Tag Archives: Wine Tours

Keith’s Blog – April 2019

Keith's Blog

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

 

Keith’s Blog – November 2018

Keith's Blog

Welcome Fans, Friends, and Visitors,

Hi. November has historically been a slower month than those months that surround it. However, in 2018, that is changing. The 5-day Quilt Festival Houston has moved to the first full week in November. It begins on a Wednesday and continues through Sunday. In past years, the Quilt Festival began in October and continued into the first weekend in November. Now, it is exclusively in November. This is the biggest annual event in Houston, with over 60,000 people attending and filling the George R. Brown Convention Center. We offer 8 different quilt tours that go to over one dozen towns in Texas. Enjoy a day out in the country and in towns that you have been meaning to visit someday. Today is that day. Check them out and sign up for one, . . . or two, . . . or. . . .

The latter portion of the month is generally slower than the beginning of the month. With the Thanksgiving holiday and people departing to be with friends and family in other cities and states as well as those individuals and families who are hosting friends and family and watching lots of football, less people go on tours. Throw in Black Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving and many people have already been planning their alternative activities.

Weather in Houston

The weather is pleasant, if a little cool. You might want to wear a light jacket. This is a wonderful month to go on any of the tours that involve being outside. Keep in mind if you went on a Wine Tour or San Jacinto State Park Tour between April and September, you would likely be drenched in sweat. Go now while the weather is comfortable.

November is Houston’s fourth coldest month. However, do not be intimidated by the previous sentence. Cold in Houston is still warm in most of the world. Be prepared to wear a sweater or jacket. The monthly average high temperature is 73 degrees Fahrenheit/23 degrees Centigrade. The monthly average low temperature is 53 degrees Fahrenheit/12 degrees Centigrade, and the mean is 63 degrees Fahrenheit/17 degrees Centigrade. The average rainfall is 4.54 inches/11.5 centimeters. It is tied for the fifth wettest month of the year.

Tours Below

Mention that you read about any of the tours below from the blog and you will receive a 10% discount in the month of November. What a deal!

National Food Day Tours
Did you know that:

  • November 5th is National Doughnut Day II? The first Friday of June is National Doughnut Day I.
  • November 6th is National Nachos Day?
  • November 10th is National Vanilla Cupcake Day?
  • November 11th is National Sundae Day?
  • November 29th is National Lemon Cream Pie and National Chocolates Day?

We will create a customized 3-hour themed tour for your enjoyment anytime in this month for the above gastronomical sensations. Who does not like comfort food?

Wine Tours
November is a great month to go on a wine tour. See the countryside, sit outside sipping one sample of wine after another at a variety of wineries, possibly listening to a musical performer, and all without sweating – what a wonderful way to spend a day! We offer 5 different winery tours that venture into different directions to a total of 14 wineries + 2 wine tasting rooms = 16 sites. Eleven of the wineries have their vineyards attached to the winery. It cannot get much fresher than when you see where your product has been grown. Sometimes, you can walk or stagger through the vineyards.

You can go to 1 to 4 wineries on these tours. The tours can last from 3 hours one close winery to 12 hours for 4 more remote wineries. Most wineries offer 4 different samples from dry, semi-dry, sweet, and dessert wines. All of these wineries or tasting rooms are in or close to rural towns with names like Brenham, Chappell Hill, Burton, Bryan, College Station, Old Town Spring, Montgomery, Plantersville, Anahuac, Sour Lake, Winnie, Anahuac, and Baytown. If you wish to purchase any bottles of wine, the prices of such bottles are generally much cheaper than going to a store. Many of these wines are only available on site or in local stores. Stock up for the holidays. You must be at least 21 years of age to go on these tours.

San Jacinto State Park Tours
Another popular tour in November is going to the San Jacinto State Park. This is normally a six-hour tour. Go inside the San Jacinto Monument, Observation Deck, the San Jacinto Museum of History, watch the Charlton Heston narrated movie “Texas Forever! The Battle of of San Jacinto” and see the diorama. The Monument is the tallest monument in the United States at 567 feet/173 meters. It is taller than the Washington Monument because a Star of Texas caps it. This is the most important battle of Texas’s War of Independence where on April 21, 1836, Texas won its independence from Mexico and on the next day the Texans captured Santa Anna. This tour also includes going onto and inside the Battleship Texas, the only surviving US battleship from both World War I and II and the only one that survives that served in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during WW II. It was the first ship adapted to serve as an aircraft carrier. For groups of 14 or fewer people in a van or sedan, we will also go on a ferry boat. The ferry cannot have buses on it. Lunch is at a great restaurant that specializes in seafood and with huge windows with the best view of the Houston Ship Channel. You will watch barges and oil tankers passing us. If we skip going onto the Battleship Texas, the tour can be shortened to five hours.

