Besties Road Trip – Houston in Color
Last month we headed to Houston with our besties for a little road trip fun! In case you are new here, my best friend Holly and I have been lucky enough to convince our bestie daughters to trade birthday parties for experiences. Twice a year we head off on some sort of adventure. Holly is the planner and her trips are always amazing because she finds so many fun things to do! We even managed to participate in an armadillo race on our first experience in Fort Worth two years ago! I’ve been to Houston hundreds upon hundreds of times but she still managed to create an experience to keep us all entertained. Today I’m recapping some fo the highlights.
We started our roadtrip on a Thursday and decided a little skip day on Friday wouldn’t be the end of the world! What a better way to start our trip than by rocking out at a Christian concert! The KSBJ Roadshow 2018 was so much fun and we all enjoyed singing along with some of our favorites like Bethel Music, Matthew West and For King & Country.
It was a really late night and we were all wiped by the time we made it to our hotel! We chose to stay at The Galleria to be somewhat central and the girls had shopping on their wish list. We slept in and then headed out Friday around noon to start a little mural tour.
Holden is a huge lover of art! We used Carrie’s guide to the best walls in Houston and picked a few to visit.
First stop was the Hummingbird Wall by Fabbio Panone. I definitely felt it was going to be a favorite for the day as soon as I laid eyes on it! I just love how fun these two are! 
We are fun too! Posing and getting our daughters to take our picture, however, can sometimes be a challenge. I almost died when I saw the next two pictures!! Despite the way it appears I promise I am really NOT saying what you could imagine I might have been saying based on my expression. Seriously….I’m still laughing when I look at these! I do have a potty mouth but I do have some restraint. 
Our next stop was the Graffiti Building which is an area more than just a building where you can cross off several murals at once! 
We all did a double take when we happened upon the original Ninfas on our way to the hummingbird wall so of course we had to go back and check it out! Loves Mexican food might have been a requirement on the bestie qualifications! 
We were on the hunt for a different wall when we came across this We Love Houston sign! Of course the girls had to recreate a little best friend mischief photo. 
Next up was a stop by Discovery Green and these art boxes. We wandered around the park for a bit and the girls seriously even played on a playground. Ha! 
This wall is kind of a BIG deal and the one that really inspired our little mural tour. Carrie Colbert is a Houston blogger who created this coffee table book full of all the fun murals in Houston. Her blog also has info on murals in Dallas and Austin! The story behind the More Color Please wall is so fun! I can only imagine what a ray of sunshine Carrie is in person! 
You have to know the words are there but it is still possible to make out the letters behind the mural and, well, that just makes it all the more interesting! 
We came for the mural but stayed for the milkshakes! Let’s just say FM Kitchen and Bar may get my vote for best milkshake in Houston! Cheers to friends and milkshakes for sure! 
Our last stop on Friday was Buffalo Bayou. Holly found out about a cool little tour of an abandoned cistern and this kind of cool little jaunt is why I love her so! It really is hard to imagine, but the architecture inside the Buffalo Bayou cistern was beautiful and it was just a really cool little piece of Houston history. It helped we had an incredible tour guide! 
Next up was another fun little trek to find the Big Bubble near the Preston Street bridge. The girls talked us into biking there and the guy we rented the bikes from sent us up Memorial Drive…which if you are from Houston know we were dumb for listening! About halfway Holly hollers to me “do you think this is safe?”. Umm…I don’t think we were ever in danger and it’s this kind of stuff memories are made of right? 
We did finally make it and finally found the hidden red button after googling pictures! Sadly there was a little too much water in the bayou to be able to see the bubble but that did not take away from the girls excitement they found it. We made the call to take the trail back which was definitely a more bike friendly ride! 
Saturday morning the girls wanted to do some shopping and they didn’t have to twist our arms. 
We grabbed Shake Shack for lunch and it was seriously amazing! This was my first time to eat Shake Shack and I was either super hungry or this was a dang good burger. I’m a fan! 
On the list for Saturday was seeing the beer can house! Seriously y’all it is kind of crazy to think someone could actually come up with this but it’s for real. It’s like a dang museum. 
We were looking for one mural of an owl for Holden and ran across another warehouse full of fun murals. Seriously though, how cute are we in our road trip bestie shirts?! 
Last stop was the sugar cloth wall and color stairs. It was getting later and tucked between two buildings so I really should have decided to use a flash. These pictures are some of my favorites from the trip and I wish they were better quality! 
We ended our trip eating, what else, Mexican food, at a little dive we love about 15 miles from home. Everyone ended the day with full tummies and full hearts.
Again, you can visit Carrie Colbert’s blog to see her Houston Mural guide , Austin Mural guide or Dallas Mural guide.
Bestie Trips!
If you are a looking for a way to capture some quality time with your kids before you blink and they are headed for college, I highly recommend a road trip with your besties!
