Anyone going to Houston this weekend (or been to Minute Maid Park)??

[brwrsfan]

Me and a couple of guys will be heading down to Houston this weekend for the Brewer series. Anyone else going to be down there, or live in the area? I'm sure we'll be hitting up some bars both before and after all 3 games. The more the merrier if you are interested (all 3 of us are 25-30).

I have a couple of questions for anyone that has been down there.

#1 - We're staying at the Hilton, which is about a half mile away according to MapQuest. How is the area downtown? Would it be OK to walk back and forth? (keep in mind it might be pretty late if we go out near the stadium after the game) Or should we try to take cabs?

#2 - What is the autograph situation like? I'm probably only going to go early one day and figure I have a better chance of getting a Brewers player in Houston than I do here. Can you get to the dugout area without tickets for those seats? Is that the best spot to get them?

#3 - Anything in Houston that we absolutely need to see while we are there (either in the stadium or the city)?? We're planning a day trip to Galveston to hit up the beach for a few hours on Saturday and we're thinking of taking a tour of Minute Maid Park, but that's about it.

#4 - Anyone know of any good sports bars or restaurants near the stadium?

Thanks for the info.

[tristarscoop]

There isn't much right around the stadium. It's Minute Maid, parking, freeway, and the Convention Center. The last time I was there, I drove in from New Orleans and we wanted to get something to eat before we got back on the road. It's the business district, so pretty much everything was closed. We ended up getting back on the road and eating fast food. The only place I remember is directly across the street from the main doors and reminds me a bit of the bars around Wrigley. There's not really a demarcation between inside and out, there's a small fence and a lot of people. As for walking to and from the hotel, I would have to say that it depends in which direction it is from the stadium. I'm trying to picture it in my head for orientation purposes. Presumably the hotel is in the downtown district and therefore I would say you should be fine. The best suggestion I can give is to be smart. If it's midnight and there are a few people about, you'll be fine. If you're the only ones on the street at 2 am, take the cab. The last time I went we bought cheap seats and just moved down and sat right behind the dugout.

 

You can PM me if you have more questions.

[StatPipes]

I am from the Houston area and an Astros fan, so I can try to help you out I guess. There are a couple of bars right outside the stadium, The Bus is one I know of for sure. There isn't a whole lot right next to the stadium, but if you go west down Texas Ave a half mile or so to Main St. there are plenty of bars that direction. I assume you are staying at the Hilton Americas, I was actually there two weekends ago for a job interview. That is also right next to the Toyota Center.

Im not to sure I would wander off too far at 2 in the morning, but if you have a group of people it probably would be ok, if you don't mind the bums bothering you.

Galveston is alright, you can see the seawall and the beaches, however the water is brown as it is all up the Texas coast, at least til you get down to Corpus. But it doesn't mean it isn't a good time. You could also do the NASA thing if you wanted. Houston is pretty big, and the traffic sucks, just a pre-warning.

Of course you can always just shine up your boots, go out and party it up.

[palmettoscott]

I will be flying in from Atlanta first thing Sunday morning to catch Sheets pitch. I go to Houston every 3 or 4 weeks so I have a bit of experience with it and have been to the juice box a few times.

 

While downtown the arts area is the only part of downtown that has anything. There are a few bars, and a few music clubs. I have never had a problem walking in downtown, but as with any big city use your judgement, there are cabs everywhere. If you want to go where the cooler bars and hotties are I have found the Rice and Montrose areas to be pretty good.

 

Galveston is okay, there are a few cool bars and areas on the strip. You are looking at about an hour to get from the stadium to the beach.

 

Houston is by far and away the most personality-less big city in the country. The fourth largest city in the country and it pretty much sucks.

 

If you guys are hangin on Sunday after the game I might be up for a post game beer on Sunday afternoon. (If it matters I am 30).

[brwrsfan]

Nope, doesn't matter at all. We'll be staying until Monday so I'm sure we'll be going out somewhere after the game.

[Sepolevne]

Wow, I was about to post a thread, but I'll be meeting a friend of mine in Houston and going to the Saturday game. I figure there has to be something going on, it's Cinco de Mayo weekend in Texas. Call me ignorant, but I'd imagine it's kind of a big deal.