Discovery Green Park

Houston, Texas - Houston is hot. They talk about times being "Africa" hot, but boy howdy, have they tried "Texas" hot? Not just any "Texas" hot, but "Houston" hot? That is hot. In June and July so far we have had 9 days of 100+ heat. Not a big enough number for ya'? How about more than 40 days of 95+ heat.

So what do we do to cool off? In the good old days, we played in the sprinkler. Today the modern kids play at splash pads and dancing, sidewalk, water fountains. Discovery Green Park, http://www.discoverygreen.com/ , in downtown Houston across from the George R Brown Convention Center has a sidewalk, dancing fountain that the kids can get totally soaked in. Thankfully, there are bathrooms adjacent to the fountains so changing in and out of swimsuits and/or wet clothes is not an issue as long as you have brought spare dry clothes.

Lucky for Mom, there were plenty of seats around the fountains and the fountains are recessed a bit into the ground making a natural bench around the fountains (you will get wet if you sit on the edges).

There were at least 2 day cares when we where there, and it was crowded. My 5 year old was not slowed down a bit by the numerous bodies. And surprisingly, when all the noisy critters left, my little critter wanted to leave too. I guess the noise and busy-ness added a sense of excitement.

Discovery Green Park is more than just a fun fountain to get wet in. It does have restrooms and a couple of restaurants (didn't go to the restaurants so not sure what the prices are like). It has nice walkways and beautiful gardens. If you bring your own equipment, you can enjoy a game of shuffle board or bocce or even some putting practice on a small putting green.

The park does have a playground, but most of it is fenced off. The playground is disappointing. It is just a bridge with a couple of short slides. Skip the playground and just enjoy the refreshing water fountain.

Trip Stats

• Who: Mama and one 5 year old boy
• What: Discovery Green, http://www.discoverygreen.com/
• When: Wednesday, late morning
• Where: downtown by the convention center
• Why: Outdoor play
• Cost: Free
• Parking is not free: We parked in the Convention Center underground parking and paid $5 for one hour. The price goes up the longer you are there. I didn't catch the maximum, but it is not unusual to pay $10 to park in downtown Houston ($20 for special events). There is parking on the street, but look for the meter boxes. It is hard to find and not free either.