If you are looking for budget-friendly summer adventures, we have a suggestion — spend the day in Houston. The nation’s fourth largest city is a bustling place with theatrical performances, museums and nature centers — many of them free and an easy drive from Sierra Vista. Here are some of their favorite free activities.
Up your picnic game with a trip to Hermann Park. Located in the heart of Houston, the 445-acre park boasts plenty of places to spread a blanket. Lake Overlook and Molly Ann Smith Plaza offers shaded seating and water features for the kids. The new Lake Picnic area sports BBQ grills, picnic tables, swings and trails.
Catch a Show at Miller Outdoor Theatre
Concerts, films, showstopping musical theater performances and more can be accessed for free in Hermann Park. In July, come out for The Miller Summer Mixtape series, a three-day, independent music showcase featuring Houston’s top musical artists. The annual Shakespeare Night at the Movies begins in August. Check here for even more performances.
Visit the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center
Spend a few hours wandering the trails of this shady 155-acre sanctuary near Memorial Park.
The Waugh Drive Bridge near Buffalo Bayou is home to a year-round colony of Mexican free-tailed bats. They take flight every evening, and you can keep an eye out for them from an observation deck in Buffalo Bayou Park.
Enjoy International Art at The Menil Collection
The Menil Collection is a great place to view contemporary art, but it also houses art from Africa, the Pacific Islands and the American Pacific Northwest. Byzantine and Medieval art, Paleolithic artifacts and antiquities from Egypt and the Near East are also on display.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational place of worship providing a safe space for dialogue, prayer and worship reflecting Houston’s religious diversity.
Go Vroom at the Art Car Museum
Also known as the “Garage Mahal” this private museum showcases contemporary art from around the world emphasizing the automobile including art cars, low riders and other motor-driven contraptions as well as paintings and photography.
Make a Splash in Discovery Green
Cool down by making a splash in the Gateway Fountain at Discovery Green. The 14-foot-high arcing jets are beloved by children. Once the family is cooled down you can visit the playground, take in a free movie under the stars, unleash Fido on the dog runs, view art and more.
There are a lot of ways to personalize your new home, but one of the most fun can be designing your kitchen backsplash. Backsplashes can take your kitchen from ordinary to extraordinary depending on the material, colors and textures used. You will make decisions about your backsplash at your Sierra Vista builder’s design center. Need inspiration? Here are some tips.
Choose Your Materials
A backsplash is just kitchen wall material, but it does serve a purpose. Cooking splatter can end up on walls. Walls are hard to clean, a good backsplash is not. Choose materials that can be wiped down easily. Tile, marble, stone and stainless steel are all good choices.
How High Can You Go?
The average backsplash starts just above your counters and rises to just underneath your cabinets. Backsplashes can be extended to cover as much of the wall as you want, however. Many people extend them to the ceiling. Some even decorate their vent hoods and kitchen islands with it. If you choose to extend your backsplash, make sure the material and style you pick integrate fully with your cabinets.
Tile Tips
Tile is the most commonly used material for backsplashes. They come in a multitude of colors and can be arranged in all sorts of fun ways. White subway tile gives your kitchen a clean look. Pairing it with dark grout works wonderfully in a farmhouse-inspired home. For a more elegant look, consider a herringbone pattern. Terracotta tiles look beautiful, but they can be more fragile. Don’t be afraid to use color. Chosen properly, colors can beautify your kitchen without looking dated.
Mirrors, Glass and Marble
Want to brighten up your kitchen? Choose mirrored tile. Mirrors reflect sunlight, automatically amping up the light in the space. Mirrored tile can also make a small kitchen appear larger. A glass backsplash is unique and easy to clean. Marble gives your walls a smooth texture and you can match it with your counters.
Unusual Materials
You don’t have to stick to the classics. The sky is the limit. If you love the look of exposed brick, you can incorporate that into your backsplash. Wallpaper is also a possibility because many companies coat their paper with easy-to-clean Teflon. If you have kids, consider using chalk paint.
When Sierra Vista residents want to commune with nature, they go to Brazos Bend State Park. Spanning more than 5,000 acres, Brazos Bend is one of the largest state parks in Texas encompassing trails, lakes and diverse habitats for animals. It’s the perfect place to spend the day or even an entire weekend and it’s less than 30 minutes away from our community.
Park hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The entrance fee is $7 for ages 13 + and free for 12 and under. Here are a few of our favorite activities. Because of the camp’s popularity, reservations are recommended for camping and day use.
Hike and Bike
Grab your bike or put on your walking shoes and explore the more than 37 miles of trails traversing the park. All of the trails are ranked easy or moderate by AllTrails and circle the lakes, connect up with each other and head into the hardwood forest. Take a virtual tour on the Interactive Trails Map.
Explore Creekfield Lake Nature Trail
This half-mile paved trail is a family favorite. Traversing a wetland area, the trail boasts touchable bronzes of wildlife, an accessible boardwalk, observation deck and shaded rest areas.
Ride Your Horse
Got a horse or two? Trailer them into the park for a day of horseback riding you won’t forget. There are 13 miles of multi-use trails as well as 15 primitive equestrian campsites (no electricity) at the trailhead.
