Where We Live Part I - The Woodlands

We live in between two areas: Spring and The Woodlands. Literally, you come out of our neighborhood and turn right for Spring and left for The Woodlands. Spring is more rural and I'll post about that later on. For now, here's The Woodlands.

The Woodlands is a planned community with tons of green spaces, smartly designed residential, business, and shopping areas, and tons of, well, woodlands. Every intersection looks the same; you have no recognizable landmarks other than trees. All the businesses, like gas stations, restaurants, and grocery stores, are tucked away from the road. There are signs near the road very similar to the Chick-Fil-A sign (see below). That's all you'll see from the road. Pretty, but also difficult to navigate when you have just moved here! You have no idea what might be in a shopping center unless you pull into it or the Garmin accurately delivers you there (rarely!) In the spring, the medians will be filled with wildflowers, including blue bonnets. There are several man-made lakes and lots of parks that I hope we can take advantage of when it's not 100+ degrees!

This weekend we took the grandparents to The Waterway. It's not quite as developed as San Antonio's Riverwalk but it's getting there with more shops, restaurants, and offices to come. There a really nice Mariott right there on the water. We like The Goose's Acre, a "bistro and Irish pub" with outdoor seating on the water. They have good pizza, go figure. We walked up and down the Waterway, feeding ducks and fish as we went, as far as The Pavilion, where the Houston Symphony plays during the summer as well as other musical acts--NKOTB (we just missed them!) and Rod Stewart in a few weeks. I hope we can take R to see Swan Lake in October when the Houston Ballet comes too. There is lots of public art throughout The Woodlands too. The obelisk and the deer by The Woodlands sign (the only deer we've seen so far) pictured here are just a few.

There are more shopping areas I haven't photographed like Market Street which has some upscale shops and nice restaurants, sidewalks to walk, a splash pad and green common space as well as a movie theatre. Maybe next weekend....