs are sharing recipes that will take you on a culinary tour of Houston from your kitchen. Visit Houston has curated a fantastic list, providing the instructions to make a pretty rockstar dinner out of dishes like chef Hugo Ortega’s flautas de pollo, Coltivare chef Ryan Pera’s Gulf snapper, and Fluff Bake Bar sugar fair and pastry chef Rebecca Masson’s strawberry pie. Need more inspiration? Brisket U‘s got virtual classes that’ll get your pitmaster game goin; Underbelly Hospitality has been putting out a series of fun virtual events; and you can also work your way through mastermind and ace chef Chris Shepherd’s cookbook, Cook Like A Local (which was nominated for a James Beard Award earlier this year, NBD).
Pull off a brewery Triple Crown, by taking out or dining in
$-$$$ Houston The current state of affairs may have canceled your usual weekend plans, but it hasn’t canceled your right to great beer. Some of Houston’s greatest local suds spots are making it easy to visit safely or snag their brews to-go. Pop by Eureka Heights, 8th Wonder, Ingenious Brewing Company, No Label, Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company, and Saint Arnold. Before you head anywhere, your best bet is to check social media for the latest updates on how you can procure the suds.
Jonnu Singleton/SWA Group
Jonnu Singleton/SWA Group
Take a hike
Free Houston Some say Houston’s not the prettiest city, and to that we say, “Ok, you’re probably right.” But we DO have some pretty picturesque hikes and running trails. Lace up and break a sweat on one of the most beautiful runs in Houston, including but not limited to the winding hike and bike trails of Buffalo Bayou Park, the even more discreet Buffalo Bend Nature Park, and the 1,700-acre George Mitchell Nature Preserve. If you don’t mind venturing a bit further out, you’ll also want to check out these amazing hikes near Houston.
Go on a DIY takeout taco crawl
$-$$ Houston Have some extra time on your hands these days? Spend it wisely by embarking on a takeout taco crawl. Start with chorizo y huevo-loaded breakfast tacos one day, then move onto chicharron, al pastor, and carne asada kissed numbers via the most important tacos in Houston. By the end, you’ll finally be able to proclaim your H-town taco allegiances.
$$-$$$ Houston Second only to inviting yourself over to the home of literally anyone you know with a pool, a Houstonian’s favorite leisurely weekend activity is brunch. While you shouldn’t exactly be brunching with your usual crew of 10+ of your rowdiest friends, you can still do brunch justice by dining in with a smaller crowd or ordering it to-go. Don’t know where to start? We got you covered with a lineup of all things boozy and benny, available for pickup, delivery, and responsible dine-in.
Explore Chinatown’s to-go and dine-in options
$$ Chinatown The entire restaurant industry is hurting right now, including Houston’s Chinatown which started seeing steep declines in business super early on in the crisis. Now’s a great time to continue showing your support to the community by dining in or calling in to-go orders at your go-to dumpling spot, noodle purveyor, vegetarian joint, ramen bar, crawfish stop, and pho shop.
Free Montrose True story: when the Waugh Bridge was built, no one realized it was the perfect structure to host a whole bunch of Mexican free-tailed bats. Well, apparently it was, because locals started noticing a bat colony around ‘99. Before Hurricane Harvey, the bridge hosted about 300,000 of the little guys, and though some didn’t make it through the devastating storm, the colony remains. Today, you’ll find the bats hanging tight until they spiral out from the bridge’s crevices on warm nights around sunset. Head to the viewing platform and you may just catch a bat show, which never fails to both fascinate and creep the hell out of anyone you bring along.
Julie Soefer Photography
Julie Soefer Photography
Pretend you’re out in wine country
$-$$$ Houston It might not be Napa, or even Fredericksburg, but Houston’s got some solid options for the wine-obsessed. You won’t miss the inhouse sipping when you order curbside and delivery from spots like Montrose Cheese & Wine (which also offers fine cheeses and charcuteries that make for the perfect picnic opportunity, too) and Light Years Natural Wine Shop and Bar in Montrose, and micro-winery Houston Winery and the stellar Mutiny Wine Room over in the Heights.
$ Houston One of the best ways to get to know a city is by biking it, and if you don’t have a bike of your own, you can hit up one of B-cycle’s 80+ (and counting) stations to rent a bike. It’ll run you $3 per 30 minutes, or you can go full-on Tour de Houston and sign up for the $13 monthly membership, which will unlock unlimited 60-minute trips for the entire month (or more like the entire weekend for your visitors). All in-use bike stations have posted signs reminding riders to wash hands before and after riding and wear gloves if they can, and strict disinfecting and sanitizing protocols are in place.
