If you are looking for a cultural experience, visit some of the 18 museums in the Houston Museum District. All are located within a 1.5-mile radius of the Mecom Fountain. Just some of them include the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Holocaust Museum, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, The Jung Center of Houston and The Menil Collection. Many of the museums are always free or free on Tuesdays. You can find provide free parking or street parking, as well as restaurants and shopping in the Museum District.
Bayou Place is a dining and entertainment destination located in downtown Houston's theater district. Aside from restaurants such as Hard Rock Cafe, Samba Grille, Mingalone Italian Bar and Grill and The Blue Fish, Bayou Place's attractions also include the Rocbar nightclub, Mosaic lounge and the Verizon Wireless Theater. Bayou Place is 10 blocks from Minute Maid Park and 15 blocks from George R. Brown Convention Center and the Toyota Center.
Named one of America's top 50 roadside attractions by "Time" magazine in 2010, Houston's Beer Can House is a folk art gallery and workshop made out of beer cans -- more than 50,000 of them. The artist, John Milkovisch, began using old beer cans he had stowed in his attic and garage to side the house in 1968. He continued decorating it for the next 18 years. He even created curtains from the cans' pull-tabs. The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art acquired the Beer Can House to preserve it as a folk art monument. As of 2010, admission is $1; a private tour is $5.
Discovery Green is a 12-acre park that opened in the heart of downtown Houston in 2008. The park hosts more than 400 events a year, including art exhibits and performances adults can enjoy. Most events are free and open to the public. You can visit the Urban Harvest Farmers Market on Sundays, see a movie at the IKEA Houston Silver Screen on Thursday nights and ice skate during the winter while listening to live jazz at "Jazz on Ice." To find the current list of events, go to the Discovery Green website and click on the "What's Happening" link.
