Rollin' in the Deep

The blog is back! I apologize for my lengthy hiatus. After I completed my MBA I went on a long vacation to recover. Yes, yes, I did continue to post on Instagram, but after writing an 80 page capstone I simply did not have the energy to sit and write for this blog. While I was recovering I realized that this blog had become a bit meh...so this post will be the first of the new format! I will simply be highlighting each location and showcasing some of my amateur photography.

This week we’re headed down down down into the depths of downtown Houston. That’s right, we’re in the Houston Tunnel System. This tunnel system is six miles long. Sadly, I do not have the strength to do six miles in a day, because I’ve been in grad school too long and no longer have any muscle mass. However, I was able to drag myself around the Downtown Tunnel Loop.

I started in the always awesome Houston Center. If you haven’t been, go. Houston Center is home is every amazing chain restaurant there is. If you exit the elevator on the third floor and walk across the entire food court, past the Dress Barn, you’ll see an escalator, take that escalator down. Once on the ground floor, look to your left, you’ll see a tiny one-person escalator, take that down to the depths. You’ll be stepping off in the E. McKinney Tunnel.

Hello food courts and barbershops! The Houston Tunnel system is what I imagine our dystopian future will be like now that we’re no longer joining the Paris Climate Agreement...eventually, we’ll be driven from the surface and forced to live underground. The E. McKinney Tunnel is a good way to jump on the Downtown Tunnel Loop. I following the loop all the way around and ended safely right back at the Houston Center. No back tracking, no panic induced sweating, just a leisurely stroll through Houston’s capitalist underground.

The tunnels themselves alternate between fancy restaurants, convenience stores, mall food courts, nail/hair salons, and dark lonely tunnels. I really wish I had a scooter or a bike, although they’re probably not allowed, it would be fun to zip around down there. The tunnels can definitely be a bit confusing at times, but just keep looking for the signage, of which there is plenty, and you’ll be ok. Overall, there is nothing absolutely amazing to see in the tunnels, but they are a true feat of downtown engineering.

If you’re in Houston on a hot summer [week]day and you have time to kill, check out the tunnels, grab a smoothie at one of the many underground juice bars, and people watch. Or if you’re really ambitious and you’re afraid to walk outside in the 1,000 degree heat, take a six mile hike through Houston’s underground city...then stop at a juice bar.

Who: The Houston Tunnels are appropriate for all ages

What: Enjoy a stroll through Houston without ever seeing the sky! Grab lunch, get your nails done, and even pick up some birthday cards.

When: The Houston Tunnel system is only opened on weekdays during business hours, sadly, this is not a weekend activity.

Where: There are multiple entrances to the tunnels. The two easiest ways to enter are through the Houston Center, or the only open air entrance located at Wells Fargo Plaza

Why: To escape the heat and humidity and do some serious people watching