Baytown, TX Outdoor Activities

For eight weekends in the fall, a troupe of performing fairies, knights, royal personas, and jugging fools set up camp on the 55-acre grounds of the Texas Renaissance Faire. For 38 years, the Festival has re-created the 16th century’s appealing combination of simplicity and grandeur with more than 200 daily performances of live music, acrobatic comedies, and jousting. Actors portraying different levels of society—such as the English court and the pirates—roam the lolling landscape in character while performing comedic and informative bits including “Sound and Fury,” a Shakespearean vaudeville. At noon the Grande Marche parade catapults performers from the Globe Stage for a stroll throughout the park as they advertise their acts in a high-toned procession.

On a less precise schedule, craftsmen concoct tangible marvels with skills of glassblowing and blacksmithing, while food purveyors wander the beaten paths or call from their booths, selling fare that ranges from sugar-coated nuts to roasted turkey legs. At close of day, fireworks light the sky to celebrate the festival's victory over time.

Veterans of more than 50,000 successful jumps collectively, the skydiving senseis of Skydive Houston take jumpers of all experience levels on airborne trips to terminal velocity. Training begins with a short introductory video, followed by 20–30 minutes of ground school with a dive instructor, in which pupils learn the basics of two-person jumps, safety, and how to spot one’s mom from an elevation of 9,000 feet. Next, fledgling fliers strap into a tandem harness with their parachute pros and ascend to 14,000 feet in the school's own Twin Otter aircraft, named for the pair of shellfish-cracking mammals that powers its engines. Once out of the plane, pairs free fall for approximately 60 seconds, then enjoy about seven minutes of calm parachuting, after which instructor and customer safely land in a field or on the nearest naturally occurring pillow pile.

Captain Dan Green began Fishin Addiction Charters to share his passion and knowledge of the picturesque shoreline and bounteous sea meats of Galveston's waters. Recently joined by deckhand-turned-captain Shane Cantrell, the duo voyages to all crannies and depths that the local seas have to offer, seeking more than a dozen species while specifically targeting tuna, sharks, and the ever-elusive holy mackerel. In their ocean-bound quests, the captains employ four boats that sport names such as The Fountain or The Whaler. Tours last anywhere from four hours to a full day and venture out one to as many as 60 miles from dry land, but are seldom more than 10 miles from the nearest underwater taco stand.

From 14,000 feet above the earth, cities and farms look like tiny brown circuit boards below. Excited shrieks, bent by speeds of up to 120 mph, drift through the cool air, the only sound. Parachutes blossom colorfully on the backs of patrons strapped to Skydive Spaceland's instructors, all of whom have a minimum of 800 jumps under their carefully tightened belts. The professional skydivers can take thrill-seekers on tandem jumps, help them achieve a U.S. Parachute Association license in as little as one week, or allow them a rare glimpse of Superman’s bald spot.

Skydive Spaceland's owner, Steve Boyd, built the park from the ground up exclusively for skydiving. At any given moment across the 130 acres, you can find divers prepping in an air-conditioned packing area, watching dives from an observation deck, or nibbling sandwiches at an onsite deli.

Led by experienced captains, the staff members at Caribbean Breeze keep watch over and rent out a small fleet of fishing, pontoon, and jet boats, as well as one socially awkward sailboat. Although they don’t provide the fishing gear or water skis, they keep their boats updated with features such as iPod docks, rod holders, and electric fish finders. The captains also afford guests picturesque views of the setting sun from their 40-foot pontoon party boat during sunset cruises and help passengers find delicious bounties during fishing charters.

Buffalo Bayou Shuttle Service transports runners, surfers, cyclists, and adventurers toting rented kayaks and canoes to nearby trails and beaches for guided tours and lessons or DIY excitement. Experienced guides lead history-packed kayak tours such as the Houston Skyline Tour, which floats past panoramic views of towering skyscrapers, or the Adventures Tour, which increases heart rates with rushing rapids and an elevation drop more thrilling than jumping down the laundry chute at grandma's house. During all-day surfing lessons, students hop aboard shuttles from downtown Houston to Surfside Beach, where instructors teach nascent surfers to stand up and surf the waves. Bayou Shuttle Service also offers overnight surf trips, where pupils can sit beside campfires under the stars and tell scary stories about crab ghosts.