A weekend in Houston isn't enough time to see all the sights, but Houston is a great place to play tourist if you equip yourself with a good map, a reliable car, lots of bug repellent and a credit card.

We spent two perfect September days in 2002 touring museums, eating and shopping.  Here are our suggestions.

Decide how you want to spend your time before you book a room.  Houston covers a lot of territory and you won't want to spend all your time driving.  Most of the major sights are southwest of downtown.

Sights  

• Houston Arboretum & Nature Center - Free admission.  This is where you'll need bug spray and good walking shoes.  See the pre-development flora of the Houston area.  4501 Woodway Dr. (near Memorial Park).  713-681-8433.

• Menil Collection - Free admission.  We were overwhelmed by the scope and brilliance of this multifaceted art collection.  There are several buildings containing some of the most fabulous works from many times and schools.  However, unless you are a fan of Cy Twombly, feel free to skip the Cy Twombly Gallery - for the most part, his work gave us a "Where are the emperor's new clothes?" feeling?  1515 Sul Ross (near St. Thomas University)  713-525-9400.

• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - An absolutely amazing collection.  MFAH welcomes major international exhibits and is not to be missed.  1001 Bissonnet between S. Main and Montrose, in the museum district near Rice University. 

click on the pictures of sculptures from the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden at Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) to enlarge them

Sights we plan to visit on our next trip:

• Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens - We've heard fabulous things about this branch of the Museum of Fine Arts, but ran out of time.  1 Wescot St.  713-639-7750.

• Houston Museum of Natural Science - There's a three-story glass butterfly center that sounds intriguing.  1 Hermann Circle Dr.  713-639-4629.

Houston has other attractions we were sorry to miss including Holocaust Museum Houston, more arts and historic museums, gardens, a large zoo and NASA's Johnson Space Center.

For more information on attractions, we recommend a search for "Houston attractions" on your favorite search engine.  We gave up trying to figure which site was the most official!

Restaurants - Houston is full of great local places to eat and a few chains we haven't seen in too many other places like the incomparable Eatzi's (upscale grocery with on the spot cook [they cook] and eat [you eat] facilities) and Saltgrass Steak House to name just a few.