City Tours
Of course, if you are visiting Houston for the first time, or new to Houston and still learning your way around, go on one of our city tours. You have 8 options ranging from 2 to 9 hours, depending on how much you want to do and see. Four hour tours and longer generally have one stop per hour and on Monday through Friday include a brief walk through the underground downtown tunnels. Five hour tours and longer have a stop for lunch. Houston has over 7.5 miles/12.1 kilometers of pedestrian tunnels. These tunnels form a city underneath downtown Houston with over 500 businesses and 10 food courts. They are air conditioned or heated and dry. They are a secret gem in Houston. These driving tours can cover from about 20 to 60 miles/32 to 97 kilometers when from 2 to 9 hours.

If you are visiting Houston for the first time and will be here for a number of days, you might want to schedule a 6 or more hour tour on your first day. This will enable you to drive-by and see more sites that you might want to visit at greater length during your stay in Houston.

Monthly Special – Discounted by 17 to 43% Based on the Number of People
The monthly special for November is a Houston Heights Walking Tour. This 2.5-hour tour focuses on going through the old downtown area of the Houston Heights, the area where serial killer Dean Corll lived, by beautiful old Victorian homes, Marmion Park, Opera in the Heights, Hits Theater, where a reservoir exists, one of the best spice shops in Houston, Penzeys, can be found and more. The weather is crisp, the leaves are different colors, and the big oak trees are imposing. You will find yourself returning to the Houston Heights to go shopping and eating now that you know what it has to offer.

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.


Invite Your Friends

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.

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

Keith’s Blog – October 2018

Keith's Blog

Welcome Fans, Friends, and Visitors,

Hi. October is one of our busiest months. The reasons for this are two-fold:

October has arguably the best weather of any month in the year. It is moderate. The temperatures are generally in the 70s and 80s Fahrenheit/20s Centigrade. The humidity starts to fall in autumn. The most active hurricane period ends in September. We now have safe and pleasant weather. It is a relief after 5 months, May through September, of oppressive heat and humidity.

We have Halloween on October 31st. Houston Historical Tours offers nine different haunted tours. This includes 6 driving tours of 3.5- hours and 3 downtown walking tours of 2, 3, and 4 hours. We conduct on average of about 2 haunted tours per month from November to September. However, in October, associated with Halloween’s folklore of spooks, ghosts, orbs, and apparitions, we conduct 10 to 15 such tours. Most such tours start at 7:00 PM, but we are flexible and can star the tours at almost any time as long as we finish before midnight. You can read more about these haunted tours further in this blog.

Weather in Houston

October is Houston’s sixth warmest month. You probably do not need a jacket unless it is for water resistance. The monthly average high temperature is 82 degrees Fahrenheit/28 degrees Centigrade. The monthly average low temperature is 62 degrees Fahrenheit/17 degrees Centigrade, and the mean is 72 degrees Fahrenheit/22 degrees Centigrade. The average rainfall is 5.26 inches/13.4 centimeters. It is the third wettest month of the year.

Now, for some reminiscing:

Hurricane Harvey – August 25 – 29, 2017

Fourteen months ago, Houston endured the hurricane that resulted in the most property damage, $125 billion, in our history. Many, if not most Houstonians, including me, had some damage. However, we have been pulling through and getting on with our lives. According to the Houston Forward Times, Harvey dumped 15 trillion gallons/56,250,000,000,000 liters of water on Houston. We received 51 inches/130 centimeters, almost Houston’s annual amount of rain in less than one week. Yet, Hurricane Harvey resulted in a total of only 107 people dying directly and indirectly, of which 93 were in Texas of which only 14 were in the Houston area. It is notable and a relief to distinguish the disparity between property and human destruction. We have much to celebrate. We all have much to learn and to implement if we want to reduce future destructions from catastrophic storms.

