There must be a light under the bushel!

Big City Lights

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. When I went off to college, I lived in Austin for a year and in Temple (near Fort Hood) for a few years. However, most of my life has been spent in this big city. Granted, I live on the outskirts now, so I (purposely) miss out on a lot of what the city has to offer. In particular, I miss out on the traffic and the hustle-and-bustle. I like it that way. I also miss out on some of the advantages of the city though.

I'm headed off on another Chicago trip in a couple of weeks, so my friend and I got on some websites to make our plans. We checked out all this fun stuff going on the weekend we'll be in town, and it hit me. Houston has a lot of these same things to offer, but I rarely take advantage. I wonder why. What is it about vacation that makes you more adventurous? Why are we willing to try so many more things when we leave home? I only go to the theater once or twice a year here, and I always thoroughly enjoy the experience. Same thing with concerts. I love live music, but I rarely go. Some of this stuff can be expensive, but I'm sure I could manage a few more events in a year. For example, U2 is coming into town, and I'm absolutley dying to see them. Since I didn't pay attention to when tickets were going on sale, I missed out. Now if I want to go, I'll be shelling out a few hundred bucks. However, I could have gone for $50 if I'd just checked into what's going on a little more often. Argh!

So, with this new resolution in mind, I started checking out what was offered closer to home, and I found one of the coolest things. I've always wanted to try one of those dinner mystery theater events, but I found something better than I had anticipated. Dinner mystery theater on a train. They gave an example of what you could expect, and it started off with arriving at the train station early evening to see a chalk outline of where the body was discovered. The participants had to begin looking for clues upon arrival. Then you board the train, and the tracks take you into a wooded area as the night grows darker. You spend the evening tracking clues and interviewing suspects, possibly witnessing or discovering another murder, and of course, eating a lavish dinner. (The website had a much better--and spookier--description, but the concept is the same.)

I've seen some other advertisements for this type of theater, but they were more comedic and cheesy. This one seems kind of exciting. If it lives up to the setting they've created, it should make for a really fun time. So, I've decided it's time to take advantage of what's around me, and I'm dragging friends along for the ride. The next event hasn't been scheduled yet, but sometime in the next few months, we'll be riding the creepy train.