What exactly is life like in Texas? Is it a place for solo travel, and do they ride horses everywhere? I found out about all this and more on my Texas solo trip. 2019 was arguably my best summer, I visited several countries and cities in North and South America all in one huge 5-week trip.
During this summer I got to experience classic American seasonal events and some events that come only once in a lifetime (Toronto Raptors winning parade). However, my Texas trip was a whole new experience for me, and I was in for a few surprises.
Before I dive into my experience, here are a few interesting facts;
➤ Austin is the capital of Texas, not Houston (which I previously thought it was).
➤Texas is bigger than any country in Europe.
➤ Texas is the second-largest state in terms of population.
YEE-HA
It was 11:30 AM and was I just about to take off to Houston, Texas, from Miami Airport. I stayed in MIA for only one night, so I could not experience any crazy parties. Though I still hit the strip off course (wink). After only a couple of hours of sleep, I boarded my American airline flight, and within a few hours, I landed in Houston.
It always catches me by surprise how diverse the US is. Not just in terms of landscape, regulations but also people, accents and cultures. The folks sounded different in Houston. People had a southern twang to their voice.
I skipped the regular hostel life for my eight-day stay and got myself a private room in an Airbnb house close to downtown Houston. On my list of things to experience were the following:
➤ Visit the NASA space center
➤ Eat some Texas BBQ
➤ See what the 4th of July is really like
➤ Meet-up with Steve, who I met while solo traveling in Amsterdam.
➤ Explore the city
Day and Night
One of the first activities I did was visiting the NASA space centre, which was a good thirty-five-minute drive from where I stayed. Since I didn’t have a car, exploring Houston was solely sponsored by Uber and trust me, they weren’t cheap either. The space centre was everything I hoped for it to be, with actual space gear and enormous indoor and outdoor exhibitions of functioning space rockets. I felt like a kid at a candy store.
I was caught off guard by how big the place actually was, it was huge! Seeing first-hand an Apollo rocket was breathtaking and my camera didn’t do justice to the scale of the machine either.
Later on that evening I went to explore the city when my ears drew me towards a trendy bar playing a fusion between jazz and funk. As this was pre-covid, just walking up to a place without booking or anything was normal (sigh…how I miss those days).
While listening to the soothing grooves at the bar and sipping on my favourite drink, a gin & tonic, I met two Texans (Bridget and Alexa). They came to sit next to me at the bar, and we ended up chatting with the bartender who had some interesting stories.
Out of all the people I’ve met, bartenders and taxi drivers are the most entertaining, as they have some exciting stories. We ended up going to another bar a short walk away and having one more drink before I called it a night.
Is this what I think it is?
Over the weekend, I got to watch a football match (not “soccer” for my US readers) between Houston Dynamo and NYC FC during my stay. Tickets were around $20, which is an absolute steal compared to UK prices. The atmosphere itself was fun, and the build-up was quite similar to any typical match. However, you could tell the clear difference from the food menus. Instead of the usual pie and mash they sell at games, they had tacos and burritos, both a Mexican and Texan delicacy.
Over the course of the week, Alexa and I were chatting, and she had been recommending places to visit and things to try. And on one occasion, she invited me to a Tex-Mex in a restaurant which is a hybrid between Texan and Mexican food. I said “sure why not”, and after agreeing on the details, I hung up the phone and thought to myself-
Is this what I think it is?
Sure enough, it was a date. Now I don’t really have any complex set rules while solo traveling but one of them is being extra cautious since you’re winging it alone. Luckily I didn’t get that kind of vibe from Alexa or her friend Bridget which was a good sign.
We agreed on an early afternoon time, and she picked me up in her car because Texans don’t usually ride the bus. They pretty much drive everywhere. The restaurant was a clean family-run spot about a fifteen-minute drive from where I stayed, and the food was banging!
We ate some queso and nachos, and the portions were so much that by the time the main dish came I was almost full. I ordered a grilled mix which was assorted meats minus pork with a side of beans and rice.
Here’s a photo of the steamy dish.
We ate and laughed about the story the bartender had told us previously (which I’ll share maybe in another article). My Spanish at that time was super basic, so I could only say a few words and phrases, but the waiters were impressed nonetheless. After eating, she was kind enough to drop me back home, which saved me around $13 or so on an Uber.
Fireworks
Another big highlight of my trip was meeting up with Steve, who’s originally from Houston, but we shared a hostel room in Amsterdam the year before. The bunk bed above me, funny enough.
I hit him up via socials, and he invited me over to his friend’s place on July 4th for “pre-game” (drinks before heading out). My only knowledge of the 4th of July was from movies, which presented them as a day of getting together with friends and family and fireworks… lots of fireworks.
By 2:00 PM, we had a few drinks in the house and headed to a downtown day party. Mind you the weather was hot, like over 35 degrees celsius hot, which enhanced any effects of the drinks. Steve and his mates asked me if I had ever had a pickleback shot, and my response made them encourage me to try it for the first time. If I were to describe the taste, it would be like having whisky with a shot of pickle juice, but not so punchy.
Here’s a video of me before taking it and a group selfie
We ended the night at another bar closer to the fireworks. Although I didn’t experience them up close and personal, I managed to experience them from a different angle — a southern hospitality viewpoint.
