As seasons change, Houston gets cooler and a lot weirder. In just a few weeks, the city has once again outdone itself. For this month’s edition of Only in Houston, Houstonia is looking back at some of the most bizarre happenings in the region, including Elon Musk’s interest in tunneling through the city and two influencers who recorded a near-death dining experience.

Elon Musk tunnels through Houston?

Since Hurricane Harvey in 2017, city experts have toyed with the idea of building massive tunnels to divert floodwaters from destroying Houston. Now, the country’s most meme-worthy billionaire, Elon Musk, is trying to get in on the action. Recent investigations by the Texas Newsroom and Houston Chronicle reveal that Musk’s Bastrop-based Boring Company is vying for a $760 million flood mitigation project in the city. Musk and Rep. Wesley Hunt have pushed local and state officials to hire the company to build two narrow, 12-foot tunnels around a major watershed. While the Boring Company has worked on transportation tunnels across the US, it doesn’t have experience in flood mitigation.

R.I.P, FunPlex

In one of the saddest updates of the year, owners of Alief’s FunPlex announced its permanent closure after nearly 40 years in business. The indoor amusement park never truly reopened after closing for renovations during the height of the pandemic. Southsiders loved the longtime playground for its roller rink and indoor amusement, and it even received a stamp of approval from Beyoncé. The singer famously filmed the visuals for her 2013 single “Blow” at the park, and later hosted a party at FunPlex, where she invited husband Jay-Z to bust a move and test his skating skills. But even Queen Bey couldn’t save this iconic Houston institution. Rest in peace, FunPlex.

Big winners robbed, big time

Houston poker winners just became big losers. The city is surprisingly filled with several poker clubs, where winners take home cash prizes after successful wins. Local crime rings have apparently caught on and have caught up to the big winners: In recent weeks, police have reported an uptick in theft, recording 20 robberies. Seventeen of those successful poker players were robbed after leaving the Lucky J Social Club. Cops say they were victims of a series of “jugging” robberies, which occur when players who have won large sums of money are followed from one poker club to the next and robbed. 

Dine and crash

In August, local influencers Nina Santiago and Patrick Blackwood sat down to film a mukbang at brunch restaurant Cuvée's Culinary Creations. Minutes into their meal, a black SUV crashed into the restaurant—slamming right into the couple’s table. The collision, which was caught on video, shattered windows and sent the pair flying. The pair was sent to the hospital shortly after for treatment, but then returned, unharmed, to finish their meal of salmon sliders. The video went so viral that even the Cuvée pinned it to its Instagram profile. This marks the second time influencers in Houston have captured a car crash inside a restaurant. Back in 2023, podcasters Nathan Reeves and Alexsey Reyes were filming at Downtown’s Tout Suite when a car smashed into the windows behind them.

A(nother) celebrity endorsement

It’s no secret: Kolaches are some of the best pastries known to humankind. Now, Grammy-award-winning Houstonian Lizzo (born Melissa Jefferson) is telling the world. In early September, the “Juice” singer took to TikTok to proclaim her love for Houston’s kolaches, sampling breakfast renditions from Kolache Factory, Christy’s, and Shipley Do-Nuts. Days later, Lizzo posted another H-Town-proud video, showing off a Mexican candy haul from Fiesta Mart. Though Lizzo typically reps her hometown of Detroit, the “Truth Hurts” artist grew up in Houston, graduating from Alief Elsik High School and, later, the University of Houston.