Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 77

section sunday Statielegram JUNE 29 1980 THUNDER AND LIGHTING Want to shoot the rapids? Then Thunder River's for you Astro World's new ride puts you on a river carved through 10 acres of land and studded with boulders whirlpools and rapids Or you can just enjoy the subtle lighting over Houston's skyline (below) in late evening 1 4 4 "7 L'' if 4- -47) r-' 4i- 2 t4-" lt'' i3 1-' I 'f' ''-''7' '7- I sl 'VPN ''i 11- '-'ji- I '4 fp-7 7' 1 43-': i if 1 ii' 11 11: 1E4' At "::7 I 1 )1 4 44fi A 14' I- 1-' 't sr4' '41P 1m li ii? t-' r'''' -3: :4 3PtgAr''' i i'-' it qV 4::: I 1 wt' 'lqt- 'i 4 5r fr f(tly -ir-rrr i ir 4'v- ir 14- rINgT- 2 1 1 7) r'r'rrr rrr 1 41 our 'fNo '''rrrrrr rr' 1- triitri i YorNr 01-444 rr r'N-4r" I A 1 rr i -r! 4: a 41 I i 1 '1 111N -'r 4 1 11'Ir'1t' 4" AV '1- A -A V' 'cf I 11' 7''' 1 4 ::::1: 70077! 4 :4: 14 i'iiei sH k6- 1 4'9' rr Yr rricrrr' r'1rr eq1' '''1'''''7' 1 1 1 41 L44 i''' 1 $'1 k44tit 41 4 Jr 1 4C l'I'l ''-'')tht i 5 1 -ci--- A 0 4 1 i 01 i0t '1''-' If 1 i 4 41 '111: t': I -C 4 411 40 xa i-( 1 --'1--4 qr 71 1 -i' i ''r '4i'il do 'i'' 1 5'f A 1 l'e'l 1 49 14 leg 1 (-'t i' I IT -v- -'1 i '''r At tel V- 1 7' i ''1k' 1 I'V '9 6 4 AV crv3-tt 4 41 il46tT i -'1- 4i 1Y -e44 -v t- -wt: i 'It' 414 i --y: 4 i 114-: 1: -ffilrafito 1: -)1 1 4' tg itiI 7i't lh 1 -c i ''''j 4 i'' 2 4 i f2 4" 1-" iH: 1'- -r 'lil 0 4 7 '-f ''c )-'' 'k: 1 --4 4A 441711L'A4414 I r4 444 A 2 It A vk big booming and very chic al times you'll agree the ride is constantly changing the boat spinning out at different places and taking the obstacles from different sides depending on the load it carries OF COURSE unlessyou're really hung up on shooting the rapids you won't want to wait in the longest lines in the park several timesso just take our word for it The first day the ride was open to the public the line stretched for blocks Only the excited dripping wet people climbing off the rafts at the otherend of the ride kept a lot of folks waiting for more than an hour in line in one direction it simply slides speedily down the other way A COOL LEIGH ride through an Alpine village the dazzling "Fantasy of Fire" fireworks display and the unusual "Horizons" theater are other AstroWorld specials Cameras attached to aerobatic jets speeding cycles and AstroWorld's own Texas Cyclone roller coaster create strange sensations of plunging soaring upside down and narrowly avoiding head-on crashes You'll find yourself catching your balance and reaching for something to hold onto even though you never leave the small theater's concrete floor It's all a matter of masterful Training Facility and view the Mission Control Center You also can see a collection of spacecraft and flight articles exhibits about America's space flight program a lunar rover and moon rocks The center is open to the public seven days a week from 9 am to 4 pm except on Christmas Day There is no admission charge for the two-hour tour Just southeast of Houston is the San Jacinto Battleground a national landmark and the site where Texas won independence from Mexico The battleground covers 460 acres of state parkland and includes the Battleship Texas the San Jacinto Museum of History and the San Jacinto Monument the world's largest monumental column at 570 feet Hours are 930 am to 5:30 pm Tuesday through Saturday and 10 am to 6 pm on Sunday The Battleship Texas moored at the battleground since San Jacinto Day in 1948 is the only survivor of the dreadnought class of battleships a veteran of two world wars and many campaigns The battleship is open every day of the year Hours are 10 am to 6 pm May 1 through Aug 31 and from 10 am to 5 pm Sept 1 through April 30 Admission is $150 for adults 50 cents for children ages6 to 11 and children under 6 free you can't afford $3500 for a little something to wear to the club Saturday night If you find prices in some of the stores too hot to handle take a turn on the Galleria's ice skating rink or stop in at one of four cinemas to view the latest flick HOUSTON HAS ITS share of elegant restaurants many situated near the Galleria along Westheimer and Post Oak Road There's the fatuous Tony's the Rolls Royce of Texas restaurants with haute cuisine and a wine cellar that boasts more than 120000 vintage wines Just up Post Oak Road is Uncle Tai's Hunan Yuan a bright new addition to the Houston restaurant scene specializing in Hunanese cuisine something new to most Texans Uncle Tai's offers 90 entrees 30 of which have never before been served in a Houston restaurant Over at the Galleria the Palm after the famous New York speakeasy serves up generous prime-aged steaks and huge succulent Eastern lobsters Petrochemical center and port becoming more cosmopolitan every day as people from all over the world flock to its warm climate and booming Dinner for two at any of these restaurants especially if wine is