36-hour vacation paradise

It's no secret that Houston and the New York media have had a love/hate relationship over the years — well, OK, mostly hate. So we were interested to see what the NY Times said in yesterday's 36 Hour travel feature on Houston — and it seems writer Dan Halpern actually got it:

Houston doesn't have a clear-cut positive reputation, like Austin (the laid-back slacker capital), or even a good nickname, like Dallas (Big D). As far as most of the country is concerned, it's got Enron and robber baron oilmen and heavy people, all in a climate requiring enough air-conditioning to power a rocket ship to Neptune. But Houston also has extraordinary museums, an innovative alternative arts and hip-hop scene, a rapidly growing cache of upscale hotels and haute cuisine and the neighborliness to take in tens of thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. And, of course, it has rocket ships; that is, NASA's Johnson Space Center. In the end, maybe that's what makes Houston such an unusual and wonderful place — there are so many different Houstons to see.

Ah yes, the old "rocket ship to Neptune" line. But we couldn't have summed things up better ourselves — the variety is what makes Houston so incomprehensible to many visitors. And considering Halpern was working with a weekend itinerary, he did a pretty good job of picking attractions, from the beaten path of the Museum District and NASA to the offbeat Orange Show and Third Ward.

Because barbecue is one of Houstonist's favorite food groups, we were happy to see that Halpern featured Goode Co. — a little touristy, maybe, but really good. He even gave props to Thelma's, where a lot of Houstonians have probably never been although it's showed up on national TV. Another restaurant Halpern featured is Chapultepec, where he recommended an early weekend breakfast. Let's be honest: The food there is awful. But to Halpern's credit, he focuses more on the funky clientele than on the grub. Wise choice.

So, a glowing article on the Montrose in the NYT in 2002, and now this? It's almost enough to make up for the Times's veiled stab in its piece on post-Katrina Houston earlier this year.