Enjoy Houston on a family travel budget

• By CYNTHIA V. CAMPBELL
• Travel editor
• Published: Apr 27, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Houston has a new global tourism marketing campaign featuring anecdotes from local celebrities, peeling away Houston’s layers and offering visitors insight into the city. The “My Houston” ads seen in magazines and on television feature numerous personalities, including Beyonce, Yao Ming, Dr. Denton Cooley, A.J. Foyt, Carl Lewis, George Foreman and President George and Barbara Bush. The ads are appealing, but Houston speaks for itself in many ways. This summer, with high gas prices, the city offers plenty to do for just about anyone.

Sports fans will love attending games at Minute Maid Park where they can watch the Houston Astros, 2005 National League Champions, defend their turf against rival teams. The ball park itself is a major destination for fans. For all its modern technology, including a retractable roof, the park has the atmosphere of the great parks of baseball’s golden age. The Astros Web site, http://www.astros.com, is a great source of information. Go to the site for a printable schedule, tickets, info on parties, and behind-the-scenes tours. Click on “Ballpark from A-Z” for just about anything you want to know.

Downtown Houston is undergoing major revitalization, including the development of Discovery Green Park. It will replace 12 acres of surface parking lots and, when finished, will include two restaurants, a pond and jogging trails. And this summer, Houston will become the 11th city in North America to offer a CityPass.

Houston’s traffic is famous and can outdo Los Angeles or Rome when it comes to snags and tangles. However, it’s actually easy to spend a weekend of fun in Houston without a car. Houston’s MetroRail is a 7.5-mile light rail system that runs along Main Street from downtown through Midcity, the Museum District and the Texas Medical Center and ends at Reliant Park. The 17-block Theater District is just blocks from the rail. Use the rail to travel from your hotel to Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Menil Collection and Rothko Chapel, the Japanese Garden, Houston Zoo, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Cockrell Butterfly Center and more.

The MetroRail’s base fare is $1 per ride. Area residents can obtain a Q card (with various options and rates for extended day use.)
For bargain discounts to museums and attractions, pick up a CityPass. It costs $34 for adults and $24 for ages 4-11. It includes tickets to the Museum of Natural Science, the Space Center on the grounds of NASA, Downtown Aquarium and the Zoo. The booklet comes with several options: admission to either the Health Museum or the George Ranch Historical Park and a visit to either the museum of Fine Arts or the Children’s Museum of Houston. You can buy a Houston CityPass from http://www.citypass or at any of the participating attractions.

Shoppers are well-aware of the numerous sites, from the Galleria to neighborhood centers, such as Rice Village and culture vultures seldom find a dull weekend when it comes to concerts, plays, art exhibits and more.

When visiting the city, stop by the Greater Houston Visitor Center at City Hall, 901 Bagby St. Contact (800) 446-8786 or http://www.visithoustontexas.com.

Lucy exhibit extended
The Houston Museum of Natural Science has extended the special exhibition, Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia, through Sept. 1. According to museum president Joel A. Bartsch, the exhibit is one of the most popular shown in the museum’s history.

The exhibit displays the original fossilized remains of the 3.2 million-year-old hominid known as Lucy. With 40 percent of her skeleton intact, Lucy remains the oldest most complete adult human ancestor fully retrieved from African soil. In addition, the exhibition explores other important paleoanthropological discoveries as well as Ethiopia’s rich, recorded human history.

Tickets for exhibit are $22, adults; $15, children ages 3-22, seniors, 62 and older and college students with valid ID. For more info and tickets, call (713) 639-4629.

Fredericksburg fun
Fredericksburg, Texas, and the surrounding Hill Country is a cool place to visit through late April, May and early June. Start a trip by driving the Wildflower Trail through the towns of Burnet, Goldwaite, Johnson City, Mason, San Saba and Fredericksburg. The towns offer everything from rodeos and country dances to golf tournaments, wine tastings and festivals.

The weekend of Friday-Saturday, May 23-24, plan to attend the Fredericksburg Crawfish Festival. The event started because a few Jaycee members liked crawfish, and now it’s a New Orleans-style celebration. This year will be the first Saturday Gumbo Cook-off.

A family-friendly event, the festival includes a kids area where youngsters can climb, jump and slide all day. Performers will include Rick Trevenio, T-Broussard and the Zydeco Steppers, the Zydeco Angels, Ponty Bone, Zydeco Blanco and Fred Charlie and the Acadiana Cajuns.