Until August 2017, I thought Harvey was a six foot, three and one-half inch tall invisible rabbit that was Jimmy Stewart’s best friend and meant no harm to anyone in the 1950 comedy.

 

Tours Below

Mention that you read about any of the tours below from the blog and you will receive a 10% discount in the month of October. What a deal! This cannot be used in conjunction with any other discounted tours.

National Food Day Tours
Did you know that October 14 is National Dessert Day, October 18th is National Cupcake Day, and October 28th is National Chocolate Day? We will create a customized 3-hour Dessert Tour and a customized 3-hour Cupcake Tour to offer in addition to our 3-hour Chocolate Tour for any day in October. Who does not like comfort food?

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) Tours
Since 1985 October has been NBCAM. Select one or more of our three Women’s History Tours. Perhaps, you will be enlightened. If you select two or three such tours, you will receive a 20% discount off of the second tour and 30% off of the third tour.

Haunted Tours
Our driving tours include going to abandoned cemeteries, bars where people have been murdered or committed suicide, former hotels and hospitals where people were killed and died, drive by the mansion homes of River Oaks where people were murdered, and so much more. Two driving tours go to other cities about 30 miles/48 kilometers from Houston in Katy and Spring. Two tours specialize in only going to abandoned and lost cemeteries that may be hidden in jungle-like areas. Three tours are children friendly with no stops at haunted bars. The three downtown Walking Tours are of 2, 3, and 4 hours with the 4 hour tour having everything that the 2 and 3 hour tours have. This tour goes into the oldest operation building in downtown Houston. It was built in 1860, over 150 years ago and just 24 years after Houston was found. The walking tours focus on the oldest parts of Houston where you will see Allen’s Landing, the site where the Allen family landed in 1836 to become the first settlers of Houston.

Wine Tours
The state of Texas has designated October as Texas Wine Month. Check our website for dozens of wine tour opportunities. We take people to a total of 16 wineries and tasting rooms in 13 different cities. We offer 5 different geographic located wine tours with from 1 to 4 wineries and or tasting rooms on them. The average winery tour includes 4 tastings at each winery. The tours can last from 3 to 12 hours depending on how many wineries you want to visit and how far you want to travel. You must be at least 21 years of age to go on this tour. Salud/La’ chaim/Cin cin.

Brewery Tours
October is the month for Oktoberfest. It was called Wurstfest in earlier years. Although this is supposed to be a celebration of sausage, it makes for a good excuse for drinking beer. In the greater Houston area, we now have over 25 craft or micro-breweries. Check our website for dozens of brewery tour opportunities. These can range from 2 to 10 hours with one to six breweries in one day. A couple of breweries have their own restaurants on the properties. You must be at least 21 years of age to go on this tour. Prost/Cheers/Ariba/Sante, Skal/Slainte.

October Monthly Special – Downtown Walking Tour F
Discounted by 17% to 29% Based on the Number of People

The monthly special for October is Downtown Walking Tour F. This is a great month to be outside walking. The focus of this tour is Buffalo Bayou, 6 performance halls, statues, parks, and historic sites and buildings. This tour starts in the rotunda located on the first floor of the City Hall building at 901 Bagby Street, Houston, Texas 77002. This includes:

  • The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts,
  • The Wortham Theatre Center,
  • Houston Ballet Center for Dance,
  • Bayou Place with the Bayou Music Center, numerous restaurants, and a memorial to former US Congressman Albert Thomas,
  • The Alley Theatre,
  • Jones Hall,
  • Hogg Palace,
  • Buffalo Bayou Beast (our own pretend creation of a Loch Ness monster),
  • Buffalo Bayou Park,
  • Tranquility Park,
  • Sesquicentennial Park,
  • Market Square Park,
  • Fish Plaza,
  • Jones Plaza,
  • Statue of “In Minds” by Tony Cragg,
  • Statue of George Herbert Walker Bush,
  • Statue of James Baker, III, and
  • Statue of Virtuoso.

The downtown walking tours in May, June, September, and October all begin in the rotunda on the first floor of the City Hall building at 901 Bagby Street, Houston, Texas 77002. You can enter from either the east or west side of the building.

