Category: Useless Facts

Things in Houston to do before and after 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025

Things to do in Houston, TX before and after 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025!

Before 2023, I’ve never been Houston, TX. It’s long been on my list of places to visit customers. In June 2023, I finally travelled to this great city where I visited several customers and presented at the local user group. In early 2024, I again found myself in town, this time to visit extended family. Well, it’s 2025, and I am again (again) travelling to Houston. This time is for 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025 (#3DXW25)!

If you are also attending 3DXW25, here’s a list of things you can do in Houston before or after the event. As always, none of these places or sites are endorsed. This is just a list of interesting things to see and do while visiting.

Attractions

Space Center Houston
Houston Museum of Natural Science
Hermann Park Conservancy
Geronimo Adventure Park
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens 
Caroline Wiess Law Building Museum
PNC Roof Garden
Holocaust Museum Houston
Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park
Houston Zoo
Cockrell Butterfly Center
Houston Botanic Garden
Kemah Boardwalk

New suggestion from Linkedin: The Houston Presidential Heads and Giant Beatles Sculptures

Enjoying the area

Buffalo Bayou – Including Buffalo Bayou Park, Downtown area, and a 10-mile stretch between Port of Houston Turning and Shepard Drive.
The Galleria – “Luxurious shopping destination”.
Post HTX – Shopping center, art exhibition, views of the city and much more.
Chinatown– Incredible and thriving area of Asian culture, including the Dunhaung Plaza and Sterling Plaza.
East End of East Downtown (EaDo) – Neighborhood with tons of places to dine and explore just East of Downtown.

Enjoying the region

Galveston – Coastal town with a rich history.
Brazos Bend State Park – State Park with 37 miles of trails, fishing and other outdoor activities.
Sam Houston National Forest – About 50 miles north, with hiking, camping and exploration of nature
Fredericksburg – Quaint town; see a different side of Texas with craft breweries and eateries, including German influences and Tuscany-like landscapes.

Interesting facts about Houston

Houston has the largest downtown tunnel system in the US (and it is air conditioned!).1
It was founded on August 30, 1836, by brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen.2
The first public television station in the US began broadcasting in 1953 from Houston.3

See you in Houston, TX at 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025!

Senseless Sunday: Mammoth Stars

  1. The last pyramids in Egypt where finished before the last of the Woolly Mammoths died out.1 2
  2. The World as we know it was designated to end by a Viking myth on 2/22/20143 and by a modern economist on 3/4/2014.4  The quote from War Games rings through my head right now about “We’re still here!  We’re STILL HERE!”.
  3. Our Solar System is traveling at an average speed of 514,000 mph relative to the Milky Way galactic center.5

Senseless Sunday: A little dreamt out

    1. Only five words in the English language actually end with the letters “mt”: dreamt, daydreamt, undreamt, redreamt, and outdreamt.
    2. The invention of matches (rubbing a chemical dipped stick to create a flame with friction) came about in 1826.  The invention of the lighter (mechanical device to produce a flame) was first developed in the 1500’s.1
    3. As of 2008, the USA has more golf courses than the rest of the world combined.2

Senseless Sunday: Mort fog tail

  • Micromort is the unit of measure assigned to determining the risk of mortality in terms of one-in-a-million chance of dying.
  • The invention of the toothbrush has no well defined origin, but the first bristle toothbrush has been discovered in China from the Tang Dynasty (circa A.D. 619–907).  It used hog bristle.  Not quite the same as brushing your teeth with bacon flavored toothpaste, but close.
  • A cubic mile of fog is made up of 56,000 gallons of water.
  • The word coward original comes from Latin word couda, meaning “tail”.

Senseless Sunday: Dog’s life

  1. A dog was killed by a meteor at Nakhla, Egypt, in 1911.[1]

  2. The tallest recorded bamboo is 130 feet high.[2]

  3. World’s longest beaver dam is found in Alberta, Canada with a length of 2790 feet.[3]

  4. Adwaita, an Aldabra Giant Tortoise died at the age of 255 in March 2006 in Alipore Zoo, Kolkata, India. It was recorded the oldest Terrestrial animal in the world.

Senseless Sunday: Antarctica Water Pie

  1. Antarctica has two species of flowering plants: Antarctic hair grass (Deschapsia antarctica) and Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis).
  2. Boston Cream Pie is the the official state dessert of Massachusetts.  (Go figure.)
  3. Old trees can actually produce more carbon and methane than they absorb.[1]
  4. Currently, 400 species of sharks roam on the oceans of Earth.
  5. The fastest recorded swimming animal is the sailfish, which can swim  up to 68 mph.