I should probably have explained that one of the motives for my trip to Houston was doing a college campus Volksmarch in decent weather at this time of year. Of course, after I arranged the trip, they extended the program another year, so I don't have quite the same pressure to finish the last few walks I need for the "doctorate of walking." But I did one of the walks here anyway.
The walk I did went around and through Rice University. This was of particular interest for me, since: 1) it is a major engineering school and 2) I had actually considered going there. The lure of Boston led me to choose M.I.T. instead, but I was curious about what I'd missed out on. It's not really fair to judge by a walk some 30 years later. Still, one gets impressions.
The residential neighborhoods around the campus are pleasant and attractive. There is a reasonably lively and upscale shopping and entertainment district next to the campus. Oddly, there seemed to be a particularly large number of stores dealing with children and motherhood. And there are lots of cultural opportunities, since the museum district (including the Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Contemporary Art, and others)is pretty much adjacent. However, the campus itself is undistinguished architecturally. It seemed somewhat dominated by athletic facilities, including a huge stadium. There were also a noticeably large number of people jogging around the perimeter of the campus. I couldn't make any sense out of the signs on that perimeter which read, "This is a sidewalk. Pedestrians must yield to traffic." I sort of thought a sidewalk meant there shouldn't be traffic.
After the walk, I ate lunch and took the light rail back to the Museum District. Oh, sure, one can do something normal like go to an art museum or the natural science museum. But I favor quirkier things and the John C. Freeman Weather Museum seemed to qualify. Alas, it was disappointing. I don't need to go to a museum to watch a TV program (complete with commercials) or click through powerpoint charts. The instruments were displayed with inadequate signage. And, while most of the exhibits seemed geared to children, there were others with excessively detailed technical language. Some were interesting, but my overall impression was that they couldn't quite decide who their target audience should be.
Tomorrow's plan is for another Volksmarch and the zoo. I expect I will be updating fairly late, since I am at the mercy of United Airlines.
Copyright 2007 Miriam H. Nadel