Warnings:

  • Use a bathroom before the tour begins. Only one public bathroom MAY be accessible during this tour.
  • We will be walking on uneven pavement, over curbs, and up and down stairs. Thus, you should NOT select this special tour if you use a walker, a wheelchair, or any other device that you need to enable you to move.
  • If you use a cane, we will be moving at such a slow pace that we will not be able to complete the whole walking tour. Thus, we will have to omit some sites.

 

Monthly Special Prices
(along with the totals including sales tax and gratuity for 6 or more people):

  • 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.

 

Invite Your Friends

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.

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

 

Keith’s Blog – April 2018

Keith's Blog

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.

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 mansions?
  • 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 confectionery that makes its 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.

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.

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.

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

 

Keith’s Blog – November 2017

Keith's Blog

Welcome Fans, Friends, and Visitors

Hi.  November is often a slower month than those months that surround it.  Thus, it is easier to schedule a personal tour.  With the Thanksgiving holiday and people departing to be with friends and family in other cities and states as well as those who are hosting friends and family and watching lots of football, less people are going on tours.  Throw in Black Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving and many people have already been planning their alternative activities.

We still have more quilting tours at the beginning of the month.

Weather
The weather is pleasant, if a little cool.  You might want to wear a light jacket.  This is a wonderful month to go on any of the tours that involve being outside.

November is Houston’s fourth coldest month.  Be prepared to wear a sweater or jacket.  The monthly average high temperature is 73 degrees Fahrenheit/23 degrees Centigrade.  The monthly average low temperature is 53 degrees Fahrenheit/12 degrees Centigrade, and the mean is 63 degrees Fahrenheit/17 degrees Centigrade.  The average rainfall is 4.54 inches/11.5 centimeters.  It is tied for the fifth wettest month of the year.

Wine Tours
November is a great month to go on a wine tour.  See the countryside, sit outside sipping one sample of wine after another at a variety of wineries, possibly listening to a musical performer, and all without sweating – what a wonderful way to spend a day!  We offer 5 different winery tours that venture into different directions to a total of 14 wineries + 2 wine tasting rooms = 16 sites.  Eleven of the wineries have their vineyards attached to the winery.  It cannot get much fresher than when you see where your product has been grown.  Sometimes, you can walk or stagger through the vineyards.  You can go to 1 to 4 wineries on these tours.  The tours can last from 3 hours one close winery to 12 hours for 4 more remote wineries.  Most wineries offer 4 different samples from dry, semi-dry, sweet, and dessert wines.  All of these wineries or tasting rooms are in or close to rural towns with names like Brenham, Chappell Hill, Burton, Bryan, College Station, Old Town Spring, Montgomery, Plantersville, Anahuac, Sour Lake, Winnie, Anahuac, and Baytown.  If you wish to purchase any bottles of wine, the prices of such bottles are generally much cheaper than going to a store.  Many of these wines are only available on site or in local stores.  Stock up for the holidays.  You must be at least 21 years of age to go on this tour.

Click here for more information about our Wine Tours.

San Jacinto State Park Tours
Another popular tour for the month of November is going out to the San Jacinto State Park.  This is normally a six-hour tour.  Go inside the San Jacinto Monument, Observation Deck, the San Jacinto Museum of History, watch the Charlton Heston narrated movie “Texas Forever!  The Battle of of San Jacinto” and see the diorama. The Monument is the tallest monument in the United States at 567 feet/173 meters. It is taller than the Washington Monument because a Star of Texas caps it. This is the most important battle of Texas’s War of Independence where on April 21, 1836, Texas won its independence from Mexico and captures Santa Anna. This tour also includes going onto and inside the Battleship Texas, the only surviving US battleship from both World War I and II and the only one that survives that served in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during WW II. It was the first ship adapted to serve as an aircraft carrier. A lot of history is here. For groups of 14 or fewer people in a van or sedan, we will also go on a ferry boat. The ferry cannot have buses on it. Lunch is at a great restaurant that specializes in seafood and with huge windows with the best view of the Houston Ship Channel. You will watch barges and oil tankers passing us. If we skip going onto the Battleship Texas, the tour can be shortened to five hours.

Click here for more information about our San Jacinto State Park Tours.

