Over the next few days, ahead of Orange folk flooding my fine city for the FINAL F*ING FOUR, I am going to post some guides on Houston attractions for the readership of TNIAAM. I'm aiming for relatively leisurely in these guides since the basketball team and surrounding hoopla is the focus, not a city visit necessarily.

In this post I thought I'd relay a glut of information on one single topic: getting outdoors. If you, like me, got full session tickets for the Fina Four you may be inclined to take in both games on Saturday. That's a lot of time inside and if the weather is good you might be interested in taking advantage of that weather when your not inside NRG Stadium for 5+ hours! Below I will list parks and running trails, bars, and eateries that cater to being outside.

Parks

Buffalo Bayou Park - A long, winding park and beautiful (IMO) park that follows along Buffalo Bayou, which cuts through the length of the city. It has walking/running/biking trails on both sides of the bayou with pedestrian bridges crossing the bayou often enough to create your own loop. Lots of gardens, sculptures, and resting spots along the way. It runs through Downtown and if you want to check it out I recommend traveling west from Downtown and back if you are staying Downtown.

Discovery Green - This par is right in the heart of Downtown and will be a focal point for Final Four activities. All of the music festival is happening here and I'm sure there will be auxiliary tents and activities as well. It's not really any exercise park as much as a walking and hanging out park. There are garden spaces, a large pond, a hill with a stage, large lawns, small dog park, cafe, children's play equipment and artwork all scattered about. Check it out for sure, if only to see what's going on for the FanFest activities.

Hermann Park - Located near Rice University and the Medical Center, this park has running/biking trails, large landscaped gardens, lawns, and pools. It also has an amphitheater, a large pond that is basically a small lake, hills, a golf course, and plenty open space.

Memorial Park - This park is currently undergoing a massive beautification and expansion but already features multiple wide open running trails, tennis courts, a golf course, jungle gym equipment,a beautiful arboretum, and lots and lots of trees. It's a short drive from the Galleria area.

Rice University Loop - Rice U is not very big and as such the tree covered running loop that wraps around the campus is only about 3 miles long (a little less, actually). Even on a warm day it's almost all shaded. It's also worth breaking from the trail to explore the very gorgeous campus.

Outdoor Eating and Drinking

I know I did a food and beer post already, but the places below feature food and drink with lots of outdoor seating space. Some also have games like bocce and cornhole.

8th Wonder Brewery - East Downtown

Barnaby's - Multiple locations

Batanga - Downtown

BB's Cafe - Multiple locations

Boheme - Montrose neighborhood

Brooklyn Athletic Club - Montrose neighborhood

The Burger Joint - Montrose neighborhood

Canyon Creek - Memorial Park area

Cedar Creek Cafe - Heights

Cottonwood - Garden Oaks neighboorhood

The Dogwood - Mid-Town

El Big Bad - Downtown

El Real - Monstrose

The Ginger Man - Rice Village

The Grove - Downtown (Discovery Green Park)

Houston Food Park (Food Truck Park) - Downtown

Hubcap Grill - Downtown and Heights

Karbach Brewery - West Heights

Little Woodrow's - Multiple locations

Luke's Ice House - Washington Ave area (bonus: saw us beat Gonzaga here!)

Onion Creek Cafe - Heights

Porch Swing Pub - Mid-Town

Punk's Simple Southern Food - Rice Village

Rosemont Social Club - Montrose neighborhood

Southern Goods - Heights

Tiny Boxwood's - Greenway area

The West End - Galleria area (walking distance from most hotels there)

That's probably enough to get you started. As always, hit the comments with questions if you got 'em!