Keith’s Blog – April 2019
Welcome Fans, Friends, and Visitors,
Hi. Because of our comparatively great weather in Houston, this month is great to be outside on walking tours, wine tours, garden tours, and more. It is also a good month to go on tours to avoid long queues once the summer vacation from colleges and universities begin in May.
Annually, our best month is normally October because of the good weather and the spike that we get from conducting haunted tours in the month of Halloween. We conduct haunted tours throughout the year, but we conduct more in October than any other month. April is often our second or third busiest month, again due to the good weather. We have already had to turn away people because we have had multiple tour requests on the same day. If you have been thinking about taking a tour, now is the time.
Weather in Houston
April, along with October, is generally one of the two best months to visit Houston. You can wear a short sleeve shirt or blouse and feel comfortable. The monthly average high temperature is 79 degrees Fahrenheit/26 degrees Centigrade. The monthly average low temperature is 61 degrees Fahrenheit/16 degrees Centigrade, and the mean is 70 degrees Fahrenheit/21 degrees Centigrade. The average rainfall is 3.46 inches/88 centimeters. It is the third driest month of the year after February and March.
Tours
Mention that you read about the tours below from the blog and you will receive a 10% discount.
Galveston Tours
We offer Galveston tours from 5 to 12 hours depending on how much do you want to see and experience. Would you like to include:
- A tour of one or two 1890s stone and brick mansion?
- A tour of one or more of five museums?
- Watching one to three films about The Great Storm, Jean Laffite, or Galveston as an immigration center?
- A wine tour?
- A brewery tour?
- A harbor boat ride to see dolphins and a wrecked cement ship?
- A stop at an old confectionary that makes it own ice cream, salt-water taffy, and chocolates?
- Only a driving tour throughout the city with three stops for souvenirs, looking at the Gulf with oil rigs, and lunch?
Garden Tours
You can decide how many gardens and hours that you want. We can take you to the following sites that are in the metropolitan area:
- Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens
- Gardens of Rienzi – Closed on Monday and Tuesday.
- Gardens of Bayou Bend – Closed on Monday.
- Japanese Gardens
- John P. McGovern Centennial Gardens
- Houston Arboretum and Nature Center
If you want to venture further away, we can take you to beautiful gardens in Beaumont and Orange for the day. Bring cameras.
San Jacinto State Park (SJSP) Tours (6 Hours) and or Huntsville Tours (8 Hours)
These are separate tours focusing on the history of Texas. April 21st is San Jacinto Day, the anniversary of Texas winning its independence from Mexico on April 21, 1836. In 2019, we discovered a monument of the site where Santa Anna was capture, a number of miles from SJSP. As added bonuses we will:
- See the monument commemorating the location of where Santa was captured on April 22, 1836 and
- Drive under the Houston Ship Channel in the Washburn Tunnel.
The tour also includes:
- Going to the observation deck,
- Touring the Museum,
- Watching the 35-minute movie “Texas Forever” about the battle narrated by Charlton Heston,
- Seeing a special exhibit,
- Walking on and through the Battleship Texas.
- Travel on the Lynchburg Ferry.
- Have lunch along the Houston Ship Channel at Monument Inn.
The SJSP is about 30 minutes east from downtown Houston. It is the site of the second greatest victory on what is now US soil after the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. A re-enactment of the battle takes place every April.
Huntsville Tour
Another great Texas history tour is going to Huntsville with a focus on the life of arguably the greatest Texan of all-time: Sam Houston. This tour includes going to:
- The house in which Sam Houston died.
- The house that was relocated there where he resided longer than any other place.
- The Sam Houston Memorial Museum.
- The Sam Houston Statue along I-45. This is the tallest statue of a once real American in the United States.
- Sam Houston’s gravesite.
- Joshua Houston’s gravesite in the “Negro Section.”
- Assorted other historic frontier homes of the mid-1800s.
- Sam Houston State University.
- Downtown Huntsville.
- Multiple Visitor Centers and gift shops.
- Time permitting, we will also go to the Texas Prison Museum where you can see Old Sparky.
Huntsville is in the beautifully scenic hill country north of Houston and is about a 1.25 hour drive from downtown Houston. We are happy to stop in Old Town Spring, also. This looks like an old village from the turn of the last century at about 1900.
Walking Tours
Because of the heat and humidity, we do not offer outside walking tours from April through September. Originally in the early 2000s, we offered outdoor walking tours year-round, but we received multiple complaints from people about their stinging eyes from sweat, and their discomfort. We then limited the offering from October to April. By 2016, even April was now having temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit/30s Centigrade so we cut back the outdoor tours by one more month.
However, we offer three walking tours of the underground tunnels and skybridges of downtown and three walking tours of the skywalks, tunnels, and hospitals of the Texas Medical Center (TMC). Each tour is generally 2.5 hours or 3.5 hours with a stop for lunch, additional tunnels, observation deck, an additional building, and or a museum. These are all in air-conditioning. You will be cool, calm, and collected. Which tours sound most appealing? If you want a shorter tour, we can reduce the length by deleting some of the buildings, observation deck, and or more. Just let us know how to customize it for you.
Wine Tours
We offer over one dozen options going to 5 geographic areas and including from one to four wineries and or wine tasting sites. The tours can last from three hours to about twelve hours. Texas has some great tasting wines. Texas is now the fifth largest wine producing state. These are all out of town and the tours make for good day trips. The bluebonnets are in bloom. Depending on which tour you select, you will be able to go out into the vineyards.
