Houston is a sprawling city near the Gulf coast of Texas. While Houston isn’t a coastal city itself, the city does have a seaside flair with many green parks and plenty of excellent seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. Hot in the summer, the perfect winter getaway for northerners, and just a fun place to be, Houston is full of surprises. You can visit the NASA Space Center, explore local markets from a beef market to many produce stands, spend an afternoon at the ballpark, hit up a concert at night, and just wander through the city parks.

Just a short jaunt from the Gulf Coast, seafood plays an important role in the food of Houston. Excellent blue crab, grouper, shrimp, crawfish, and red snapper are among the most popular seafood items. Raw oysters are also a specialty here as there are a great many oysters in Galveston Bay.

Houston also celebrates its local produce. Check out one or more of the many local farmers markets to get local fruits and vegetables like the 1015 sweet onion, which is a very sweet, tasty onion named for its ideal planting date of October 15. The Houston Dairymaids offer local cheeses at a few locations in Houston. The Dairymaids sell fresh mozzarella, several varieties of blue cheese, feta, cheddar, and many others, all from Texas dairies.

You’ll also find plenty of ethnic food in Houston. From Korean to Ethiopian and everything in between, its here in some corner of the city. Some of the best ethnic cuisine is Mexican. Pop into a tiny taqueria and order anything, it’s tough to go wrong with Mexican food (or Tex-Mex) in Houston.

The local NFL team, the Houston Texans, are a new team that joined the NFL in 2002, several years after Houston’s original NFL team, the Oilers, moved to Tennessee. The new team is quite popular. Basketball fans can check out a Rockets game, but only if you buy tickets well ahead of time as the team is one of the most loved teams in Houston. As for baseball, it’s all about the Astros. If you like baseball, but don’t want to spend too much time in the hot Houston sun, you’re in luck: the stadium has a retractable roof that is usually closed for the hottest part of the season.

For something truly Texan, head to the rodeo. The biggest event takes place in March when its time for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for a few weeks.

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