included in the meal topout al But there are other restaurants in Houston wheredinersuan have wonderful food pleasant surroundings and a check that doesn't leaxe them with indigestion DO TRY ZORBA the Greek 202 Tua in the IVIont rose area a noisy bustling restaurant specializing in fried seafood and Greek cuisine The restauram's funky atmosphere incl tides a boat hung froni I hi ceiling lots of fishing nets and a jukebox that plays everything from Greek music to Cot ton-E yed dot Zorba's fresh shrimp are fried Greek-style in a crispy light batter as are the oysters fish fillets scat lops and tender frog legs Dinners are served wit a heaping helping of real French fries none of those soggy rozen friesat Zorba's freshly baked Greek hread and Zorba's Greek salad Which alone is worth a trip to Mustn't The let lute tomatoes ucumbcrs Turn to Houston on Page 3 By MICHELLE SCOTT and CAROLYN ONOREJAS StarTelegram Writers HOUSTON Houston is a big sprawling city that in and of itself is what Texas is all about First it's BIG usurping 556 square miles from the center of downtown where the Allen brothers settled 144 years ago along the banks of the muddy Buffalo Bayou Second it's growing at an astounding rate which contributes to a healthy economy but which also makes for lengthy travel time across the city's overcrowded pothole: pocked freeways Third it's sophisticated the kind of sophislication that conies with a good economy that can support the highly respected Houston Grand Opera Houston Ballet Company and Alley Theatre Most of all though Houston is proud of what it is a booming petrochemical center and port becoming more cosmopolitan every day as people from all over the world recognize it as the place to be and flock to its warm climate and booming economy Houston's chic department stores and boutiques even provide interpreters as a regular service to international customers HOUSTON INDEED has something for everybody The eighth wonder of the world Houston's Astrodome draws sports fans to Astros baseball and Oilers football games as well as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo auto and motorcycle races trade shows and entertainment spectaculars Onehour lecture tours of the dome areconducted seven days a week for $2 a person Just across Loop 610 from the Astrodome is AstroWorld amusement park which features a one-of-a-kind ride that opened just this season If you've always wanted to shoot the rapids you'll love AstroWorld's new whitewater river ride Thunder River Whirlpools canyons waterfalls and rapids propel free-floating boats down a river carved into 10 acres of land and studded with boulders After navigating the course sever Hot dna illusion but some of the screams from here are as real as those from passengers on the Cyclone Astroworld is open Saturdays and Sundays all spring and fall with a full schedule (noon to midnight) Tuesday through Friday to Aug 22 Weekends through Aug 31 as well as July Fourth and Labor Day weekend the park is open 10 am to midnight I TWENTY-FIVE MILES south of downtown Houston is the Lyndon Johnson Space Center a focal point for the nation's manned space flight program and one of the newest and largest research and development facilities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Visitors can see where astronauts practiced simulated Skylab tasks at the center's Mission Simulation and HOUSTON'S GALLERIA shopping center multi-layers of ritzy department stores high fashion boutiques and a variety of restaurants offers baubles to bedazzle even the most jaded shopper At Au Chocolat candied orange slices pineapple chunks and cherries dipped in imported Swiss chocolate are packed into cardboard and crepe-paper toy soldiers penguins and now that the political season is upon and elephants The price is $20 a pound and worth every penny Cher would be right at home in Suzy Creamcheese a classy boutique draped with paisley fabric and sparkling with reflections from hundreds of tiny mirrored glass prisms Clothes are one-of-a-kind designs and bring out the vamp in every woman The frothy feathers sequins spangles and waist-high slits make for great browsing even if "It's the wettest ride here We have to ride it" youngsters explained patiently watching with envy as those ahead of them hopped off many wringing out their T-shirts Billed as the most unusual and innovative ride in the theme park industry Thunder River is an adven- ture that will be even nicer when landscaping is complete along the man-made river's banks Other specialties in the "Twelve Worlds of Fantasy Fun" that make up Astro World include Greezed Lightnin' the loop coaster that shoots you 10 stories into the Texas sky at speeds up to 60 miles per hour forward backward and upside The unique coaster looks as if it isn't complete since either end is cut off in mid-air When the coaster loses momentum climbing straight up weather