Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/11/2022 (210 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Maybe it’s an age thing, but as I glimpsed my first sight of the Challenger Space Shuttle sitting atop the giant 747 aircraft while driving up to Space Center Houston last week I began to feel my heart beating faster.

Memories of the different space flights, the first steps on the moon, the space race, from competition to cooperation along with the tragedies that punctuated the achievements, they were all racing through my mind.

Immediately upon entering Space Center Houston it became clear that the dreams of space are not confined to those of us who witnessed those early steps into our wider universe. This is a family place with informative and interactive options which make visiting here enjoyable and educational for all ages.

While Space Centre Houston is a partner of NASA, it is a separate non-profit entity. There are over 400 things to see and do in this 250,000 square foot property, which includes the outside Challenger exhibit. It is a totally immersive experience in human space exploration.

Artemis, the sister of Apollo

While the Center is very much an expansive museum of past space exploration, the new exhibit, only opened this June, is the Artemis section. It is the name future moon endeavors will be defined as.

While the Apollo series of flights including the moon landing is central to the current exhibition, there is new excitement about the future of space travel with the commitment to return to the moon, and then on to Mars.

Testing has begun on new generation space suits and other technologies. Describing plans for these future exhibits, Meridyth Moore, Communications Manager for Space Centre Houston explained, “We want to shed more light on the scientists, engineers, graphic designers, and anyone who’s on the ground. It’s the biggest team sport there is”.

NASA close up

I was invited to take the separate Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center tour, operated by NASA—it goes through some of the campus where NASA is working everyday. There are 100 buildings on this campus. Why so many, I asked? Our tour guide revealed that when the land was donated from the Humble Oil company through Rice University at the beginning of the space race, there were concerns about the government’s commitment to the space program. Rice University insisted on a campus structure, so it all could become a university if funding stalled.

On the tour, after viewing the inner workings of an onsite Challenger craft, with its thousands of wires and leading technologies of the day, we were led into the first Apollo Mission Control observation room, just as it was on July 20, 1969. The words between Mission Control and the astronauts are played back, along with the videos they, and we, were seeing as Neil Armstrong announced touchdown with the words: “the eagle has landed”, and as Walter Cronkite described the first steps on the moon.

Emotional? Very!

The icing on the cake would come shortly after, as we were ushered in to see today’s International Space Station Mission Control at work. Watching the various professionals monitor and report what is happening live from the current US/Russia cooperative mission was genuinely exciting.

Dining out in Houston

Travel and food go hand in hand, but sometimes there are unusual surprises which come with a good meal. Dining at the Georgia James Steakhouse, the Viet Cajun Roasted Oysters were excellent, but the day could not pass without a taste of some top US grade beef — a highlight meal.

Introduced to chef Greg Peters, I discovered that we may have crossed paths many times. He has vacationed almost every year at his parent’s summer cottage in Sioux Narrows, where I had my cottage for over 35 years.

The greater surprise came the next day when I showed up at Riel Restaurant. I never could have surmised that I would fly 2,500 kilometres to have a fine dining experience on cabbage rolls and perogies, made on a Hunky Bill Perogie Maker. But I did!

Ryan Lachaine, who grew up in Winnipeg’s North End, is the executive chef and co-owner, and his pride in Manitoba is literally face front. On one feature wall is his facial illustration with the words God Bless Manitoba, boldly displayed.

In the men’s washroom there is a full wall illustration of Louis Riel.

From his Ukrainian mother, he took much of his inspiration for his Riel recipes. His Butter Burgers, he freely admits are a creative knock off of the Salisbury House Nips he grew up with.

“I wanted to put a Manitoba stamp on things,” he said. When I asked about his concerns about peoples’ lack of knowledge of dishes like perogies, he replied that “Every culture has a dumpling. I think that kind of stuff resonates with all cultures.”

When I arrived, the restaurant was packed. With different creative options which include Caviar Potato Tots and Truffle Perogies, along with his infectious personality, he seems to have found the recipe for success that is working well for him and Manitoba.

A big city with diversity and culture.

Houston itself is the fourth largest city in the US, with a Greater Houston population of more than seven million people. At the former main post office, converted into a large market food hall, conveniently named Post Houston, there are 25 food outlets. Celia Morales, senior manager for media relations, told me that “None of the restaurants are allowed to repeat the type of food they sell, just like Houston, so diverse.”

Driving around the city, it was clear to me that Vietnamese style menus are the most popular, but you can find a restaurant of any culture in this metropolis.

With only a relatively short stay in Houston I could not experience the breadth of what is culturally available in this city of over 150 museums and cultural institutions, but my visit to the Museum of Natural Science whetted my appetite for more. Founded in 1909, with five floors of permanent exhibits and many evolving special exhibits, it is one of the most visited museums in the U.S. In the time available I travelled through the paleontology section, the King Tut’s Tomb Discovery Experience, and the temporary Dreher Masterworks presentation of the gem carvers amazing creations.

If you go:

Families will enjoy the rides and displays at the Kemah Boardwalk, part of the business empire of Tillman Fertitta, owner of the Houston Rockets basketball team. It has rides of every kind, including a rotating tower that gives a tremendous view of the beach, and areas around Houston. At the onsite Landry’s Restaurant, I had one of the best lunches of my journey.

I managed just one game of golf, but the Rees Jones Golf Club of Houston championship design was excellent.

pradinukr@shaw.ca