Boldly Go Solo

The Space Center and other Houston museums that might interest solo travelers

"Houston's too humid," commented the Alec Baldwin character recently, on the show "30 Rock" created by Tina Fey, aka Sarah Palin, of Saturday Night Live.  

Houston, you've got a problem. When people think about the city at all, negative adjectives crop up. Oil and gas. Humidity. Or no image at all. I admit I was one of those people who had no picture of the city in my mind whatsoever.

But after visiting recently to attend a travel writers' conference - during which the tourism people worked hard to fill our minds with positive impressions - I have to say I was amazed to learn how much there is to see and do in the city.

If you like museums you could easily fill up days and days museum hopping. I prefer going to museums alone rather than hanging with someone as I go room to room. I don't like having to keep one eye on a companion and another on the art. Or whatever it is I'm viewing.

As for Houston's offerings, The Museum of Fine Arts is impressive. The Health Museum, on the campus of the Texas Medical Center, is interactive and fun. (Want to see a visual of how your face will age? Yikes!) The Houston Museum of Natural Science had Body Worlds 2, a display of human bodies which I found unsettling but some people are fascinated by.

The biggest surprise for me was Space Center Houston.

 I didn't expect to like it. I'm not that into shuttles and space labs and such, other than to applaud safe landings and historic firsts. But I was mucho impressed once there. By the size of the Saturn V rocket on display (it's enormous!).

By footage of astronauts on the moon that I don't recall seeing before (including an astronaut falling on his face in that big, bulky spacesuit and saying something to the effect of, "oops.") At being able to touch a moon rock. At seeing a space capsule that astronauts returned to earth in, its exterior burned up by re-entering the atmosphere.

My only regret was being with a tour group with a time limit and not being able to spend as much time as I would have liked.

Photos: Ellen Perlman. 1. Space capsule. 2. Saturn V rocket. 

Photo: By a stranger. Ellen and "astronaut" friend. The kid side of the museum.

(My friend's son Samuel would LOVE the Space Center. A very happy birthday to you, Samuel!)

Traveling alone? Phone for a friend in Chicago, Houston or New York

Traveling alone in Chicago? You literally can order a "friend." Pick up the phone and call Chicago Greeter and you'll be reserving a local resident to show you around town for a few hours. For free.

The Chicago Office of Tourism matches visitors with residents knowledgeable about their city. They'll take you along the famous Chicago lakefront or to the city's parks, museums, boutiques or ethnic neighborhoods. You choose.

They're not professional tour guides. They're people who love their town and want to share it. They give you a personalized orientation, depending on your interests. And will spend two to four hours walking around, pointing things out. Or explaining things you'd like to know about the city.

I plan to take the city up on this the next time I'm in Chicago, despite the fact that I already HAVE a Chicago friend who's given me a tour of the very cool Millennium Park downtown and some ethnic neighborhoods. But she's not always around to give me personalized tours!

Houston and New York

Call Houston Greeters and have a volunteer take you to a Houston Astros baseball game. Or a walk around the neighborhood. Or on a pub crawl.

New York was the first city to have a volunteer welcome program for visitors. Big Apple Greeters have been taking people around their city's diverse neighborhoods since 1992. About 300 volunteers are ready and waiting. And they speak 22 languages. Book your airline ticket, submit your request for a greeter and have a grand time!

Any other cities out there that offer a greeter service?

Photo: Big Apple Greeter in a subway station, courtesy of the Big Apple Greeters Web site.