[Sticky] Shared Houston Logistics & Planning Thread

Submitted by Seth on January 8th, 2024 at 6:00 PM

Trying to consolidate because these threads and conversations are popping up all over. Here is your one place for all of the fan-to-fan coordinating of everything but tickets to the game. Looking for ride shares, tailgating, food advice, parking advice, splitting places to stay, flights, offering places to stay, or any Houston/travel things to do other than The Thing, talk about it here. This will stay atop the message board until gameday.

Seth plans:

  1. I'm flying into Dallas to see my sister on Saturday, then need to be in Houston before noon on Sunday (anyone wanna share a ride)?
  2. The Alumni Club's pep rally is at 4PM at Rice Stadium. I might be doing a little Q&A there--TBA.
  3. Our good friends the Sklar Brothers are performing Sunday night at 8PM at The Secret Group at 2101 Polk, Houston TX 77003. If you're in town and looking for something to do with your nervous energy the night before. There are only a few hundred seats so if you're thinking about going, get on that.
  4. Monday I'm probably at the alumni territory tailgate since that was pretty good in Pasadena.
  5. Need to get back to Dallas sometime on Tuesday to fly out early morning Wednesday.

Content-wise, I don't think I can have UFR done before I leave. I'll have a ticket watch out tomorrow (Friday) and if it's possible to do a show on Sunday we'll try to get an MGoRadio out.

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jp24elk

January 5th, 2024 at 6:13 AM ^

I can’t tell you which ones based on personal preference, but it’s Houston, which is loaded with food galore. We have plenty of gluten-free friends, and small bites and eating out is never a problem here.

Leave the toaster at home and you’ll be fine. Depending on where you’re staying you’ll be able to find plenty of options. I would check if you’re planning Sunday as your day to grab some things in case they’re closed, though.

Joined: 10/15/2010

MGoPoints: 677

AdAstra

January 5th, 2024 at 1:10 AM ^

For anyone interested in happy hour and dinner between the pep rally and the Sklar’s comedy show on Sunday, I’ll be at True Anomaly Brewing - it’s just a few doors down from The Secret Group

Joined: 01/27/2012

MGoPoints: 51

ShadowStorm33

January 5th, 2024 at 2:18 AM ^

Glad Seth posted this, I had been toying with the idea of starting a shared logistics thread since I hadn't seen one.

I'd be interested in ride shares. I fly into Hobby at 4pm on Monday, and will be heading to George Bush at some point after the game (7am Tuesday flight). If anyone has a similar trip in or out and is interested in ride sharing, let me know.

Joined: 07/22/2008

MGoPoints: 23368

TeslaRedVictorBlue

January 5th, 2024 at 8:38 AM ^

Booked flights and hotel!!! What activities are still available on Monday? I see lots of folks looking for the alumni event seats. I'm assuming getting tickets for that will be tough?

I'm staying at the Best Western Plus Northwest Inn and suites. Best deal I could find. Any thoughts on that area for food etc?

Can't wait to tell my son after school

Thx!!!

Joined: 09/02/2021

MGoPoints: 35671

BlizzardOfOz

January 5th, 2024 at 9:06 AM ^

Glad to see this thread and looking forward to the ticket watch.  My best friend (an MSU alum) lives in Houston.  Decided late yesterday to fly out there.  Got round trip airfare from Dayton to Houston for $330.  I don’t have game tickets yet so I’m really hoping the ticket watch will help me with that. If we can’t snag tickets,  we’ll find a place to watch the game.  

Joined: 02/25/2010

MGoPoints: 1330

OuldSod

January 5th, 2024 at 10:10 AM ^

Good rain day activities (pending traffic) are:

  1. NASA
  2. Houston Museum of Fine Arts
  3. Houston Natural History Museum
  4. Indoor putt-putt downtown (can't remember the name, not the one on Washington)
  5. Food Halls (several downtown, but if from out of town, The POST on Washington is a fun visit)
  6. Menil collection - free fine art
  7. Cidercade arcade - unlimited video games for a fixed price (e.g. $20)

These can probably keep you occupied from brunch / early lunch until 2 pm or whenever you make your way to NRG.

Joined: 11/20/2008

MGoPoints: 4258

OuldSod

January 5th, 2024 at 10:18 AM ^

Monday is typically a slow / off bar day. Most don't open until 3 or 4 pm. 

Double Trouble will be open in Mid-Main, and you will be near Home Slice Pizza and Taco's a go--go. However, it's more fun in the evenings when several other bars / venues adjacent are open - but they don't appear to open until late the afternoon.