Go big on seafood
$$$ Houston One of the reasons Houston totally rocks is its proximity to the Gulf Coast, which in turn means we have some pretty badass local seafood. Over at Brennan’s of Houston, the Gulf Fish Pontchartrain comes with a blanket of crispy Louisiana oysters, jumbo lump crab, shrimp, and Creole butter; and the Texas shrimp & grits are pretty much legendary. 1751 Sea and Bar serves its goods raw, smoked, preserved, cured, wood-grilled, and covered in butter; Caracol is where you want to go for coastal Mexican and char-grilled oysters; and local darling Goode Company Seafood has Gulf oysters, campechana, seafood gumbo and po-boys, and grilled red snapper, all available for dine-in or carryout.
Free Downtown Stretching from Shepherd to Sabine between Allen Parkway and Memorial, Buffalo Bayou Park is the Crown Jewel of Houston’s greenspaces. Take a walk along the winding hike and bike paths and you’ll find grassy plateaus framed by trees, bike, and kayak rentals, a giant dog park and skate park (that are currently closed, but you can still walk by ‘em), picnic spots and pavilions, and plenty of cool art installations — from the Dandelion fountain to the six 4-foot-tall “Monumental Moments” sculptures along the Kinder Footpath. Just be sure to respect the 6-feet-away rule.
Arts District Houston
Arts District Houston
Go mural hopping
Free Houston You can kill at least a couple of hours Insta-storying yourself in front of some of the city’s coolest local art attractions. Stops include but are not limited to Market Square’s “Houston is…” mural, the Biscuit Paint Wall on Westheimer, the We <3 Houston Sign, the 10-foot tall Midtown letters in Bagby Park, the “Greetings from Houston” wall on White Oak, Synchronicity of Color in Discovery Green, Downtown’s Art Blocks, and all the cool stuff over in the Arts District Houston.
See why we win James Beard awards
$$-$$$ Houston Our JBA-winning chefs and restaurants continue to prove their worth even in the current dining climate. Over at his game-changing new American bistro, Theodore Rex, Justin Yu has reopened the dining room at limited capacity and continued the popular to-go service; and his partnership in neighborhood spot Squable might have something to do with the reason it’s one of the best restaurants in town at this very moment. Chef Hugo Ortega has reopened all three of his popular Mexican stunners, Hugo’s, Caracol, and Xochi. Chef Chris Shepherd’s upscale, diverse riff on classic comfort foods are showcased through Underbelly Hospitality’s various offerings. Irma Galvan’s namesake spot fresh, homestyle Mexican haunt Irma’s continues to be an American classic; and Robert Del Grande, who won in 1992, continues to impress with dine-in and takeout at The Annie Cafe and Bar.Sign up here for our daily Houston email and be the first to get all the food/drink/fun in town.
Brooke Viggiano is a Houston-based writer who is stoked to get actually outside this fall since she’s been A/C hopping since spring. Follow her al fresco voyage on IG @brookiefafa or on Twitter @BrookeViggiano.
The urge to get as far away as possible from the incessant noise and pressures of ‘big city life’ has witnessed increasingly more of us turn to off-grid adventures for our holidays: Booking.com polled travellers at the start of 2023 and 55% of us wanted to spend our holidays ‘off-grid’. Achieving total disconnection from the unyielding demands of our digitised lives via some kind of off-grid nature time—soft or adventurous—is positioned not only as a holiday but, indeed, a necessity for our mental health.
Tom’s Creek Nature Domes, an accommodation collection of geodesic domes dotted across a lush rural property in Greater Port Macquarie (a few hours’ drive from Sydney, NSW), offers a travel experience that is truly ‘off-grid’. In the figurative ‘wellness travel’ sense of the word, and literally, they run on their own independent power supply—bolstered by solar—and rely not on the town grid.
Ten minutes before you arrive at the gates for a stay at Tom’s Creek Nature Domes, your phone goes into ‘SOS ONLY’. Apple Maps gives up, and you’re pushed out of your comfort zone, driving down unsealed roads in the dark, dodging dozens of dozing cows. Then, you must ditch your car altogether and hoist yourself into an open-air, all-terrain 4WD with gargantuan wheels. It’s great fun being driven through muddy gullies in this buggy; you feel like Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park. As your buggy pulls in front of your personal Nature Dome, it’s not far off that “Welcome…to Jurassic Park” jaw-dropping moment—your futuristic-looking home is completely engulfed by thriving native bushland; beyond the outdoor campfire lie expansive hills and valleys of green farmland, dotted with sheep and trees. You’re almost waiting to see a roaming brachiosaurus glide past, munching on a towering gum tree…instead, a few inquisitive llamas trot past your Dome to check out their new visitor.
