97 was the year Drayton let us run around on the field like idiots. My buddy and I immediately scaled the fence in Lefty's and made a beeline for the pitcher's mound. Many hugs and high fives, one chick gave me a big ol' kiss. I still have a container of dirt from home plate somewhere. '99 clincher was against the Dodgers on the last day of the season (last reg season game in the Dome). Biggio and Cammy and maybe Bagwell were riding around the field on Harley's with champagne bottles and cigars. Willie gave a little concert afterwards. I got a little teary-eyed.
That's it. I posted by memory without using google. I was actually at both of these games. 97 was a last minute decision and we had season tickets in 99. Who knows, we may have high-fived each other 19 years ago without even knowing it.
I hate to say it, but the entire state seems to lack any known reason for a tourist to visit. And while that is true of most states, Texas should be a big fish with a big bowl. What happened? I mean, I'm not even sure I could put Texas in the top 40 states from a tourist standpoint. You are the space capitol of the world for starters, get it together people. You could start by demanding that the Mars launch be held in Houston. And go from there, but Texas has a lot of work to do. Spend some money.
They should do something completely random with it just for the grins at this point. Like turn it into a giant waterslide. Or a bungie jump park.
Most people's first thought of NASA is probably Florida (Cape Canaveral). Texas is lacking attractions/American history same way it lacks sports teams. It's a shame Florida has more (big 4) franchises despite having a much lower population.
Houston and Dallas are terrible for tourists compared to other large cities but the state as a whole has phenomenal stuff. It's just spread out so freaking far. You can think of 39 states that have more to offer than Texas? I'm not sure that there's 10.
Most popular destinations for American tourists: Foreign tourists? Texas is #7 http://www.travelersdigest.com/5894-visited-states-united-states-foreign-travelers/
Texas drops from #2 (population) to #4 (most visited), then even worse for foreign tourist. San Antonio does well though, especially for its size.
Houston, we have a problem... Houston is more associated with NASA than Cape Canaveral. JFK Space Center is probably more popular than the Lyndon Johnson Space Center, but that has to do with Florida being a popular tourist area (and JFK himself being more iconic). Texas is a much larger state, the populations are far more spread out. Florida also has struggling Big 4 franchises. They probably shouldn't have as many teams as they do.
I think more people care about where the shuttle lifts off rather the control center, but maybe I'm wrong. I'd rather NASA to be better. Surprisingly, distance-wise, Florida is very similar to Texas.. and it's popultion is dispersed similarly. Tampa, Orlando, and MIA are relatively close like SA, DFW, and HOU, then a city like Pensacola is 500 miles away (El Paso). Florida is blessed with much better beaches and scenery in general. I don't wanna just dog Texas because it's much better at other things, more important things. Give Texas some of those struggling teams. The state should have 2 more teams, at least. Probably, D.C.
Couldn't be more far off. First of all (and most importantly), all the astronauts live/train HERE... their families are here. When they dream of going home from space... or we're in a crisis trying to get these guys home... they're talking about here, not florida. Houston is the hub for NASA. Believe it or not, its not that easy just to set up a small area for shuttles and rockets to take off from. If you've ever been to Cape Canaveral, the first thing you'll notice is just how much emptiness there is surrounding every launch site. Also, back when rockets and shuttles had to jettison pieces after launch, they needed them to splash down in an ocean. Florida is just an advantageous launch site based on geography... they chose Houston to be the hub of NASA. Why else do you think mission control takes over from here whenever a launch or landing happens elsewhere... wouldn't it be "easier" just to do it from florida? Alas its because everything was/is originally based here. Last time I checked Galveston (which is basically every single day), along with the port of Houston, there isn't all that much space to have potential launches... or more importantly potential disasters.
Houston matters more as far as NASA is concerned, but that isn't the concern. Perception is the issue. I'd rather have NASA than not, regardless of how it's perceived though. There's plenty land east of Baytown or SW of Galveston toward Freeport along the coast.
And most people in the country know that NASA is based in Houston... Not sure what more perception you'd want. And as far as all that remote land... You do realize that unless you're moving the headquarters away from Clear Lake (which they're not), you'd basically be putting them further and further away from anything Houston. It's not just the launch site... It's the facilities for storing/repairing the boosters, it's having miles and miles of desolate non-inhabited beach area for tests and trial launches, along with transport of these massive things. You'll soon realize that the actual launch/maintenance of these vehicles has very little to do with the vast majority of what NASA and astronauts do on a daily basis (and means even less with no more shuttle program). As it is, it would basically require two independent facilities that run themselves... It works the way it is now, and Houston is no less important.
You missed the point about the launch site being in those areas I mentioned. Headquarters could remain were it is. Did you forget you'd just introduced (and insinuated) Florida was a better launch site
TBH, nobody cares much about the launches anymore.... this isn't the 60's. Many launches take place either in the middle of the night, or early in the morning... depending on the positioning of the space station/etc. I explained why the launch site was developed in Florida to begin with.... whereas mission control was already up and running in Houston.