Flying Saucer downtown is open at 11 am with a large draft beer selection. 

Joined: 11/20/2008

MGoPoints: 4258

bluebyyou

January 5th, 2024 at 11:10 AM ^

We are driving from Dallas to Houston early Monday and staying at a Hilton property at The Woodlands, about an hour north of town. My son and I live in the Dallas area and a friend is flying in to DFW early Monday.  We figured we would bite the bullet after the game and be able to hit the road early Tuesday morning to catch flights/return to work Tuesday afternoon.

What I'm curious about is whether there is any transportation to and from NRG from up north or do we have to drive to town?

For those of you new to Texas, our BBQ is other worldly good as is the food scene. Texas chile is different in that it is all meat with no beans. The big cities in TX are very diverse with a great food scene.  If you are hanging around for a few days, Galveston Island is not far away from Houston and Gaido's Restaurant (and many others) has excellent seafood and pecan pie. (TX grows lots of pecans and good pecan pie is a treat).

Joined: 09/07/2009

MGoPoints: 18774

c-man

January 5th, 2024 at 2:49 PM ^

Alum. Moved to Houston in 2022. 

 

We've been working our way around the steakhouses. Best overall is Pappas Bros. Steak 48 is also very good. I'd recommend either. Both are near-ish the Galleria area, which is off 610 to the west of town. It's a ritzy mall complex/high-end shopping area. 

 

I've not gotten deep into BBQ yet, but I have yet to have bad BBQ. Even at the one that was part gas station (Rudy's I think...there are several). Wherever you go, get the brisket.

 

Hobby is much easier to get into and out of than Bush and is a smaller airport with all the simplicity that suggests. There is ongoing construction at Bush that impacts parking, but that's mainly an issue for Houstonians flying out. It's just more traffic returning to the airport for out-of-towners. 

 

Traffic is on the bad side for big cities (compared to Boston, Philly, LA) and the backups are heavy around construction areas (610/69 interchange) and poorly designed interchanges. Traffic times routinely double between normal and peak travel times. There are also a ton of toll roads around, but more in the burbs than the city center. Folks in Houston have also apparently never heard of "keep left except to pass." Not quite Florida bad, but close.

 

Hope that helps.

Joined: 05/04/2010

MGoPoints: 63

juiceman

January 5th, 2024 at 12:36 PM ^

I have a room reservation at Intercontinental Houston if someone would needs it. Check in Monday 1/8, check out 1/9. It’s $836 for the night which includes all taxes/fees. If you want it, email me at [email protected] and we can coordinate. I’ll be in Houston but staying elsewhere now with the rest of my group. 

Joined: 08/13/2008

MGoPoints: 94

Its Great to be...

January 5th, 2024 at 12:59 PM ^

For weather (I know we all have an app on our phone), but if you want more insight, Space City Weather is the best for hype free information (perusing their archives when Hurricane Harvey hit is a long but fascinating read - https://spacecityweather.com/2017/08/page/12/):

https://spacecityweather.com/

They don't always update over the weekend, but with the big game on Monday, there is a decent chance that they might.  

Joined: 04/02/2018

MGoPoints: 26

Seth

January 5th, 2024 at 2:34 PM ^

UPDATE: I believe the pep rally is sold out and there are about 20 spots left for the Sklars show so DO NOT WAIT if you're thinking of going to that.

UPDATE AGAIN: Talked to Jason Sklar a moment ago; tix for 8pm are gonna sell out if they haven't already, probably adding a 10pm show. Check back tomorrow if you couldn't get tix for 8pm...some of those might flip to the later one.

Joined: 10/14/2008

MGoPoints: 149874

Sopwith

January 5th, 2024 at 6:59 PM ^

Others probably received the same text, but if you're planning to arrive on Monday, they are expected major flight disruptions due to severe weather.

I was flying into Houston from San Jose Monday morning but I'm cancelling and rebooking to get in late late Sunday night instead. If you were planning to come Monday, probably not worth the risk.

