Our original reason for going to Houston was to finally see Strangebird Immersive’s Man From Beyond. Unfortunately, their new location is currently going through red tape hell and they were not ready for our arrival. They felt super bad but this is a common theme when it comes to building escape rooms. As sad as we were, it was understandable.

We did end up going to meet the owners/designers, Haley and Cameron, for dinner where we could vent and nerd out to our heart’s delight about escapes. Despite the setback, I am really glad I got to meet them in person.

Escape nerdouts with beer!

And besides, one hiccup not about to stop us from trying out escapes anyway!

Canadian Bumpkin Status- 80%

There are cockroaches in our AirBNB. They did not appear to be yesterday. Only about three baby ones spotted, but one huge one outside. Apparently they are a bit rampant in Houston. I do not like this. I cannot stress how little sleep I am about to get. This is why I continue to live in a cold country. At least our Canadian winters don’t allow bugs to get big. I am petrified they have somehow snuck into my bag. I want to go home to my cockroach free home. I hate you, Houston!

Everything in Texas is bigger: food, highways, flags….that’s all I can think of right now.

Houston seems to be very proud to be a part of Texas as the Texas flag is flying everywhere. I don’t even know what Ontario’s flag looks like. I had to look it up. That is how unpatriotic I seem to be.

Spoiler alert: it’s boring.

Driving in Houston is a bit fraught. The roads turn in odd directions, the traffic lights seem to be ignored at the best of times, and the highways give us vertigo. I am actually glad we only have one more drive to do in Houston.

Houston’s steak is good. That’s not surprising, really, but it’s to have confirmation.

The steakhouse we went to, Taste of Texas, makes international visitors wear bandanas and cowboy hats. I guess this is supposed to make us feel like cowboys, but I suspect it was also a way to publicly shame foreigners.

Apparently now I am truly Texan.

Not bumpkin related, but my hair seems to suffer on vacations because I don’t have room for my hair diffuser. It saddens me.

I have never craved a salad more in my entire life. I think all the heavy food, delicious as it is, is getting to me.

The Escapes!

From what we have heard, there is not a ton of options in Houston when it comes to quality. On a few recommendations, we decided to try out Escape the Game Houston. They are a chain that has locations all over but is relatively new to Houston. We ended up playing Gold Rush and Playground.

Both were good upper mid-tier rooms. The set designs were decent. The puzzles had a mostly logical flow.  There was quite a bit of searching and yes, sometimes we sucked at it but sometimes it felt like the hiding spots were a little unfair. There were also a couple of Ask Why’s that didn’t make sense. But otherwise an enjoyable experience.

Escapin with new friends!

Of the two, I think I preferred Playground. It had a unique theme I have not seen a lot of. Its intro video was absolutely hilarious and I wish more could use humour in the same way. The set decor was bright and colourful, suitable for a school/playground atmosphere. It also had a cute “wow” moment.

More importantly, Mike’s Houston based friend, Eugene, joined us. It was his very first escape room! It has been so long since I had played with anyone who had never played, I forgot how enjoyable it is to see their excitement when the timer starts or that first hidden door is revealed. Hopefully he will get to play more!

It has been a bit of a whirlwind day so I am going to keep this short. Tomorrow we head out with Haley and Cameron to check out more of the Houston area escapes! And probably more food. So much food.