Secret Houston: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Secret Houston: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure PDF Author: William Dylan Powell
Publisher: Reedy Press LLC
ISBN: 1681062097
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
What's the best place in Houston to watch ostrich racing? Is there really buried treasure in Hermann Park? Do you know where to catch live jazz on the site of the original Republic of Texas capitol, or enjoy world class Cajun food in a church cloister from the 1800s? You'll find the answers to these questions and more in Secret Houston, your guide to H-Town's offbeat, overlooked and unknown. This book will take native Houstonians and fresh-off-the-freeway Newstonians alike on a behind-the-scenes look at the funkiest bits of the nation's fourth-largest city. Did you know Memorial Park was once a World War I training camp? Or the original use of the Last Concert Café and why its front door was always kept locked? And what's up with that old, mysterious crypt built into the bank of the bayou or that weird golden dome out on the west side? Local writer and longtime Houstonian William Dylan Powell helps you unlock Bayou City's most intriguing, entertaining and arcane secrets in this guidebook to the obscure. Some of these secrets you can enjoy today, while others are merely ghosts, legends or shadows of our city's past. But they're all waiting for you to explore right now in Secret Houston.

Secret Houston: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Secret Houston: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure PDF Author: William Dylan Powell
Publisher: Reedy Press LLC
ISBN: 1681062097
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 339

Get Book Here

Book Description
What's the best place in Houston to watch ostrich racing? Is there really buried treasure in Hermann Park? Do you know where to catch live jazz on the site of the original Republic of Texas capitol, or enjoy world class Cajun food in a church cloister from the 1800s? You'll find the answers to these questions and more in Secret Houston, your guide to H-Town's offbeat, overlooked and unknown. This book will take native Houstonians and fresh-off-the-freeway Newstonians alike on a behind-the-scenes look at the funkiest bits of the nation's fourth-largest city. Did you know Memorial Park was once a World War I training camp? Or the original use of the Last Concert Café and why its front door was always kept locked? And what's up with that old, mysterious crypt built into the bank of the bayou or that weird golden dome out on the west side? Local writer and longtime Houstonian William Dylan Powell helps you unlock Bayou City's most intriguing, entertaining and arcane secrets in this guidebook to the obscure. Some of these secrets you can enjoy today, while others are merely ghosts, legends or shadows of our city's past. But they're all waiting for you to explore right now in Secret Houston.

Secret Kansas City: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Secret Kansas City: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure PDF Author: Anne Kniggendorf
Publisher: Reedy Press LLC
ISBN: 1681062836
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Most visitors know all about Kansas City’s barbecue, jazz, and football success, but there are hidden gems and wild pieces of trivia around every turn in Missouri’s largest city. Is the giant Hereford bull anatomically correct? Can a seed that’s been to outer space still grow into a normal tree? And who really killed President William Henry Harrison? You’ll find answers to the questions you didn’t know you had in Secret Kansas City: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. Learn why three completely unrelated groups have chosen Kansas City as the center of the world and the place you want to be when the world ends. Between these covers, you’ll also find castles, a horse buried in a cul-de-sac, a ghost who likes a good laugh, and the world’s longest snake. This is not a tour guide for outsiders; it’s a scavenger hunt—insiders only, please. Longtime Kansas Citian Anne Kniggendorf is at your service to bolster your love and boost your respect for this middle-of-the-map city. With her eye for the odd leading the way, you’ll have a great time discovering Kansas City.

Secret St. Louis: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Secret St. Louis: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure PDF Author: David Baugher
Publisher: Reedy Press LLC
ISBN: 1681060396
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
Where in St. Louis can you… …picnic at a radioactive waste dump? …learn what West County Center’s famous dove really represents? …visit the grave of the man who burned Atlanta? …join a nudist resort? …view a cube comprised of a million dollar bills? …see a piece from New York’s Twin Towers? …find out exactly what a Billiken is? Whether you are piloting a simulated barge on the Mississippi River, exploring the hidden history of Abraham Lincoln’s bizarre swordfight in St. Charles County or eating a ten-pound apple-pie in Kimmswick inspired by the Great Flood of 1993, it is hard to get bored with a copy of Secret St. Louis: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. By turns wistful and whimsical, this is a book which answers the questions you never knew you had about St. Louis while taking readers on a whirlwind tour through 97 unique but often little-known spaces and places that can’t be found anywhere else. A tourist handbook for people who thought they never needed one, “Secret St. Louis” provides a scavenger hunt of hidden gems traversing the somber, strange, surprising and silly locales which define the culture and history that make St. Louis such a diverse and amazing place to call home. From Weldon Spring to Wildwood, from Overland to O’Fallon, from Bellefontaine to Bridgeton, this is an exploration of St. Louis’s odds and ends like no other.