Joined: 06/29/2010

MGoPoints: 61218

HTownWolverine9

January 5th, 2024 at 11:18 PM ^

11 year Houstonian here with some grub recommendations:

Houston’s most redeeming quality besides cost of living is it has the best restaurant scene in the country outside LA/NYC. Pretty much any restaurant in Montrose and Rice Village is top tier. I think the bbq scene has already been thoroughly covered so I’ll list some of my favorites:

- La Guadalupana is my favorite brunch place if you want Mexican. Amazing food and bakery

- Hugo’s is some of the best Mexican food you’ll ever eat but it’s pricey

- Caracol is a Mexican seafood restaurant that’s also soooo good, also a bit pricey

- Alabama Ice House for some local brew and the food truck is delicious

- The Breakfast Klub is a Houston institution, chicken and waffles

- Make sure to have some Cajun/Creole food too as good Cajun food is hard to find outside the gulf coast, Brennan’s is a great option but really everything is good

- If you want to try something a little different i love afghani food and Houston has a fair bit now. It’s like a less spicy version of Indian. Afghan Village is great

Joined: 01/04/2024

MGoPoints: 4

Picktown GoBlue

January 6th, 2024 at 5:28 AM ^

Hey shout out from Columbus where this Southwest gate has a bunch of folks headed to the game, connecting thru Orlando. We had existing plans but lots of Go Blues here from folks headed to Houston. 

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 6299

Niels

January 6th, 2024 at 9:54 AM ^

I wanted to update folks who might be affected by the winter storm coming through what appears to be much of the eastern US tonight. Specifically I wanted to share a couple things I learned from a very helpful Delta agent about flights through the next 48 hours as well as tracking these things in general.

If you're one of the lucky folks who are going out today and aren't impacted, save me a seat at the bar in Houston...

For the rest of us:

General stuff I learned

----The airlines are always last to make decisions so it makes sense to gather addl information (see below) when deciding whether to sit tight or audible plans. 

----While I am sure most of you know of the flightaware.com website that tracks flights and (very helpfully) inbound equipment, the agent introduced me to https://nasstatus.faa.gov which has not only current airport status but also planned and/or possible closures, etc for all major airports 

---The agent mentioned that checking the FAA site mid-afternoon is probably the best time to get a sense of where things are headed, even before the official comms come out to fliers and media outlets.

Specific stuff (mostly for us Northeasterners)

The bad news (for people in my situation):

----most everything out of BOS, JFK, LGA, and NWK both direct to Texas cities and connecting through Delta hubs is sold out. I didn't bother checking all other airlines but a quick expedia search showed only availability for flights out so late tonight that they likely could be impacted by the storm just as much as those tomorrow.

The good news: 

----the game is on Monday, and apparently most airline agents are either CFB fans or are married to one.

The former point matters because things are supposed to die down towards the end of tomorrow, giving a window on the back end of Sunday to start clearing the gates and getting planes and crews where they need to go. 

The latter point matters because I was told a few times that, given my son's and my circumstances , agents would use every tool at their disposal (including booking on other airlines) to get us to the game. I can only speak for my experience with Delta and as someone with some status there, but my sense was that their willingness to go "all in" on getting us to the game had more to do with general empathetic recognition of the importance/rarity of the situation. 

(For those wondering why I didn't make my flight out earlier, it was a combination of not having info at the time along with the fact that one of my friends from freshman year at Markley (who walked to my first UM game with me and my hallmates, making this somewhat ironic) is having her 50th birthday party up here tonight that I didn't want to miss.

Hope this helps, and that for those traveling you all make it safely to the game!

 

Joined: 09/04/2009

MGoPoints: 3449

tfrock

January 6th, 2024 at 11:52 AM ^

Thanks for posting this … apologize if this has already been ask ed (I don’t see it) … is there a bar that Michigan fans might take over before the game?  We didn’t do the Alumni Tailgate thing but were hoping that there is a consensus UM bar for pre-game tailgating.  All of the 4 UM bars I’ve seen through the Alumni Association seem to be out in the suburbs … hoping for something downtown, in mid-town or near NRG (along the red line route maybe).  Thanks and Go Blue.

Joined: 01/12/2013

MGoPoints: 30

ADogNamedBo

January 6th, 2024 at 3:21 PM ^

Thanks for this thread, it has helped us plan some stuff. 

Leaving PHX tomorrow afternoon, only enough time to grab something to eat at hotel or on the way and fly out Tuesday. Plan on spending the day at the Allstate tailgate. 

I am already anxious and it is only Saturday. Lol 

Go Blue!!

Joined: 12/28/2013

MGoPoints: 1424

bwlance

January 6th, 2024 at 3:47 PM ^

Headed down via the alumni association solo tomorrow. Rest of the family can't make it with work and school schedules.

Any others riding solo and interested in connecting?

Staying at the Hampton.

 

Joined: 12/19/2013

MGoPoints: 12