Important and new sights for me in Houston

I've spent thousands of hours at Memorial Park over the years so I had to see the latest improvements to the park including the new 100-acre Eastern Glades which is the first major project in the ten year plan for the Memorial Park Conservancy

Gary and I visited the Buffalo Bayou Cistern to see the newly commissioned artwork by Albanian-born Anri Sala, Time No Longer; the cistern is open for art tours, historical tours and a weekly meditation group on Saturdays

The new Botanic Garden still has some growing to do and suffered from last winter's cold; a significant amount of money has gone into the Garden and I hope its location away from other attractions can be overcome

My first stop in Houston was to remember my friend and fellow Ironman, Mark Brooker, who was killed while biking last year in a residential neighborhood; Mark had just turned 52, was smart and a phenomenal athlete

The 4th most populous city in the country, Houston had 2.3 million residents in 2020 with the metro area having 7.1 million people (5th highest); it is the largest city in the US by total area, whose government is not consolidated with a county or borough

Admission to the Botanic Garden was $15; there were a few unique pieces of art (like this one) with special seasonal attractions like Lightscape (running Nov 20 through Jan 2) drawing visitors to this nice addition to Houston

Memorial Park, established in 1924, is 1500+ acres (more than twice the size of Central Park in NYC) and an oasis in the heart of the city; the park is currently being transformed thanks to $100+ million in private funds

The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern is a former drinking water reservoir built in 1926; it held 15 million gallons of water, is 87,500 sq ft and has 221 25-foot tall, slender concrete columns

Everywhere I turned in Houston new high-rises are going up (mostly residential); Houston is the most diverse metropolitan area in Texas and has been described as the most racially and ethnically diverse major metropolis in the country

The 132-acre Houston Botanic Garden, carved from the old Glenbrook Golf Course, straddles Sims Bayou just off Interstate 45 at the Park Place exit (on the opposite side from Hobby Airport)