City Tours
Of course, if you are visiting Houston for the first time, or new to Houston and still learning your way around, go on one of our city tours. You have 9 options ranging from 2 to 9 hours, depending on how much you want to do and see. Three hour hour tours and longer generally have one stop per hour. Four hour tours and longer have a stop for lunch.  For groups of 10 or fewer people, on Monday through Friday, we include a trek into a 59th floor observation and about a 3-block walk through the underground tunnels of Houston. Houston has over 7.5 miles/12.1 kilometers of pedestrian tunnels. These help form a city underneath downtown Houston with over 500 businesses and 10 food courts. They are air conditioned or heated and dry. They are a secret gem in Houston. These can cover from about 20 to 60 miles/32 to 97 kilometers.

Click here for more information about our City Tours.


Monthly Special – Discounted by 23 to 46% Based on the Number of People
The monthly special for November is a Houston Heights Walking Tour.  This 2.5-hour tour focuses on going through the old downtown area of the Houston Heights, the area where serial killer Dean Corll lived, by beautiful old Victorian homes, Marmion Park, Opera in the Heights, Heights Theater, where a reservoir exists, one of the best spice shops in Houston, Penzeys, can be found and more. The weather is crisp, the leaves are different colors, and the big oak trees are imposing. You will find yourself returning to the Houston Heights to go shopping and eating now that you know what it has to offer.

Click here for more information about a Houston Heights Walking Tour.

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

 

Keith’s Blog – October 2017

Keith's Blog

Welcome Fans, Friends, and Visitors,

Hi.  October is generally our busiest month. The reasons for this are three-fold:

1.  October has arguably the best weather of any month in the year. It is moderate. The temperatures are generally in the 70s and 80s Fahrenheit/20s Centigrade. The humidity starts to fall in autumn. The most active hurricane period ends in September.  We now have safe and pleasant weather. It is a relief after 5 months, May through September, of oppressive heat and humidity.

2.  We have Halloween on October 31st. Houston Historical Tours offers nine different haunted tours. This includes 6 driving tours of 3.5-hours and 3 downtown walking tours of 2, 3, and 4 hours. We conduct on average of about 2 haunted tours per month from November to September. However, in October, associated with Halloween’s folklore of spooks, ghosts, orbs, and apparitions, we conduct 10 to 15 such tours. Most such tours start at 7:00 PM, but we are flexible and can start the tours at almost any time as long as we finish before midnight. You can read more about these haunted tours further in the blog.

3.   Houston has the world’s largest quilt festival. The International Quilt Festival Houston has over 60,000 people coming from all over the world to look at, buy, sell, and display quilts as well as to buy fabrics, machines, patterns, take lessons, and more. We conduct an average of about 2 quilt tours from December through September. However, quilters start arriving a week before the Quilt Festival begins and some stay after it ends. We conduct about 10 quilt tours during the latter half of October and the beginning of November. We offer eight different 8-hour quilting tours across Houston and small towns within 110 miles/177 kilometers and week long quilting tours across Texas and Louisiana. You can read more about these quilt tours further in the blog.

Hurricane Harvey – August 2017
Over the past 1.5 months, I have had several people for whom I gave tours in past years write to me to inquire about me. Thank you for your concern. I am alive and well, well reasonably well – diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol. None of these issues started with Hurricane Harvey. LOL. Hurricane Harvey drenched us for five days from Friday, August 25 to Tuesday, August 29. My house did not suffer any flooding even though a gully is my boundary in the backyard on the west side and a major bayou is three houses from my house on the north side. I never lost electricity or air conditioning. My house suffered from some roof leakage at the points where the flashing met the shingles and the water went under the flashing. I had three buckets of water collecting rainfall in my den on August 29th. The next day on August 30th, I found the only hardware store open for miles/kilometers, bought what I needed, got one of my ladders, and climbed onto the roof. I was probably the fattest, old, white guy, who spoke primarily English within 1,000 miles/1,600 kilometers making roof repairs. So far, so good. No more water has leaked into my house and we have received rain a few more times.

Many people from around the world have seen the destruction of portions of Houston. Indeed, many individuals and families have lost a lifetime of achievements. However, many parts of Houston suffered little or no damage. My lawn is now greener, my pool had more water added to it, and my utility bills for water and electricity went down. I do not wish for another hurricane, but there were some positive effects. Perhaps, the destruction will have the most positive effects if it motivates our penny-pinching politicians to spend money on infrastructure for flood control that has been ignored for over three generations. The only two reservoirs, the Barker and Addicks, to hold water to protect Houston from flooding were built in the 1940s.