100 Things to Do in Houston Before You Die, Second Edition

100 Things to Do in Houston Before You Die, Second Edition PDF Author: William Dylan Powell
Publisher: Reedy Press LLC
ISBN: 1681061465
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
This isn't a book; it's a lifestyle. And you can be a part of it starting right now. This second edition of 100 Things to Do in Houston Before You Die lays out all of the cool stuff you could be doing in H-Town today: from savoring BBQ at Killen's and catching a Summer Chills showing at the Alley Theatre to upscale shopping at the River Oaks District or maybe catching an old fashioned drive-in movie at the Showboat Drive-In, these are the things you can't do anywhere else. Just pick up a copy of this book and keep it handy. When you feel like spicing up your week, flip to a random section. Shouting "Let's Go Dynamo" at BBVA Compass Stadium. Spending a cozy night at Marfreless. Maybe catching up with a friend over Thursday night happy hour at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Voila: instant plans. How easy is that? Don't be the kind of Houstonian who only goes out when entertaining people from out of town. It's important to go and do cool things for yourself, for no particular reason. And this is your go-to guide.

Lost Houston

Lost Houston PDF Author: William Dylan Powell
Publisher: Rizzoli Publications
ISBN: 1910496758
Category : Photography
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
A look at how the buildings, streets, and institutions that comprise Houston's cityscape have changed dramatically over the years, and the many that were lost along the waySince its founding in 1836, Houston has become America's fourth largest city. It was a hardscrabble life for the early settlers, but first King Cotton brought wealth to the local economy and then the Lucas Gusher at the Spindletop oilfield made Houston the capital of the American oil and gas business. The old Texas State Capitol was demolished and replaced by the old Rice Hotel, which was then replaced by the 1913 Rice Hotel that stands today. Baseball has been played at Buffalo Stadium, Colt Stadium, and the "EighthWonder" the Astrodome before settling at MinuteMaid Park. The Astros' ballpark occupies the space once occupied by Union Station's platforms and the Houston-to-Dallas Texas Rocket train, both lost to time and progress. Sites include: Camp Logan, Carnegie Colored Library, Houston Chronicle Building. The Binz Building, Original Texas State Capitol, Original Rice Hotel, Old City Hall, Moorish Federal Building, Felix Mexican Restaurant, S.H. Kress and Co., Union Station, Grand Central Station, Trailblazer Monorail, Houston Light Guard Armoury, Luna Park, Metropolitan Theatre, Magnolia Brewery, Streetcars on Heights Boulevard, Waldo Mansion, Miller Outdoor Theatre, Shamrock Hotel, NFL and NBL at the Astrodome, Houston Municipal Air Terminal, and the Sam Houston Coliseum.

Secret Austin: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Secret Austin: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure PDF Author: Cheryl Thomas
Publisher: Reedy Press LLC
ISBN: 168106281X
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Where can you see a spider as big as a school bus? How did the world’s largest flying dinosaur land in Austin? Where is the college dorm room where a struggling student started Dell computers? And why are there thousands and thousands of bats in Austin? Find the answers to these questions and many more in Secret Austin: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. Learn about the lost-cause oil rig that became a gusher and funded higher education for generations. Follow in the footsteps of famous Austinites like Janis Joplin, Farrah Fawcett, and Matthew McConaughey. With life long journalists and Austin fans Cheryl and Les Thomas as your guides, you’re bound to find more than a few surprises about Austin—even if you’ve lived there forever. Whether you’re a slacker, an entrepreneur, a poet, or just a bluebonnet admirer, you’ll find Austin’s most fascinating hidden gems, strange history, and obscure trivia in this guide to the “City of the Violet Crown.”

