We just got back from a fabulous weekend trip to Houston. Growing up, I visited Houston several times with my parents and later on I visited once or twice more to interview for PA school and visit a couple friends. But it’s been a good 10 years since the last time I went. Living in Dallas, people tend to poke fun at Houston. Talking about the horrible traffic and humidity. So we tended to avoid it as a possible option for a road trip. Veering towards Austin, Hill Country, or Broken Bow for road trip options. But after this weekend, I’m here to say that Houston really does have a lot to offer too! It’s a great city to explore with young kids and has such a great food scene. Here are the details of how we spent 48 hours in Houston with a toddler including break down of naps, meals, hotel, and activities.

Day 1:

Left Dallas around 1 PM to avoid morning traffic and align with Mila’s afternoon nap. She ended up napping for about an hour on the way down.

Pit stop at Buc-ee’s in Madisonville when she woke up for bathroom break and for snacks. We let her pick out one snack of her choice – she always gets so excited about this. She chose watermelon cotton candy this time.

Arrived in Houston area about 5:15 PM. We made a reservation for dinner at Da Gama at 6 PM, so we decided to go straight there. Fortunately, it’s located within the M-K-T development. This area is amazing for kiddos. It’s right off the Heights hiking/bike trail with lots of green space and a playground nearby. The weather was actually a lot warmer than in Dallas, so we took advantage and headed straight for the playground to get some wiggles out before dinner.

For dinner, we sat out on the patio (they have heaters), so Mila could run around a bit and go back and forth to the green areas while we waited for our food. The food here was truly amazing. They serve Indian food with a hint of Portuguese cuisine mixed in. Lots of flavor and spice. Tons of vegetarian options and appreciated lots of delicious mocktail options as well. And who can forget the crowd-pleasing kid’s menu! As much as we want Mila to try new foods, I have to say, as a parent, there is a relief of knowing that you can enjoy some spicy ethnic food and your child can enjoy a naan pizza and we can all leave happy. They have a sister restaurant called Oporto that is more traditional Portuguese but also kid friendly that sounded great too. Maybe next time!

After dinner, we walked over to Honeychild’s Sweet Creams for a promised ice cream treat for Mila to end the day. They had some really interesting flavors, we were too stuffed to try, but Mila loved her Funfetti selection.

We headed straight to our hotel and tucked in for the night. We chose the Hyatt Regency Galleria — this was mostly because we have points/free nights with Hyatt and liked the location, but it was really a nice hotel nonetheless. Comfortable and convenient location within walking distance of several restaurants, shops, and obviously the Galleria mall.

Day 2:

Woke up early and got ready to head out to the Space Center. No trip to Houston is complete without checking out NASA, right? At least that’s what these two nerds (the physics teacher and physician assistant) decided. So the Space Center is actually a fair ways away from Houston (about a 40 minute drive for us without traffic). So we made a stop at Giant Leap Coffee to fuel up first. We thought the space theme of the coffee shop was appropriate for our day. Both the matcha and latte were very good as were the pastries and oatmeal.

The Space Center opens at 10 AM. You can pre-purchase tickets online to avoid lines, which we opted for. Kids 3 and under are free! We got there shortly after opening. Mila was bit overwhelmed with everything at first, especially as many of the exhibits are darkened and it was crowded. She was nervous to go inside any enclosed areas but did like some of the interactive games in the Mission Mars area and they had a fun craft/activity going on in the Artemis area to encourage kids to build their own “moon lander” with limited materials.

She also really enjoyed the tram ride outdoors, passing by some Texas Longhorns, and seeing the Saturn V rocket at Rocket Park. She was also very excited to touch a piece of Mars and the Moon that they have on display.  Overall, I would say that NASA is probably a better spot for older kids (think 7 and up), as many of the exhibits were geared towards older children/adults. We still had a blast though!

Afterwards we went across the street for a quick lunch. There are few options such as Take 5, Chik-Fil-A, and a couple local chains — Bullritos and 1000 Degrees Pizza . We opted for burritos at Bullritos, they were nothing amazing, but likely much better than anything we could get at the food court in the Space Center.

We were hoping Mila would nap on the way back, but she stayed awake until we got to the hotel and conked out for a late nap from 3-4:30 PM. After waking up we went over to the well-known Gerald D Hines Waterwall and got some fresh air before venturing out for dinner.

For dinner, we opted for another local gem Al-Aseel Grill and Cafe, serving up delicious Palestinian food. In Dallas, most of the Middle Eastern food we come across is typically Lebanese — think falafel, hummus, shawarma, etc. While Palestinians do eat a lot of these same dishes, there are a few dishes that are unique to our culture that are hard to find in Dallas, so this was fun to be able to try. We ordered the Musakhan, one of my favorite dishes, as well as hummus, falafel, and their mixed grill. Everything was spectacular. The restaurant won’t win any awards for ambiance, it’s a small place in a strip mall, but the owners were so kind and the food delicious. They do have a few kids menu items as well, but Mila loves her some hummus and pita so she had a blast.

Day 3:

We started with some coffee and pastries at a super cozy cafe called Campesino Coffee House nearby the Children’s Museum (our next stop). They feature Latin inspired coffees as well as sweet breads and tamales. The Cafe de la Olla was fantastic and loved the traditional mugs they were served in. They have comfy couches and were playing cartoons on the TV, which Mila very much appreciated while eating her hot pink concha. Another great find!

Next, we headed to the Children’s Museum which opened at 10. We pre-bought tickets for this as well, $17/pp for kids 1 and up. Money well spent in my opinion. This was a fantastic museum. Minus the early Saturday morning crowds, Mila had such a blast here! The Kidtropolis is very well thought out and interactive, she loved the STEM section — learned about elements, magnets, electricity, etc. And they even had therapy dogs to play with the kiddos. We stayed for about 2 hours, but easily could have spent longer if we had the time. Note — they do not open until 12:00 on Sundays so just plan accordingly!

For our last stop, we decided to try a Houston staple — Saint Arnold Brewery. We arrived just after 12, when they open, and found easy seating on their expansive patio. There’s plenty of room to run around for kiddos, heaters to stay warm, and a kid-friendly menu, although no dedicated kids menu. They do have root beer and ginger beer as non-alcoholic options too for those that are non-alcoholic. Did I mention free parking as well?

We had some chicken wings, the hamburger, and chicken sandwich and everything was delicious. We were impressed, as much of brewery food is lackluster.

This is where we headed home. After a bathroom break, we loaded up and made the drive back down to Dallas. The museum thoroughly tired Mila out so she took a decent nap in the car.

Hope you enjoy this little weekend itinerary to Houston with a toddler for DFW folks! We had a blast.