Sunday, April 11, 2010

The List: 100 things I MUST do before leaving Texas

In the five years I have lived in Texas, what have I done?

Little to nothing.

I think the problem is living in a big town. Houston has so much to do that I rarely venture outside of town! And still, I have not taken advantage of the many things Houston has to offer.

In August 2010, I will be leaving Texas for the much-less-fun Indiana. From now (April 2010) until then, I have 100 things that must be done before leaving. They range from very local (Meet the Rayford Walker) to very distant (Slide down the sandhills of Odessa).

And without further ado, here they are:

1. Change Hanna Rd to Hannah Rd. The asymmetry of this road bothers me.
2. Go to Galveston
3. Go to Montgomery County Fair.
4. Taste the best ice cream in the world at the Bluebell creamery in Brenham.
5. Dance in fields of Bluebonnets.
6. Alamo!
7. Paris, TX: Go and visit their extremely legit eiffel tower.
8. Road trip to other international city wannabees. (i.e. Atlanta, New York, Pittsburgh, Rome)
9. Take a tour of the Houston Ship Channel.
10. Visit giant Sam Houston on the way up to Huntsville.
11. (Added by Carrie Vaughan) Snuggle with Carrie under the stars.
12. Eat crawfish at a Crawfish Festival
13. Visit Huntsville Prison and "Old Sparky"
14. Ice Skate at the Galleria
15. Go to an Astro's game.
16. Learn to two-step, line dance, and square dance.
17. Watch a space shuttle launch (or at least visit NASA)
18. Look at an actual Longhorn
19. Go to Mexico.
20. Meet a real cowboy.
21. Ride a horse.
22. Go to that grain store on Robinson road that I always pass on the way home.
23. Stand on the border of Texas and Arkansas.
24. Slide down the sandhills of Odessa.
25. Eat at the original Whataburger.
26. Sing "Home, home on the Range" wherever the range is.
27. Visit the Chi headquarters of the world right off the Hardy Toll Road.
28. See George H.W. Bush's house somewhere in River Oaks.
29. Experience Moody Gardens.
30. Fish at Lake Conroe
31. Stare down a real buffalo
32. Ride the carousel at the mall.
33. Try Hyde's Cafe in Old Town Spring
34. Try Wynchee Bros. cheesecake with Carrie. (Also added by Carrie :))
35. Drink the ORIGINAL Dr. Pepper in Dublin, TX
36. Climb the biggest tree in Texas.
37. Shop at the Riverwalk
38. Bet on a horse at the Sam Houston Racetrack while wearing a floppy hat.
39. Go to the biggest church in America- Lakewood Church.
40. Visit that Mosque on 1960.
41. Buccees! Visit it.
42. Wander through the Forbidden Gardens in Katy.
43. See "Mount Rush Hour" near downtown Houston
44. Watch a movie in the Drive-in theater in Tomball.
45. Visit the San Jacinto memorial.
46. Go to the Norwegian Seaman's Church
47. Learn to make authentic, Texan guacamole.
48. Write a letter to Chuck Norris!
49. Shop at Trader's Village.
50. Meet the Rayford Walker.
51. Get a GIANT belt buckle.
52. Learn to make really really good Sweet Tea.
53. Purchase an authentic taco from a taco truck.
54. High Five Mattress Mac from Gallery Furniture.
55. Schlitterbahn!
56. Swim at the natatorium.
57. Fredricksburg- go there.
58. Traipse about in a cowboy hat.
59. Ride my bike through a little bit of the 80+miles of trails in the Woodlands.
60. Swim in the infinity pool at Avia on Market Street.
61. Jump into the Frio River from the top of a tree.
62. Meet the Senator that lives in the Woodlands (Kevin Brady?) and ask him scintillating Q's.
63. Eat a quesadilla at Lupe Tortilla and be hostess-ed by Alejandra Colin and Megan Lara.
64. Be lost in Houston at least once.
65. Learn how to "rope" something.
66. Do the Blazin' Challenge at B-Dubs.
67. Visit Cut-n-Shoot and see what the deal is.
68. Hike the random woods of Robinson Road.
69. Throw a genuine Texas barbeque.
70. Got to a Cowboy Church
71. Get a Texas lotto ticket.
72. Visit the Beer Can House.
73. Visit the Funeral Museum.
74. Go to a Tea Party rally thing.
75. Ride a mechanical Bull.
76. Go to the San Marcus outlet mall.
77. Eat Steak on a stick.
78. Visit some sort of rotating restaurant- Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, whatever.
79. Go to some sort of Texan's game.
80. Go to the cowgirl museum in Dallas.
81. Get a shirt from the Gruene Dancing hall.
82. Tyler Sporting Goods: "Keep Austin Weird" Get this shirt.
83. Tube down the Guadalupe.
84. Ride the Texas Freefall.
85. Have a Western Movie day with John Wayne.
86. Meet (or glance from afar) the governor of Texas.
87. Eat genuine Tex-Mex.
88. Make a CD or playlist of legit Texas country music.
89. Meet some genuine Native Americans in their reservation.
90. Research the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and visit the site of filming/actual thing.
91. Visit Stonehenge 2.
92. Marvel at this giant armadillo on Kirby.
93. Meet five people named Jose'
94. Be greeted with a "Howdy" at Texas A&M.
95. Experience the James Avery jewelry factory.
96. Go to the "Orange Show" in Houston.
97. Meet the Flower Man.
98. Browse the Variety Fair 5 & 10
99. Buy a genuine pair of cowboy boots.

100. See a genuine oil drilling well.

1 comment:

  1. I saw your post about the Paris,TX Eiffel Tower and Rayford Walker on your bucket list from last year. Are you talking about the Rayford Walker that grew up in Paris?

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