Secret Tucson

Secret Tucson PDF Author: Clark Norton
Publisher: Secret
ISBN: 9781681062273
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
What onetime New York crime boss spent his last decades in Tucson? Which cutting-edge scientific lab is hidden below a football stadium here? Why does the Beatles' classic song "Get Back" include a nod to Tucson? And what on earth is a "stravenue?" To find the answers to some of the most intriguing and entertaining questions about Tucson, look no further than Secret Tucson: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. You'll learn all about the lesser- known sides to southern Arizona's most dynamic city. After all, Tucson has been proclaimed "the world capital of weird""¬‚¬"and Tucsonans take that as a compliment. So if you've ever found yourself wondering where Bill Clinton wolfed down a five-combo plate of Mexican food, where Hollywood stars go to seek secluded rehab in the desert, or even where you might stumble upon a fabulously rich lost gold mine in the Catalina Mountains, let local author Clark Norton answer these and many other questions about Tucson you never thought to ask. After writing more than a dozen travel guidebooks, he knows how to peek into the unexplored corners of the Old Pueblo to help you uncover the best of Secret Tucson.

Secret Dallas: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Secret Dallas: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure PDF Author: Mark Stuertz
Publisher: Reedy Press LLC
ISBN: 168106104X
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
Take an excursion through the weird, the wry, and the wonderful idiosyncrasies that comprise the Big D. From the Playboy Marfa bunny-with-a-muscle-car sculpture, to the ceaseless failed attempts to navigate the Trinity River, to the invention of the computer chip and German chocolate cake, Dallas is the birthplace of the whimsical, the wistful, and the profound. Secret Dallas answers questions about Big D you never knew you had, catapulting you through a portfolio of little-known but fascinating people, places, episodes, and artifacts. Think of it as a scavenger hunt travelogue, providing insights into hidden rhinestones and diamonds in the caliche. Secret Dallas is a riveting excursion into the city's odds and ends, where the rare and the phenomenal express the big, the bold, and the brash in everyone.

Secret Albuquerque: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Secret Albuquerque: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure PDF Author: Ashley M. Biggers
Publisher: Reedy Press LLC
ISBN: 1681062577
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Where in Albuquerque can you find accidentally dropped nuclear weapons, Microsoft's first office, or the remains of an amusement park dedicated to comic book character Red Ryder? Why does Albuquerque have a grave for a fictional character and where do people play in a "maggot pit"? Where can you sleep in a spy's former home, spot an "Arroyosaurus," or walk among monumental origami? And where exactly can you eat a seven-pound burrito? You'll find the answers to these questions, and many others, in this guide to the Duke City's overlooked, offbeat, and unknown. Secret Albuquerque profiles the city's best-kept restaurant secrets, most fascinating museums, and oddest works of art. It shines a light on little-known aspects of local culture and reveals the secrets behind beloved Albuquerque landmarks. You'll discover where the Mercury Astronauts received their pre-mission physicals (even female astronauts), learn how a former brothel became a bed-and-brew, and uncover the deed and misdeeds of a famed archaeologist. Written by Burquea and local author Ashley M. Biggers, Secret Albuquerque offers a new way to explore the Duke City. It's your guide to uncovering hidden histories of places you thought you knew and discovering off-the-beaten-path attractions you can visit today.

Lost Restaurants of Houston

Lost Restaurants of Houston PDF Author: Paul Galvani
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439664617
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
“Stories of immigration, culture-clash . . . and old-fashioned hard work are told through the history of Houston’s long-gone, but still-beloved restaurants.” —Yesterday’s America With more than fourteen thousand eating establishments covering seventy different ethnic cuisines, Houston is a foodie town. But even in a place where eating out is a way of life and restaurants come and go, there were some iconic spots that earned a special place in the hearts and stomachs of locals. Maxim’s taught overnight millionaires how to handle meals that came with three forks. The Trader Vic’s at the Shamrock offered dedicated homebodies a chance for the exotic, and Sonny Look’s Sirloin Inn maintained the reputation of a city of steakhouses. From Alfred’s Delicatessen to Youngblood’s Fried Chicken, Paul and Christiane Galvani celebrate the stories and recipes of Houston’s fondly remembered tastemakers. “In the book, the Galvanis share Houston’s history and love of food. They take the reader on the banks of the bayou when the city received its first inhabitants before time hopping from the Original Mexican Restaurant to The Original Kelley’s Steakhouse. Other stops include Alfred’s Delicatessen and the San Jacinto Inn.” —Houston Business Journal