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When a friend and I arrived at Space Center Houston a few nights ago to see their new “Galaxy Lights” display, we weree met with an unexpected surprise: the Budweiser Clydesdales! I swear we were so excited, it was verging on giddy. The Clydesdales are such beautiful, powerful creatures and any chance to see them up close is a treat.
We stood in the parking lot taking photos of the horses (and of course, the Dalmation, too!), and talking with the handlers and agreed that seeing them alone would have been worth the visit, but it was time to go inside to a reception being held for our group.
If you haven’t been to Space Center Houston, I highly recommend it…for all ages, in groups, with family or friends, or alone…it’s a fascinating way to spend a few hours. I won’t go into the details of the center in this post, but perhaps I’ll revisit the topic soon.
This winter, a new holiday lights exhibit at Space Center called “Galaxy Lights” has been drawing in extra visitors with its festive use of space-themed interactive technology and light displays. Dazzling spectacles created with more than 750,000 lights covering more than one million square feet are incorporated in both indoor and outdoor areas.
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SPECIAL NOTE: If someone in your group is autistic or has special sensitivities to light or sound, Space Center Houston provides a special “sensory guide” giving specifics about each station at the event. You can find a copy here: Galaxy Lights sensory guide
Entering the front doors, guests are greeted with a kinetic light show suspended from the ceiling. Beginning every 15 minutes, dozens of LED orbs suspended from cables move in precise choreographed sequences to holiday music. It can be viewed from anywhere on entrance plaza, but a few clever enthusiasts we saw actually laid down on the floor beneath it to get the “full effect.”
“Holidays in Space,” an original 15-minute film showing in-space footage and new interviews with astronauts talking about celebrating the holidays while manning missions in space is a must-see. The film is shown in Space Center Theater every 30 minutes from 6:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
Every half hour a tram leaves from the rear door of Space Center to take visitors to the display at Rocket Park. After driving through a tunnel of over 250,000 LED lights synchronized to music, the tram drives by the building housing the Sat
urn V rocket, with the 363-foot long image of the rocket itself outlined and illuminated by 5,000 lights.
Inside the structure is the restored, historic Saturn V rocket positioned on its side. The sight of the rocket by itself is breathtaking, but “Galaxy Lights” pulls visitors’ attention to 3-D projected movies projected right onto the side of the vehicle. Be sure to look around as you walk inside the building for other small projections on the walls and floor, including images of the first steps on the moon!
Outside in Rocket Park, the displays that are the highlight (pun only slightly intended) of “Galaxy Lights.” Brilliant images of a rocket blasting off, sparkling globes representing the planets in our solar system, and International Space Station sculpture and even a 35-foot tall shooting star are a delight to walk among and enjoy.
When you’re through taking it all in catch a tram to return to Independence Plaza where the mock shuttle is mounted on an airplane. Food stations there sell hot cocoa, kettle corn, ingredients to make s’mores over one of the firepits, or options at a food truck (it was a taco truck the night we were there). There is also a full bar available inside and beer outside (for ages 21 and older, of course).
Nearby are a 40-foot, lighted holiday tree and two cute, lighted photo opportunities. One is a crescent moon with a saddle like seat to sit on, and the other is a line of the letters “EAR” and “H.” Guests are encouraged to spread their arms to form the letter “T” to complete the name of our home planet.
I would recommend this light display for families with young children. Little ones especially appreciate the freedom to walk right up to and in between the light displays, though parents should be mindful of electrical cord and guywires supporting the displays (tripping might spoil the fun!).
Allow about two hours to visit all the features of Galaxy Lights. A review of the map of the attractions and start times will help you navigate your evening.
“Galaxy Lights” is open Nov. 16 – Jan. 5
from 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.
(Closed Nov. 28, Dec. 12, Dec. 24 & 25)
Public price: $19.95; Member price: $15.95;
Ages 3 & younger get free admission.
There is an additional fee for parking.
What’s inside that huge, white tent at Moody Gardens? It’s visions of Christmas Around the World, carved entirely from ice.
This holiday season, grab your ear muffs and set off on a chilly journey around the world without ever leaving Galveston Island with a visit to Moody Gardens’ ICE LAND exhibit. Returning with a brand new theme for its sixth year, this frosty phenomenon has become a favorite of visitors and locals who have made it part of their annual holiday traditions.
The process begins when 6,000 300-pound blocks of dyed ice arrive from College Station, dyed in an array of colors. Just to put it into perspective, if those ice blocks were lined up they would stretch 4.46 miles.
Even Elsa from “Frozen” would surely be impressed!
A team of 25 professional ice carvers from Harbin, China carved over 100 sculptures in just 45 days completing over 1,080 hours of work in a tent kept at a bone-chilling nine degrees. Brrr…..
After several years of hosting the event Moody Gardens President and CEO John Zendt is still impr
essed with the undertaking. “The craftsmanship and artistry of these carvers is truly spectacular. The precision is quite remarkable as you consider this work is done free-hand with just chainsaws and ice picks. For example, the Statue of Liberty, just of the massive landmarks being featured in this year’s ICE LAND is itself over 20 feet tall.”
When you arrive at ICE LAND, you’ll be issued a full-length blue parka especially designed for the frigid temps ahead. Special hint here (and I’m speaking for experience) – BRING GLOVES! Even if you pull them off occasionally to take photos, you’ll be soooo glad you did.
Once you’re bundled up, you’ll enter the 17,000 square feet of exhibit space and “travel” along a path between famous sites from around the world, including a giant windmill, the Alamo, Russian nesting dolls, Egyptian pyramids, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China and more with some towering 35 feet in the air.
