HISTORY • HOUSTON REGION
LOCATION
FEES
Adults: $10 • Children 6-17: $5 • Children 5 and under free
Walk in the footsteps of early Texas pioneers at the site where Stephen F. Austin established the headquarters for his Texas colony. While the original colony was burned by its residents during the Runaway Scrape of 1836, the rebuilt site gives modern visitors a chance to explore the political, social and economic center of American immigration to Texas.
Selfie Instructions
Snap a selfie in the Villa de Austin historic townsite exhibit.
PARKS • HOUSTON REGION
Let’s go for a walk! Meandering the breadth of the Sam Houston National Forest, this 129-mile National Recreation Trail is the longest continuous hiking trail in Texas. Find trailhead parking areas at main access points. Also, sections of the trail cross private property, so show good trail manners.
Selfie Instructions
Snap a selfie next to any Lone Star Hiking Trail sign.
SPLASH • HOUSTON REGION
Located in Houston’s Uptown shopping district, the Gerald D. Hines Waterwall is an iconic, 64-foot-high semi-circular water wall of black obsidian aggregate, where 11,000 gallons of water cascade down. Stand in the waterwall’s mist and be enveloped by the sounds of cascading water, or picnic in the adjacent 2.77-acre park, surrounded by 186 live oak trees.
Selfie Instructions
Snap a selfie with the waterwall in the background. Hope your cellphone is waterproof!
WILD • HOUSTON REGION
Designated a nationally important bird area by the American Bird Conservancy, Baytown Nature Center is listed as a stop on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, hosts monthly Audubon bird surveys with Houston Audubon, and provides habitat for more than 300 species of resident and neo-tropical migrant birds.
Selfie Instructions
Snap a selfie from the Myra C. Brown Wild Bird Sanctuary, located at the northern edge of the nature center. While you’re there, why not try for a Gulf Coast Bird Bingo? Download a Bird Bingo card here.
QUIRKY • HOUSTON REGION
Explore one of the largest collections of seashells in Texas, along with dinosaur fossils, glittering geodes and butterflies from around the world at the Center for the Arts and Sciences in Clute. Admission to the Museum of Natural Science is free, though reservations are required. Visit bcfas.org for tickets.
Selfie Instructions
Snap a selfie in front of the museum’s seashell collection.
BONUS • HOUSTON REGION
Most people wouldn’t think to pair chocolate and barbecue. Those people are missing out. At Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue, you can nosh on slowsmoked brisket while watching chocolatiers transform raw cocoa beans into craft chocolate. Discover how well cacao and barbecue go together.
Selfie Instructions
Snap a selfie with either of Tejas chocolate or barbecue — or both!