History and Alcohol - My Urban Adventures Tour in Texas

travelerahoy — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 07:44:00 GMT

Please note the original version of this story is found on my website Traveler Ahoy.

My time in Houston, Texas was very short. The city is the fourth largest in the United States, and I clearly underestimated my time there. There were two main reasons why I wanted to go to Houston this year. One was to use some frequent flier point I had that were going to expire. The other was to take the Historic Pub Crawl Tour with Urban Adventures tour that I won through the World Nomads Blog Your Backyard contest.

My tour started at the Cellar Bar, a small bar located in the basement of Georgia Street Market, a grocery store. I ordered a beer, and chatted with the bartender while I waited for my tour guide. I got a call a few minutes later at the bar that the tour guide was in a meeting and running late. No worries. I order some mini sliders, and Connie, the tour guide came in a few minutes later.

I was originally the only person booked on the tour, but John and Lindsay, a young couple who were at the Cellar decided to join the tour as well. According the website the tour has a max of 12 people, but being just one of four was really fantastic. The small size meant we could ask questions, and really hear what was going on. We were shown several different interesting landmarks, like a Chicago style building, the Rice Hotel where JFK gave one of his last speeches before being assassinated in Dallas. The Rice Hotel is no longer a hotel, condo I believe, but the hotel sign is still there and the word Rice lights up in the evening. Connie also talked a little bit about Texas and Houston's history. One thing I didn't know was that when Texas was it's own republic Houston was the capital before it was moved to San Antonio. We were shown the area where the capitol of Texas used to be.

Of course there was more history, but having a drink at every bar we visited proceeded to make my handwriting really messy. I discovered that Houston has some really good microbrews, and that if you go to Hearsay you should try the Hal-apeno - a drink made with muddled jalepenos, vodka, lemon and sugar. The bars themselves were all very historical, and all within a few blocks of each other. One of the neatest bars we visiting was Char Bar, which doubles as a Tailor Shop during the day and a bar at night (luckily the clothes are kept away from the drinks). The oldest bar we visited was La Carafe, which was built in 1847 and is the oldest two story building in Houston. I asked if this was a pretty popular area for locals, and the tour guide said that she found a lot of locals don't know about the bars this area. It's tucked away, close to downtown which looks like just office towers and 9-5ers. Obviously perceptions can be misleading.

For me the best part of the tour was the small group size. Being the only person on the tour not from Houston I learned a lot of interesting information about Houston, a lot completely unrelated to history. Our conversation turned to the oil industry, work, relationships, stripclubs, and other tangents completely unrelated to travel or history, but I loved it. Coming to a new city, and being able to talk to locals and just have a conversation is always a great thing. My first pub crawl was a success, and the fact that I got to learn a little history was a nice bonus. If there's another historic pub crawl in the future I'd gladly go again.

Note: I won my tour with Urban Adventures but this has not impacted my review. This tour cost $30 and does not include the price of drinks or tips. For this tour you must be 21 years or older.

Do's & Don't's When Visiting Canada

travelerahoy — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:21:00 GMT

Note: This post also appears on my person website Traveler Ahoy. Canada is a big country and we get visitors from all over the world. If you've never been to Canada and want to know what to do and what not do to do here are some general tips.

The Don't's

Don't make the assumption that Canada is like the US, or that Canadians are like the British.

I love the US and I love the British, but Canada is its own country and we are our own people. Furthermore there is a lot of variety from one region of Canada to the next. A trip to British Columbia is going to be different than a trip to Quebec, which will be different than going to Nunavut. There will even be difference within each province or territory. Don't assume all Canadians are the same. Except apologizing, we do tend to apologize when we don't need to. I'm sorry, but it's true.

Don’t say eh all the time.

Bob and Doug Mackenzie

Don't just visit Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver.

Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver are wonderful, but there is more to Canada than these three cities. Some people may want to brush off smaller cities and towns as being boring, not having culture, etc but that's not true. Each town and city has their own history and things to explore. For example, one of the best museums in Canada is the Royal Tyrell Museum, a palaeontology museum outside the small town of Drumheller, Alberta. You never know what you will find in smaller urban areas and towns, until you get out there and see for yourself.

Don't come here in the winter.

"I strongly advise that you don't visit in winter"

The Do's

Do come prepared, if you visit in the winter.

If you won't my warning to avoid winter then at least be prepared. Bring warm clothes, a good outerjacket, mitts, toque, scarf and boots. If you're going to be driving make sure to get your vehicle prepared for winter. Make sure the vehicle has winter tires, snow chains (for the mountains), a good blockheater and that all fluids are topped up. If it's colder than -15C you should plugin, and don't let your gastank get below half. Also know that there are some attractions and sights that may be closed in winter. Make sure to verify if an attraction you want to visit is open in the winter.

Do go to a hockey game.

It's not technically our national sport (that's lacrosse) and not every Canadian is a hockey maniac, but hockey is loved in Canada. Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal all have teams in the National Hockey League (NHL). If you're not in an NHL city there's a good chance there's a smaller league team, a University, or even some locals playing pond hockey. If you can't see a game in person go to a bar to catch a game on tv. Make friends with the locals by finding what's the local and/or favourite team and complaining about the other team right away, especially if it's a big rival team. For example if you're in Edmonton just go into a bar and lament about how “Calgary sucks” or “The Flames suck” and you'll probably find some good drinking buddies right away.

Do get outside.

Many people come to Canada because we have some spectacular outdoor scenery. Even if you're not much of an outdoor person I still recommend that you spend some time outdoors. You don't need to do some sort of extreme survival routines in the wilderness (actually don't do this unless you're really experienced in outdoor survival skills). You can go camping for a few days at a park, Canada has 42 national park, plus provincial and local parks. If a few days is too overhwelming just do a day trip or a few hours. Whether you plan to go hiking, or you just enjoy a few hours at a beach it would be really sad if you came to Canada and you didn't get outside.

Do take a road trip.

A road trip

the world's largest Bunnock

Hit The Road

Do accept the fact that you probably won't see all of Canada.

That is unless you have the time and money for to spend a few months (or more) here. I've lived in Canada for 27 years and I still haven't made it to the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland, and I've never been to any of the territories; Yukon, Northwest, and Nunavut. Plus all the place I have been to I'd like to go back and explore them some more. If you have limited time/money you might want to try a focus on seeing one area in depth. If you can't see all of Canada in one trip don't worry, you can always come back and visit again, eh.

This post was a submission for the Blog Your Backyard Contest with World Nomads. This post however was written by myself. Below you'll find more information about World Nomads and the Contest.

Share your local expertise and join the Blog your Backyard project! Become an ambassador for your country (home or adopted) by sharing your experiences and tips with other travelers. Submit your entries starting August 8th on WorldNomads.com for a chance to win one of 20 awesome excursions with Urban Adventures. Plus, if you want to share more of your local expertise or get answers to all of your travel questions, download the FREE ‘Ask A Nomad’ iPad app.