And of course they haven’t overlooked the most famous gent of the season. Santa appears occasionally in the festive variety of fashion and styles he wears while delivering goodies across the globe.
What’s a family attraction without a slide, you say? No worries. In the center of the exhibit, visitors can climb the stairs to reach nutcrackers standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower, then glide down a 30-foot ice slide to land at the Arc de Triomphe. It’s a slippery, slide-y (yes, that’s a word!) photo app waiting to happen.
The bravest of visitors can linger after seeing the sculptures and “chill out” with refreshments in the log cabin style Shiver’s Ice Bar, a watering hole made completely of ice. Yep…including the tales and stools. But don’t take off your mittens! Even 
the flames in the fireplace are carved from the frozen stuff.
One thing’s for sure: it will be the coolest thing you do all season!
In addition to ICE LAND, Moody Gardens will feature seven other attractions as part of Holiday in the Gardens including the Cirque Joyeux Dinner & Show, Festival of Lights, an outdoor ice rink, train rides, Arctic Slide, Rudolph 4D, and 3D holiday films.
ICE LAND will be on display Nov. 14 – Jan. 12. Admission for adults is $28.95 and $23.95 for children and seniors. Super Value Days start at $8.95 for Festival of Lights and $19.95 for ICE LAND with an additional $5 off for seniors and children at ICE LAND. Super Value Days start at $19.95 for ICE LAND with an additional $5 off for seniors and children at ICE LAND. Super Value Days are Nov. 17-21; Dec. 2, 9 and 16; and Jan. 5-12.
Click here for a calendar of of all of the special pricing opportunities…you can save a bundle before you bundle up!
For a calendar of daily hours, special discount offers and hotel packages call 409-744-4673 or visit their website here.
Have you ever thought about volunteering during your holiday (or other) travel? It can be easier than you might think, and is a great way to take the focus off of busy schedules and squeezing in more shopping.
These ideas work if you are staying home for the holidays as well of course, but giving back in a place you are visiting can give you a special feeling of connection with the community.
Here are some ideas to start you off:
Ronald McDonald House
RMH supports children and families undergoi
ng medical treatment, typically long-term treatment, and who have often traveled to a RMH from their homes. They have locations around U.S. and the world and volunteers are needed to prepare meals, greet visitors, interact with guests, and much more.
A group of friends and I put up and decorated the Houston RMH Christmas tree at the beginning of the holidays. It was especially fun when some of the young residents wanted to help!
A couple of weeks before that, another group of friends and I got together to make lunch for 50 residents at the Galveston house. Besides doing something that we knew was truly helping out, it was a fun excuse to get together in the kitchen with friends and enjoy each other’s company. It wasn’t a fancy or expensive meal, so with each of us bringing a few ingredients it came together quickly. I even approached a 
local restaurant about supplying a couple of side dishes, which they graciously did! And a lovely local nursery gave us a few potted flowers to decorate the buffet.
Organizations like this are always looking for people, families and groups to help out with activities, like crafts, playing bingo with residents, and other simple activities.
To find a RMH near your destination, visit:
Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels programs provide meals to homebound seniors. Different communities have different rules about how the public can volunteer. Some need people to deliver the meals, and possibly help setting up, checking in delivery drivers and assisting with clean-up.
If you have little ones, you can call ahead to a local chapter to ask how many meals they deliver daily. Then while your kids are trapped in the car in route, they can make small cards to decorate the recipient trays with crayons, colored pencils, stickers and construction paper. Once you can arrive at your destination you can simply drop off the tray decorations knowing you’re your family has brightened peoples’ day! I sued to do this with my Girl Scouts when they were little and they loved being artsy and helping out.
Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, our mission to Remember, Honor and Teach is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 1,400 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad.
Wreaths Across America
A trip to the dollar star before your trip, and an evening of prep in from of the TV or at the table after dinner can make a big difference to local homeless shelters. Just stuff new, warm socks with water bottles and granola bars to be taken to a shelter in any city. Another big need is gently used books
Food Banks are always in search of help sorting canned items. This can be a one hour volunteer effort, or all day…but every little bit helps!
Local children’s hospitals will usually gladly accept gently used books and DVDs, coloring books and crayons. Another neat idea is to sort the materials for a small craft project (beaded bracelet, Christmas ornament, etc.) into individual baggies that the kids can get from the nurses station to keep their minds off of being stuck in a hospital.
But you get the idea, and it doesn’t have to be during the holidays. Whether you decide to pull together something to donate when you reach your destination or to dedicate a couple of hours once you arrive, there are so many ways to spread the love!
Thanksgiving is, of course, a time to be grateful for gifts. For me these include a loving family, surviving breast cancer, and the opportunity to travel and explore.
But it’s also a great opportunity to capture family stories. Have your kids (adults can do it, too) use their phones to interview older family members about what family holiday celebrations were like for them as kids. Who was there, what they ate, a favorite memory.
It will get generations talking with each other and create a priceless video keepsake at the same time.
Need some questions to start you off? Here are a few suggestions:
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What was Thanksgiving like when you were a kid, and what did you eat?
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What was/is your favorite kind of pie?
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Who came to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family?
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Were your grandparents there? What were their names? What were they like?
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Did your family play music during gatherings, themselves, on the radio or records?
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Who did the cooking? Who set the table?
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What did you do after the meal was over?
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What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory?
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What were you most thankful for?
Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!