Fish
With three lakes available for fishing, Brazos Bend is the perfect place to spend a lazy Saturday. A fishing pier is located at Hale Lake. New Horseshoe Lake features ample shoreline access. Bank fishing is available along Big Creek at selected locations. No license is required to fish in the park but there is a two-pole limit when fishing from the pier.
Watch the Birds
Don’t forget to bring your binoculars or camera because Brazos Bend is home to more than 300 species of birds. The best viewing spots can be found near the three largest lakes. Elm Lake has a deck with panoramic views of the water and shoreline. 40 Acre Lake has an observation tower. Pilant Lake has several rookeries.
Commune with Nature
Brazos Bend is home to a lot of wildlife, including white-tailed deer, feral pigs, raccoons, bobcats, river otters, foxes and alligators (yep, alligators). The best place to learn about them is at the Nature Center, open weekends from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Camp
Pitch a tent at one of the many campsites located in the park. Most sites offer electricity, water hook-up, picnic tables, nearby restrooms, fire rings and grills. More luxurious accommodations are available in the screened shelters. A cabin is also available as are facilities for youth group campouts.
Star Gaze
Explore the final frontier at the George Observatory, located in the middle of the park. Three domed telescopes grace the facility, with the 36-inch Gueymard Research Telescope being one of the largest telescopes in the nation open to the public. There’s also a Challenger Learning Center for Space Science Education, which takes participants on simulated space missions, complete with a mission control center and a spacecraft simulator. A separate ticket is required to access the observatory.
If you like the idea of a vegetable garden more than the effort of maintaining a gardening plot, have we got a solution for you. Container gardens!
Container gardens take up less space and are easier to care for than your normal vegetable garden. Not only will you be using a spade less you may find pest management easier. If one plant gets a disease, it won’t spread and wreck all of your hard work.
As a bonus, the flowers and vegetables are beautiful and can spruce up the back patio of your new Sierra Vista home all year round. They are also great for introducing kids to gardening.
What can you grow in a container garden? Almost all vegetables can be grown in a small space. Your best bet, if you are new to container gardening, are herbs, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, green onions, beans, lettuce, spinach, squash, turnips, carrots, broccoli, peas and radishes. You can also try cucumbers and pole beans, but they do require more space.
Here are a few more tips for starting a container garden.
Let There Be Light
Some plants need more light than others, so your covered patio might not be the best place for them. Tomatoes in particular need at least six hours of direct sunlight each day. Check with your local nursery or on the seed packet to see how much sunlight your plants will need. Then, check the location you want to put your container every 30 minutes throughout the day to see how long the sun hits that spot.
Choose the Right Container
You can grow vegetables in any container. However, bigger is usually better. Large containers are easier to maintain, and the soil will retain more moisture. If you decide to use terra cotta pots, lay down a plastic liner to help keep moisture in.
Wet But, Not Too Wet
Obviously, plants need water, but you don’t want to drown them. Make sure your containers will drain properly. That means enough or bigger holes so the water can get out. If you don’t, the soil will become too wet and the roots will rot. The recommended minimum size for a drainage hole is 1/2 inch in diameter for small or medium-sized pots. For larger containers, you will need at least an inch in diameter.
Quality Soil Counts
Digging up your backyard and throwing the dirt into the container seems like a cheap option but it will cost you in the long run. Your backyard dirt could have organisms in them that are detrimental to your vegetables. Spring for high-quality soil from a gardening center.
Feed Me, Seymore!
Even with good potting soil, you will need to add fertilizer. Some potting soils are more nutrient-rich than others, so talk to the staff at your local gardening center. Make or buy compost to add extra nutrition.
Need another reason to love Sierra Vista? Recent highway expansions have made surrounding areas even more accessible to our residents, meaning more food, fun and reasons to love living here!
SH 288: Additional Lanes, Additional Conveniences
With last year’s expansion of State Highway 288, residents can easily explore not only all the dining, entertainment and work opportunities that the Sierra Vista area has to offer, but those of Houston, as well. Sierra Vista’s ideal location near SH 288 and the short drive to Houston makes it the perfect location to get the best of both worlds. The calm ambiance of suburban life, with the conveniences of living near a major US city.
Start to Finish!
The project officially began in 2016 and after much planning, budgeting and hard work, the construction finally wrapped up in November 2020. The expansion features four new toll lanes designed to free up space for more drivers and give each the option of getting from point A to B a little quicker. Excess traffic is now in the rearview mirror. This is, of course, in addition to new direct connector and ramp bridges to Beltway 8, making navigation of the highway’s expanse that much easier.
The area is still receiving small improvements to ensure the longevity and smooth transition, but the main lanes are open and ready for you to hit the road.
With SH 288’s main construction project complete, residents of Sierra Vista can go straight from home to downtown Houston in only about 20 minutes. Dependent on growth of the areas along the highway, there may also be more additions later on to make everything that’s good even better.
For more information on Sierra Vista’s convenient location to Houston and the new roads to take you there, check out our location page.
