For those of you that have never been to Houston, it is one hell of a spread out city. The car definitely rules in Houston. Houston is also home to most of the major oil companies as well; so the automobile is king here (and traffic is bad too!).
When I am in Houston, I stay at (or close to) the Galleria. The Galleria Shopping Center is one of the largest malls in the country. You can find just about anything here. There is also a cool ice skating rink in the middle of the food court; so there is plenty to watch as you eat. The Galleria area is one of the Houston business districts; so there are a ton of hotels next to the mall (and some in the mall as well). I prefer staying in this area because you can get everything you want within a few blocks of the mall.
If you are looking for gyms, I have found 2 great options in Houston. There is a very nice (and new) 24-Hour Fitness on Richmond Ave (just a few blocks from the mall) that just opened recently. The facility is very nice and one of the best gyms I have found in the Galleria area. If you are willing to drive, there is a heavily-gay gym located across in the Montrose/Midtown area. This 24-Hour Fitness Super-Sport is not only very nice....but filled with gay-boy eye candy during the 5pm-7pm prime time hour.
If you are wanting to go out in the city, most of the gay bars are located in and around the Montrose section of Houston. There is also a very nice bathhouse (Club Houston) located between Montrose and downtown. The bathhouse has a nice relaxing outdoor clothing-optional pool that helps you escape from the south Texas summer heat. Although I did not make it to Club Houston this trip, I was able to visit the club a while back with a few friends that were also visiting the city. It was a relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Also, as a bonus, it has a pretty nice gym as well.
Houston is also close to the Johnson Space Center. The space shuttle control center for orbiting spacecraft is located in Houston. That is where the picture above comes in. This is a piece of art in the middle of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (the main airport in Houston). It is a statue of a cow in astronaut gear with the words "Houston, we have landed" at the base of the statue. It is one of the first things you see when you land in Houston....and I thought it was pretty cool.
