The Houston Texans NFL team (houstontexans.com), play during the fall and winter months at Reliant Stadium. The facility has a retractable roof, making games more enjoyable during rainy days in the winter. The Houston Rockets professional basketball team (nba.com/rockets), play from October to May at Toyota Center in downtown Houston and there are many home games to go see. The Rockets offer "Family Pack Nights" throughout the season, four tickets, hot dogs, sodas and T-shirts are bundled in a discount package for families to enjoy a special night out together. At the time of publication, Houston has no professional hockey team.
One popular place to spend a winter day is the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (mfah.org). Located downtown, it is one of the largest art museums in the United States. The battleship "Texas" (battleshiptexas.org) is moored close to downtown Houston at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site (tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest). A sleepover program for kids is available, and the children can spend the night in the crew quarters on the ship. The Houston Grand Opera (houstongrandopera.org), Houston Museum of Natural Science (hmns.org) and the Houston Zoo (houstonzoo.org) are also worthwhile places to visit in Houston during the winter months.
The Ice at Discovery Green (discoverygreen.com/ice) is an outdoor ice-skating rink that even has a smaller area for those younger than 4 years old and also rents special "no-fall" skates for them. The Moody Gardens Golf Course (moodygardensgolf.com) located on nearby Galveston Island is open all year and is open to the public. Buffalo Bayou (buffalobayou.org) is a fun place to go even in winter and offers guided kayaking trips and also has a shuttle service from downtown Houston. The Waugh Bridge Bat Colony (houstontx.gov/parks/bats) is home to more than 300,000 bats. Located at Allen Parkway and Waugh Drive, the bats can be viewed from a platform near the bridge. The best time to visit is around dusk when the bats begin to feed and are quite active.
The annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (hlsr.com) is a must see for out-of-town visitors to the Houston area during winter. During its three-week run at Reliant Park every March, the show features many activities aside from the rodeo events, such as livestock shows, concerts, a carnival and a barbecue cookoff. The Annual Winter Holiday Art Market (spacetaker.org/wham) kicks off every November on Winter street in Houston. This art festival and sale features live music, food and activities for the entire family.