National Food Day Tours
Did you know that:
- April 2nd is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day?
- April 5th is National Caramel Day and National Burrito Day?
- April 7th is National Beer Day?
- April 10th is National Cinnamon Roll Day?
- April 11th is National Cheese Fondue Day?
- April 17th is National Cheeseball Day?
- April 22nd is National Jellybean Day?
- April 24th is National Pigs in a Blanket Day?
- April 25th is National Zucchini Brad Day?
- April 26th is National Shrimp Scampi Day?
We will create a customized 3-hour themed tour for your enjoyment anytime in this month for the above gastronomical sensations. We can combine two or more of the above holidays. Who does not like comfort food and drink?
Monthly Special – Discounted by 17 to 54% Based on the Number of People
The monthly special for April is a 2.5-hour Haunted and Historical Walking tour in downtown Houston. This tour is from 7:30 to 10:00 PM. It is our only monthly special that is at nighttime. As the temperatures heat up into the 80s Fahrenheit/30s Centigrade, this is the last outdoor tour for the next five months, until October. It starts outside the abandoned, former Spaghetti Warehouse at 901 Commerce Street, Houston, Texas 77002. Parking is free after 6:00 PM at all city meters. You will see:
- The abandoned Spaghetti Warehouse – built in circa 1903. This had been a warehouse in its early years. This was said to be haunted.
- The abandoned Brewery Tap, AlJ, Magnolia Ballroom, and Kryptonite – built in 1912, the building was a speakeasy during the era of Prohibition when a bootlegger was killed here. It was inundated with water from Hurricane Harvey from August 25 to 29, 2017. This was said to be haunted.
- See the former sidewalk of Houston circa 1903, now in front of the basement of the former Spaghetti Warehouse before the city was raised about 10 feet/3 meters around 1914.
- See the remnants of a historic 1890s bridge before Houston was raised around 1914.
- The Donnellan Crypt – 4 people were buried in this historic vault between 1849 and 1867 some 30 feet/10 meters below where Houston is now located.
- La Carafe – the oldest bar in downtown Houston in the oldest building in downtown Houston dating to 1860. This is said to be haunted.
- Baker Building – the second oldest building in downtown Houston, dating to 1861.
- Market Square Park – it was redesigned in 2007. This was the site of the first four city halls of Houston from 1841 to 1939. It has 9/11 memorials to a local victim who was on UA Flight 93 and to the overall victims. A Greek restaurant, works of art, old photos and more are in the park.
- The last former one screen movie theater in Houston. It was named The Ritz and opened in 1926. It is now a rental facility.
- The original Sweeney’s Jewelry Store – built in 1889, it looks like a cave inside.
- The site of the former White House of Texas where Presidents Sam Houston and Mirabeau Lamar lived in the 1830s. The current building on the site was erected in 1909 and the first Houston building designed by a world-recognized architect, Daniel Burnham.
- The biggest mosque in Houston in what was the old Houston National Bank. It was erected in 1928. Hakeem Olajuwon bought the abandoned bank building in 1994 and it opened as a mosque in 2002.
- The site where the Allen family first landed and settled Houston in August 1836. This is the oldest part of developed Houston.
- And more depending on how fast everyone walks.
Monthly Special Prices
- 1 person – $40.00. This is a 43% discount off of the regular price of $70.00
$40.00 + $3.30 (Sales tax of 8.25%) = $43.30 Total.
- 2 people – $30.00 each. This is a 25% discount off of the regular price of $40.00 per person.
$30.00 + $2.48 (Sales tax of 8.25%) = $32.48 per person x 2 people = $64.96 Total.
- 3 or 4 people – $25.00 each. This is a 17% discount off the regular price of $30.00 per person.
$25.00 + $2.07 (Sales tax of 8.25%) = $27.07 per person.
$27.07 per person x 3 people = $81.21 Total.
$27.07 per person x 4 people = $108.28 Total.
- 5 to 9 people – $20.00 each. This is a 20% discount off the regular price of $25.00 per person.
$20.00 + $1.65 (Sales tax of 8.25%) = $21.65 per person. $21.65 x 5 people = $108.25.
$20.00 + $1.65 (Sales tax of 8.25%) + $3.00 (15% gratuity for parties of 6 or more people) = $24.65 per person x 6, 7, 8, or 9 people.
- 10 to 19 people – $15.00 each. This is a 25% discount off the regular price of $20.00 per person.
$15.00 + $1.24 (Sales tax of 8.25%) + $2.25 per person (15% gratuity for parties of 6 or more people) = $18.49 per person x the number of people.
If you know anyone who would be interested in receiving our blogs, please let us know at houstonhistory@aol.com. Provide a clear name and email address for the person or group and we will sign them up. Thanks.
If you have any suggestions for special tour discounts in May, send us an email.
No one attempted to answer last month’s Mid-March trivia question and win a free tour. It will roll-over to next year. Look forward to a new question in our Mid-April blog.
See you on a tour.
Sincerely,
Keith Rosen
Houston Historical Tours
P. O. Box 262404
Houston, Texas 77207-2404
(713) 392-0867
(713) 643-4086 Fax
houstonhistory@aol.com
www.houstonhistoricaltours.com