100 Ways to Stay Cool This Summer

Summer may be our winter, but at least no one has to shovel the sunshine, so chill out—we’ll show you how.

In this issue:

Arts & Culture

Play It Cool

Ways to Stay Cool This Summer: Hot Tickets

What could be more thrilling than back-to-back low-budget horror flicks?

07/25/2016 By Jeff Balke

Summer Chills

Appreciating the Genius of Agatha Christie—Unedited and Uncut

The Alley spins a web of deception—and comedy.

06/20/2016 By Sarah Taqvi

Cabinet of Curiosities

You Now Have Permission to Snoop Through This Museum

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is bringing a whole new meaning to a treasure-hunting trip.

06/20/2016 By Steve Jansen

Ice House

I Hear America Singing: Houston Edition

On occasion of the Fourth of July, a meditation on those booming cannons, on Walt Whitman’s famous poem and on viola jokes.

06/20/2016 By Katharine Shilcutt

Eat & Drink

Play It Cool

Ways to Stay Cool This Summer: Sweet Treats Around Town

Where to get the best custard, ice cream and gelato in town

07/25/2016 By Alice Levitt

Play It Cool

Ways to Stay Cool This Summer: How Ice, Beans and Jelly Can Make Magic

Taiwanese shaved ice is a cool treat that provides a dizzying array of make-your-own options.

07/25/2016 By Alice Levitt

Play It Cool

Ways to Stay Cool This Summer: The Ultimate Summer Six-Pack

Here, our six favorite local lagers that power us through July’s yardwork, August’s block parties, and September’s longest dog days.

07/25/2016 By Katharine Shilcutt

Our Top 10 Spots for Keeping It Halal

With over 60,000 Muslims in Houston, it should come as no surprise that our selection of halal restaurants is growing apace.

06/24/2016 By Alice Levitt

Brew Bites: Where to Pair a Great Beer with Some Equally Good Grub

At summer’s peak, a frosty mug of crisp, cold beer is a required accessory. These bars bring the brew, along with notable nibbles.

06/23/2016 By Jenna K. White

Pour

The Antidote to a Hot Summer Day? A Cold Cup of Coffee

Houston’s best iced coffee comes by the bottle.

06/20/2016 By Jenna K. White

Life’s a Ball

Which Minute Maid Park Dishes Are Batting 1000, and Which Are Striking Out?

What to order and what to skip at Minute Maid Park’s 90-plus individual concession stands and carts

06/20/2016 By Alice Levitt

Editor’s Note

One Cool Trick for Your Dog—and You

And all it takes is a tiny green backpack.

06/20/2016 By Catherine Matusow

Home & Real Estate

Play It Cool

Easy Summer Recipes for Heat-Hardy Plants

You need to figure out something to do with all that basil, after all.

07/25/2016 By Katharine Shilcutt

Space City

These Two House-Flippers Are Just Passing Through

When a place is perfect, that’s when you know it’s time to move on.

06/20/2016 By Sarah Rufca Nielsen

News & City Life

Play It Cool

A Look Back at Houston's Cool Past

How did anyone live here before air conditioning? This is how.

07/25/2016 By Jeff Balke

Play It Cool

Ways to Stay Cool This Summer: Let the Good Times Roll

Luckily, no matter where you go, the days of smoking at the bowling alley are gone—unless it’s those pins you just smoked with that strike.

07/25/2016 By Layne Lynch

Play It Cool

Ways to Stay Cool This Summer: Tex-Mex Treats at Magnolia's Ice Cream

Who wouldn’t be charmed by a strawberry snow cone topped with Sour Punch belts and gummy bears on a hot day?

07/25/2016 By Marianella Orlando

Play It Cool

Ways to Stay Cool This Summer: Waterpark Wars

Which park reigns supreme, brand-spanking-new Typhoon Texas in Katy, or 10-year-old Schlitterbahn in Galveston?

07/25/2016 By Ellie Sharp

Let the Games Begin

Ready, Set, Rio: Meet Houston’s Olympians

From fencing to tae kwon do, these athletes have gold on their minds for the 2016 Games.

06/20/2016 Edited by Adam Doster With Jeff Balke and Steven Devadanam

Port Authority

The Strange Case of a Port and Its City

To some extent, Houston’s ignorance of its port can be traced to geography, though there’s more to it than that.

06/20/2016 By Adam Doster

Play It Cool

100 Ways to Beat the Houston Heat

Summer may be our winter, but at least no one has to shovel the sunshine, so chill out—we’ll show you how.

06/20/2016 Edited by Katharine Shilcutt With Ellie Sharp, Marianella Orlando, Layne Lynch, Sarah Rufca Nielsen, Jeff Balke, and Alice Levitt

Bayougraphy

The Conroe Congressman Who’s Out to Reform the U.S. Tax Code

U.S. Representative Kevin Brady is heading up the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and he means business.

06/20/2016 By Adam Doster

Elements of Style

Anika Jackson: the Party Girl’s Party Girl

Jackson is taking her trademark hustle to the philanthropic level—with increasingly giant galas.

06/20/2016 By Sarah Rufca Nielsen

Pretty in Pink

At MD Anderson, Putting on a Prom for Teen Cancer Patients

With a Great Gatsby theme, skyline view and catering by eight of the city’s best restaurants, this prom was nicer than our own.

06/20/2016 By Marianella Orlando

Ice House

July’s Perfect Party

Bachata-or-bust edition.

06/20/2016 By Catherine Matusow

Liquid Courage

Houston’s Hottest New Hangover Cure Comes in a Bag—an IV Bag

ThrIVe Drip Spa is the city’s first to offer a much-touted “multivitamin-in-a-bag.”

06/20/2016 By Marianella Orlando

Dept. of Bad PR

How Can Anyone Hate a Possum? Here’s Why You Shouldn’t

Defending the good name of Houston’s most misunderstood marsupial

06/20/2016 By Katharine Shilcutt

Who You Gonna Call?

Houston’s 311 Calls: The Common, Unusual and Service Requests

Who’s still picking up the phone to complain about the Ashby High Rise?

06/20/2016 By Marianella Orlando

Dept. of Partially Solved Mysteries

Whatever Happened to the Fifth Ward Recovery Center?

Two years after a promised renovation, the former St. Elizabeth’s Hospital is even worse for the wear—so what gives?

06/20/2016 By Adam Doster

Broken Glass

Through the Losing Glass: What the Recycling Conundrum Says About Houston

What happens now that glass recycling has gone the way of Astroworld?

06/20/2016 By Roxanna Asgarian

Style & Shopping

Play It Cool

Ways to (Look) Cool This Summer

Plan for a warm-weather wardrobe, and you too will look cool even when you’re really not.

07/25/2016 By Sarah Rufca Nielsen

Clutch City

Oil Is Still Booming—in the Beauty World

Prices for crude are still in the gutter, but oil is a hot commodity in cosmetics.

06/20/2016 By Sarah Rufca Nielsen

Travel & Outdoors

Play It Cool

Ways to Stay Cool This Summer: Houston's Shadiest Spots for a Stroll

Under the leafy oaks and tall pines of our three favorite walking paths, you’ll be hard-pressed to tell you’re in the city at all.

07/25/2016 By Katharine Shilcutt

Open Road

Russian Roulette: On Moscow and Mixed Feelings

To go or not to go. That is the question.

06/20/2016 By Scott Vogel

Food Worth Flying For

The $100 Hamburger Run: A Plane Ride with the Works

One should never underestimate the drawing power of a good burger.

06/20/2016 By Alice Levitt