Problem: Your friend plans a surprise visit to you in H-town. Solution: This list.

I always have trouble boiling Houston down to like a few days. THERE’S SO MUCH TO DO! So much room for activities! But sometimes you just need to make a decision, so I did that for you.

1. Breakfast at the Honeymoon. Sure, any other Houstonian might rave about The Breakfast Klub and its magical powers as a brunch Houston institution, and it is! But you have precious time in Houston with your friend: Skip the long lines and the fried chicken and waffles for a cute coffee breakfast in historic downtown Houston. Honeymoon opens at 10 am on the weekend, and has delicious brunch cocktails and coffees, and and the food. Then walk around downtown for a bit!
2. Buffalo Bayou Park for a bike ride. After your morning coffee/cocktail, hit the trail to work off the calories from that meal. If walking’s your thing, have at it, but the best way to enjoy as many of the 20 miles of Buffalo Bayou Park is to bike them. You can rent bikes (how here) and then pedal wherever your heart takes you.
3. NASA for nerding out. If you’ve got a real Texas foreigner, you def need to show them why we’re called The Space City (I mean you already showed them why it’s called The Bayou City).
4. BBQ lunch at Goode Co. Again, this is a Texas foreigner must. There’s tons of good BBQ, but Goode Co. is right in town and there’s a glorious silver armadillo out front for photo ops and theres a whole bar next door too. Win-win-win.
5. City Centre for shopping. I thought really hard about the best Houston shopping experience. Obviously, the Galleria is fine and everything, but gosh. The people, the enormity, the parking: I like my friends more than that, and you should to. City Centre is chill and you can grab drinks between shops.
6. Julep for happy hour. Julep is literally THE spot nowadays — from the cover of Texas Monthly to being world-recognized for its menu. Get some oysters and some, well, mint juleps. It’s also the cutest (sit on the patio!)
7. Museum District for culture. Go to one of the dozen or so museums H-town has! For someone who doesn’t really do the museum thing that often, the Museum of Fine Arts is amazing, or the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences is v. educational.
8. Dinner at Uchi (or El Tiempo if you cant get a rezzy).Uchi is super highly rated, you know, like on everything. But its SUPER hard to get in there, and there’s really no “plan B” in the traditional sense (because Houston has so many great spots). Another one of them: El Tiempo, where the margs are strong and the cheese is hot. Big fan.
9. Miller Outdoor Theatre for free fun. Grab a bottle (or a box) of wine and post up on the green at MOT. There’s always weekend shows during the summer, and all you need is a blanket to participate. You can get seat tickets too for free, but it involves you going in earlier in the day and blah who wants that.
10. Out in Midtown or Washington. If your friend is in town on a Thursday and you DON’T go to Midtown Little Woodrow’s turtle racing, I don’t know who you are. But, if you want to skip the crazy crowds, maybe Washington is a tad better. Either spot tends to be great for non-Houstonians.