Unfortunately, the voices of gloom and doom and negativity resulted in several tours being canceled, not scheduled, and rescheduled. Houston is bouncing back and I have been leading tours as if nothing has happened. I can give you a tour and you would not know that a hurricane ever existed and visited Houston. On the other hand, many people want to see examples of the destruction and I can show that as well.

Until August 2017, I thought Harvey was a six foot, three and one-half inch tall invisible rabbit that was Jimmy Stewart’s best friend and meant no harm to anyone in the 1950 comedy.

Haunted Tours
Our driving tours include going to abandoned cemeteries, bars where people have been murdered or committed suicide, former hotels and hospitals where people were killed and died, drive by the mansion homes of River Oaks where people were murdered, and so much more. Two driving tours go to other cities about 30 miles/48 kilometers from Houston in Katy and Spring. Two tours specialize in only going to abandoned and lost cemeteries that may be hidden in jungle-like areas. Three tours are children friendly with no stops at haunted bars. The three downtown Walking Tours are of 2, 3, and 4 hours with the 4 hour tour having everything that the 2 and 3 hour tours have. This tour goes into the oldest operation building in downtown Houston. It was built in 1860, over 150 years ago and just 24 years after Houston was found. The walking tours focus on the oldest parts of Houston where you will see Allen’s Landing, the site where the Allen family landed in 1836 to become the first settlers of Houston.

Click here for more information about our Haunted Tours.

Quilt Festival Houston – 1st Weekend in November Annually
Quilters begin arriving about 1 week before the Quilt Festival begins.  It is a five day event beginning on a Wednesday night with classes starting at 5:00 PM and the Preview Night from 7:00 to 10:00 PM.  After that, the Festival begins at 10:00 AM each day through Sunday.  It is held in the George R. Brown (GRB) Convention Center.  This is a one-quarter of a mile/0.4 kilometers long building.  It has five halls, A through E, and all five halls are used.  Be prepared to walk miles/kilometers to see the thousands of quilts.  The daily price is extremely reasonable:  only $12.00 for adults and $9.00 for seniors, children, and military.  Full show passes are available for a discounted price, also.  Nothing like this is comparable in the world!

We offer 9 different quilt tours, A through  with one primarily in Houston and the other 8 tours like a spokes wheel going out in different directions.  On Tour D, we visit the Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange, Texas.  These are great tours to explore the Texas countryside, visit some towns, and buy fabrics and supplies and great prices.  Enjoy!

Click here for more information about our quilt tours.

Wine Tours
The state of Texas has designated October as Texas Wine Month. Check our website for dozens of wine tour opportunities. We take people to a total of 16 wineries and tasting rooms in 13 different cities. We offer 5 different geographic located wine tours with from 1 to 4 wineries and or tasting rooms on them. The average winery tour includes 4 tastings at each winery. The tours can last from 3 to 12 hours depending on how many wineries you want to visit and how far you want to travel. You must be at least 21 years of age to go on this tour. Salud/La’ chaim/Cin cin.

Click here for more information about our wine tours.

Brewery Tours
October is the month for Oktoberfest. It was called Wurstfest in earlier years. Although this is supposed to be a celebration of sausage, it makes for a good excuse for drinking beer. In the greater Houston area, we now have over 25 craft or micro-breweries. Check our website for dozens of brewery tour opportunities. These can range from 2 to 10 hours with one to six breweries in one day. A couple of breweries have their own restaurants on the properties. You must be at least 21 years of age to go on this tour. Prost/Cheers/Ariba/Sante, Skal/Slainte.

Click here for more information about our brewery tours.

Monthly Special – Discounted by 23 to 46% Based on the Number of People
The monthly special for October is Downtown Walking Tour D. This 2.5-hour tour focuses on going through the Buffalo Bayou area, Sesquicentennial Park, Market Square Park, and Tranquility Park, as well as by the many performance halls for opera, ballet, the symphony, plays, and concerts, and seeing many statues including those of George Bush I and James Baker. This is a great month to be outside walking.

Click here for more information about our Downtown Walking Tour D.

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