To fully capture the awe of inhabiting a geodesic dome for a few days, a little history of these futuristic-looking spherical structures helps. Consisting of interlocking triangular skeletal struts supported by (often transparent) light walls, geodesic domes were developed in the 20th century by American engineer and architect R. Buckminster Fuller, and were used for arenas. Smaller incarnations have evolved into a ‘future-proof’ form of modern housing: domes are able to withstand harsh elements due to the stability provided by the durable materials of their construction and their large surface area to volume ratio (which helps minimize wind impact and prevents the structure from collapsing). As housing, they’re also hugely energy efficient – their curved shape helps to conserve heat and reduce energy costs, making them less susceptible to temperature changes outside. The ample light let in by their panels further reduces the need for artificial power.
Due to their low environmental impact, they’re an ideal sustainable travel choice. Of course, Tom’s Creek Nature Domes’ owner-operators, Cardia and Lee Forsyth, know all this, which is why they have set up their one-of-a-kind Nature Domes experience for the modern traveller. It’s also no surprise to learn that owner Lee is an electrical engineer—experienced in renewable energy—and that he designed the whole set-up. As well as the off-grid power supply, rainwater tanks are used, and the outdoor hot tub is heated by a wood fire—your campfire heats up your tub water via a large metal coil. Like most places in regional Australia, the nights get cold – but rather than blast a heater, the Domes provide you with hot water bottles, warm blankets, lush robes and heavy curtains to ward off the chill.
Photo: Nature Domes
You’ll need to be self-sufficient during your stay at the Domes, bringing your own food. Support local businesses and stock up in the town of Wauchope on your drive-in (and grab some pastries and coffee at Baked Culture while you’re at it). There’s a stovetop, fridge (stocked as per a mini bar), BBQs, lanterns and mozzie coils, and you can even order DIY S’More packs for fireside fun. The interiors of the Domes have a cosy, stylish fit-out, with a modern bathroom (and a proper flushing toilet—none of that drop bush toilet stuff). As there’s no mobile reception, pack a good book or make the most of treasures that lie waiting to be discovered at every turn: a bed chest full of board games, a cupboard crammed with retro DVDs, a stargazing telescope (the skies are ablaze come night time). Many of these activities are ideal for couples, but there’s plenty on offer for solo travellers, such as yoga mats, locally-made face masks and bath bombs for hot tub soaks.
It’s these thoughtful human touches that reinforce the benefit of making a responsible travel choice by booking local and giving your money to a tourism operator in the Greater Port Macquarie Region, such as Tom’s Creek Nature Domes. The owners are still working on the property following the setbacks of COVID-19, and flooding in the region —a new series of Domes designed with families and groups in mind is under construction, along with an open-air, barn-style dining hall and garden stage. Once ready, the venue will be ideal for wedding celebrations, with wedding parties able to book out the property. They’ve already got one couple—who honeymooned at the Domes—ready and waiting. Just need to train up the llamas for ring-bearer duties!
An abundance of favourite moments come to mind from my two-night stay at Tom’s Creek: sipping champagne and gourmet picnicking at the top of a hill on a giant swing under a tree, with a bird’s eye view of the entire property (the ‘Mountain Top picnic’ is a must-do activity add on during your stay), lying on a deckchair at night wrapped in a blanket gazing up at starry constellations and eating hot melted marshmallows, to revelling in the joys of travellers before me, scrawled on notes in a jar of wishes left by the telescope (you’re encouraged to write your own to add to the jar). But I’ll leave you with a gratitude journal entry I made while staying there. I will preface this by saying that I don’t actually keep a gratitude journal, but Tom’s Creek Nature Domes is just the kind of place that makes you want to start one. And so, waking up on my second morning at Tom’s —lacking any 4G bars to facilitate my bad habit of a morning Instagram scroll—I finally opened up a notebook and made my first journal entry:
‘I am grateful to wake up after a deep sleep and breathe in the biggest breaths of this clean air, purified by nature and scented with eucalyptus and rain. I am grateful for this steaming hot coffee brewed on a fire. I feel accomplished at having made myself. I am grateful for the skittish sheep that made me laugh as I enjoyed a long nature walk at dawn and the animated billy goats and friendly llamas overlooking my shoulder as I write this: agreeable company for any solo traveller. I’m grateful for total peace, absolute stillness.”
Off-grid holiday status: unlocked.
Where: Tom’s Creek Nature Domes, Port Macquarie, 2001 Toms Creek Rd Price: $450 per night, book at the Natura Domes website.
