Things to Do in Alvin

Tiny legs scamper across Lone Star Bounce Town's 9,000-square-foot floor, bounding from one cushy inflatable to the next and pausing before a gallery of kid-friendly toys and games. Disney-inspired bounce houses populate the open space, including new plush slides and domiciles that pay homage to the bubbly heroes of Toy Story 3, Winnie the Pooh, and Dante's Inferno. Tykes hone their hand-eye coordination by shooting hoops on the inflatable basketball court, cracking plastic balls off baseball tees, or threading straws into juice boxes in the Lone Star Cafe. A special subsection designed for toddlers, Lone Star's Tiny Town, features scaled-down playhouses, toy cars, and colorful, bouncy balls.

The clatter of foosball and air-hockey tables makes a steady drumbeat, over which drifts the sounds of an arcade—the happy digital babble of a modem dreaming. Ten leather couches with a full view of the children accommodate parents as they surf free WiFi and enjoy coffee from the café.

Nestled within the original art-deco terminal at the William P. Hobby Airport, The 1940 Air Terminal Museum traces the heritage of civil and business aviation throughout the 20th century. Memorabilia such as photographs and silver service items chart aviation’s progress, and outside the terminal building, guests can monitor airport activity or marvel at the museum’s daily air shows and plane versus bald-eagle drag races. Elsewhere onsite, the newly restored 1928 Carter Field Airmail Hangar—closed on most weekends—shelters historic aircrafts including a Lockheed Lodestar and a volunteer-restored St. Louis Helicopter. Throughout the year, the museum also hosts frequent annual events, including a monthly Wings and Wheels open house with static airplane and automobile displays.