<p>OldCard – you’ve gotten some good advice already and I’ll add my 2 cents. You should first see the area surrounding the campus, so be sure to visit Rice Village [Rice</a> Village](<a href=“http://www.ricevillageonline.com/]Rice”>http://www.ricevillageonline.com/). My favorite restaurants in “the Village” are Prego [Prego-Houston</a> an Italian Restaurant in Houston, TX<a href=“an%20upscale%20yet%20casual%20Italian%20restaurant”>/url</a> and Benjy’s [url=<a href=“http://www.benjys.com/larger.html]BENJYS[/url”>http://www.benjys.com/larger.html]BENJYS[/url</a>] (also an upscale yet casual restaurant, but with a more eclectic menu). Ruggles Cafe is also good, as is El Meson (cuban), Shiva’s (indian) and Miss Saigon’s (vietnamese). Going a little farther afield, Chuy’s is a fun inexpensive Mexican restaurant with good food [url=<a href="http://www.chuys.com/]Chuy’s">http://www.chuys.com/]Chuy’s</a> dot com](<a href=“http://www.prego-houston.com/]Prego-Houston”>http://www.prego-houston.com/). Houston has a wealth of great, reasonably priced restaurants, so I could go on and on. If there’s something specific you’re looking for, feel free to PM me and I can offer some suggestions. </p>
<p>As to what to do while in town, after checking out the campus (especially sitting for a while and enjoying an iced tea at Brochstein Pavilion), I also recommend going to one of our fabulous museums. My two favorites are the Houston Museum of Fine Arts [The</a> Museum of Fine Arts, Houston](<a href=“http://www.mfah.org/newhome.asp?par1=1&par2=1&par3=1&par4=1&par5=1&par6=1&par7=&lgc=1&eid=¤tPage=]The”>http://www.mfah.org/newhome.asp?par1=1&par2=1&par3=1&par4=1&par5=1&par6=1&par7=&lgc=1&eid=¤tPage=) and the Museum of Natural Science [The</a> Houston Museum of Natural Science](<a href=“http://www.hmns.org/?r=1]The”>http://www.hmns.org/?r=1). If you aren’t renting a car, you can take the light rail from campus to these museums. If you want to just wander a bit, the new downtown park, Discovery Green <a href=“http://www.discoverygreen.com/[/url]”>A Decade of Discovery-Temporary Art Exhibits at Discovery Green® - Discovery Green, is pretty interesting. If you have a car, take a ride down Kirby Drive towards downtown and see some of the houses in River Oaks; drive west on Westheimer past the shops and restaurants at Highland Village to get to the uptown area and visit the Galleria. Drive to Memorial Park and see all that it has to offer and stop at the inexpensive Beck’s Prime for a burger or grilled ahi tuna sandwich set on the beautiful expanse of a golf course.</p>
<p>You could also see if the Astros are in town when you’re here – opening day is on Monday, and the ballpark is great. You can get there by light rail also. Or see what’s showing at the symphony or many theaters in town.</p>
<p>Enjoy your visit. For a city with a bum rap, Houston has a lot to offer. Hopefully you’ll get a chance to get a glimpse of that while you’re here.</p>