silly season scheduled to start on Aug 2 jerry flemmons start your armadillos! Fredericksburg puts itself nicely into the hot weather silly season Aug 2-3 with its first annual Great Armadillo Races A pair of Houston Oiler cheerleaders have entered armadillos in the contest There's more silliness An anvil toss beer chug-a-lugging tobacco-spitting and chicken-flying contests Plus country-western music for dancing More details from the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce Box 506 Fredericksburg 78624 (telephone 512-997- 3444) Are travelers becoming more honest? Perhaps The Waldorf Astoria reports that guilty thieves returned more than $2500 worth of silver tableware last year One man returned a silver sugar bowl his grandmother pilfered 49 years ago from the hotel spokesman for a large English hotel chain Why he said hls chain has 5400 rooms priced at no more than $75 a day Not bad I guess Whoops! That's $75 per person per day $150 per couple who get a free continental hreakfast with the check Forsyth Travel Library (Box 29759154 57th St Shawnee Mission Kan 6620 has the worlds largest selection of current travel booksand maps Ask fora free catalog If they don't have a book about it its not worth travebne to Sure Yellowstone National Park has Old Fait hful that ever-prompt sprayful geyser It also has 1)000 other hydrothermal wonders from springs to oozes the greatest concentration of hot natural waters on earth What's the oldest put) in Dublin? None other than the Brazen Head Drinkers first bellied up to the bar in 1666 New water theme park Adventure Island now open in Tampa Fla Many long slides white sand beaches and pools with artificial waves Amtrak the railroad company will give you 25 percent off on any ticket when you're part of it group of 15 Anybody can make up a group Next time you're in Noboribetsu take a hot mud bath Said to be a sure-thing hangover cure Noboribetsu by the way is More than 400shipsare known to have hit the reefs and gone down off Bermuda out there in the mid-Atlantic Best known was the Sea Venture went down in 1609 with 150 pilgrims bound for Jamestown Va Divers finally have founalhe snip ful Star Ferry has raised itsrate 100percent Aride now costs a dime instead of the old nickel MAY BE TOO LATE FOR THIS SUMMER but get a copy anyway New booklet US and Worldwide Travel Accommodations Guide listsalmost 300 universities where you can rent a dorm room during the summer Cheap: low of $3 nightly Fascinating array of places tostay from the University of Singapore nightly) to Dallas Baptist College ($12 nightly double) Booklet costs $595 from 1303E Balboa Blvd Newport Beach Calif 92661 Fala fel isa Middle East dish deep-fried bean paste said to taste like little hamburgers But then some of our fast-food hamburgers taste a little like bean paste It evens out Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen is perhaps the most entertaining public park in the world Now in its 138th year Tivoli daily has musiedances theater shows puppet showscircus acts restaurants Cab Calloway and Ray Charles are booked there this summer If you've been searching for Wilbur and Orville Wright's bicycle shop it's in Greenfield Village outside Detroit Wilbur and Orville put together the first successful airplane in the shop Other famous buildings at Greenfield Village include Tom Edison's laboratory DOUBLE-TAKE FACTS: Of course London is not the most expensive hotel city in the world according to the a TIIE SKUNK TRAINS run daily from California's northern coast through the redwood forests: $990 buys an all-day roundtrip ticket from Fort Bragg 150 miles north of San Francisco Narrow gauged and ancient the skunk trains got their name before 1900 when people said: "You can smell 'em before you see 'em" Milford Sound an awesome watery sight in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park now can be viewed anywhere along a 33-mile hiking trail just completed along its shore Heard of Ceylon? Doesn't exist anymore Island country now is Sri Lanka It's 270 miles long 140 miles wide pear-shaped with spectacular mountains tea plantations and almost 1000 miles of pure white sand virtually empty beaches Anuradhapuranow in ruins is the oldest city Built in 380 BC TIIE METEORA IS AN EERIE AREA of massive wind-sculptured rocks in northern Greece Monasteries were founded there seven and eight centuries ago by monks who wanted to be alone Twenty-four monasteries flourished at one time Six remain Moni Metamorfoseos founded in the 14th century is the largest You can visit it see the priceless icons and paintings and have a spot of lunch Admission charge is about 75 cents Quick name Borneo's capital Ten points if you said Kota Kinabalu on the first try Palm Springs Calif now has 39 golf courses to tempt you with three more on the drawing boardsInflation is terrible isn't it? Ilong Kong's wonder MEE mu Itn 114 A.