Kid-friendly neighborhood restaurants with playground areas and equipment

Some restaurants in and around the Energy Corridor area have the interests of grown-ups with kids in mind too -- and a big enough lot size for playgrounds or play areas. Among the family and kid-friendly eateries: Joe's Crab Shack on Highway 6; Las Ventanas off Texas 6 on Grisby Road, and Lupe Tortilla's Mexican Restaurant, which is located on the same street. 

Playground equipment on front patio of Joe's Crab Shack on SH 6

Playground in the backyard of Las Ventanas Mexican Restaurant

Lupe Tortilla Logo on top of storefront

This photo shows the patio on the South side and parking lot only;
the playground area is on the other side

War Memorial Drive off Eldridge Parkway

Pedestrian and traffic control signage at War Memorial Drive at East End
near Eldridge Parkway, War Memorial, and Harris County Park Administration
Office and Park/Road Maintenance facility

American Flag flying over Harris County War Memorial

Pavilion at War Memorial

Trail Rules on paved trail circulating around the Northern
 section of Bear Creek Park with sports fields

Ray Miller Park offers playground equipment, gazebo, picnic tables and benches, BBQ pits and other amenities

Ray Miller Park Sign - Harris County Texas Precinct 3 - Public Park with Playground and Amenities

Enclosed Kids' Playground at Ray Miller Park located in West Houston
 at 1800 Eldridge Parkway South Houston, TX 77077

Ray Miller Park is a 15-acre park with a crushed rock trail on Eldridge Parkway west of Crescent Circle, between Westheimer Rd. and Briar Forest Dr. By comparison with other parts in the area, it is small, but nevertheless offers an array of amenities and thus greatly adds to the quality of life in the immediate neighborhood. 

Ray Miller park features two enclosed playgrounds with equipment for small children (tot lot and intermediate play area), a large gazebo/pavilion with benches lining the perimeter on the inside and restroom facilities nearby,  and a smaller gazebo in a separate grove with benches (Denise’s playground in memory of Denise Edwards Eads.). Drinking water fountains are available at both locations. The restrooms have running water, lighting, and hand dryers.

Denise's Playground with Gazebo at Ray Miller Park on Eldridge near Briar Forest

The granite-covered trail runs a roughly circular course for about 0.64 miles total, most of which is exposed to the sun during the day. The trail is lit in the evenings.  Closing time is 10 pm.

A small wooded area with a boardwalk is found at the center of the rectangular-shaped park. 

The elevation is slightly lower here, which permits rainwater to collect and seep into the ground, creating a wetland habitat at least for part of the year.  Also of seasonal  appeal  is a designated Texas wildflower area located in the NW corner next to the wooden fence that separates the park from the neighborhood to the West. This quadrant of the park also features a number of birdhouses on tall stilts inside the loop trail on the open green-space.    

Birdhouses on stilts towering over the trail

The trail is lined with benches, and picnic tables and BBQ pits are available at several locations on the open green space.  Alcoholic beverages are not permitted on the grounds.  

Ray Miller Park with walking trail and picnic table and grill pit -  park's center with boardwalk in the background

Dogs and other pets are not allowed, even on a leash.  There are, however, designated dog parks in the area (Millie Bush Park and Bill Archer Dog Park), and leashed pets are also allowed on Terry Hershey Trail.

Ray Miller Park is mostly frequented by people living and/or working in the neighborhood, many of them either foreign-born or foreign-looking. As such, it fits right into the picture of West Houston’s ethnic and multi-cultural mosaic, which also finds its expression in the rich diversity of cuisines represented on the local restaurant scene, not only on Eldridge Parkway and Briar Forest, but also farther afield. 

Miller Park has its own attached parking lot, which at times gets filled to capacity. There is no other parking anywhere nearby. The closest comparable alternative to Miller Park is Terry Hershey Park on Memorial Drive, which not only has a much larger parking lot off Memorial at Langham Creek, but also a second one abutting the Katy Freeway inbound frontage road, from which the playground and other facilities can be reached over a couple of ped-bike truss bridges over Langham Creek.  Terry Hershey Park at Memorial Drive also offers an enclosed playground with play equipment for small children, a gazebo, and restrooms, along with other features, such as kid-fit exercise area, a sun dial, and wildlife such as squirrels and birds. The ducks call a pond on a corporate property next to the  park home, but they also visit the park, and can be observed through a wire-mesh fence on the Western edge of the park.

Ray Miller Park is a county park. It is patrolled by officers with the Harris County Constable Precinct 3. It was named to honor the late Ray Miller, a legendary Houston TV man and author of a number of Texas-themed books, who also took an active role in improving the quality of life in West Harris County. 

Ray Miller Park on the Google Map - 1800 Eldridge Pkwy - Houston Texas 77077 USA
(between Westheimer Road and Briar Forest on the West of Eldridge Parkway near Crescent Circle Drive and Plaza)

Mind the Ducks: Urban waterfowl on Enclave Parkway (they even have their dedicated duck-crossing warning sign)

No ducking: Going eye to eye with the Duck

Duck warning sign at section of Enclave Parkway that is getting new sidewalk ((8/9/12)

For these ducks the sidewalk of Enclave Parkway, not to mention the road, are part of their habitat.
They should be happy the sidewalk construction proceeds, along with duck-loving pedestrians.

Not sure what type of duck it is, but he is not shy at all.

These Energy Corridor ducks must be used to the human company. They will come right up
to you and start a quacking concert -- with lots of energy.

Location of warning sign at duck park with fountain on East side of Enclave Parkway close to Anthills mountain bike trail

Crested Caracara? What does this bird look like?

Here is a pic of a pair of them; more scientifically called Polyborus plancus  -- or Polybori planci, for the plural, I suppose. Oh, how I hated Latin in school, but "us" becomes "i" to form the plural of nouns, doesn't it?  

These colorful inhabitants of open country and forests in South and Central America (and even parts of the US) can

be seen in captivity at the aviary at Bear Creek Park, which also features a number of other exotic birds, as well as a variety of local animals, including barred and horned owls, ducks, and farm animals such as sheep and goats. There are also two specimen of the iconic American Bison aka Buffalo.

  

Alas, there are no camera ports -- or even glass windows -- at the bird shed. Hence the blurry lines in the frame of the photo above, which was shot through the wire mesh. As for the birds kept in the aviary, they are in confinement because they could no longer make it on their own. 

The large man-sized birds that Bear Creek Park also plays host to have their own enclosures, so they can run around and get exercise. The emus and rheas don't fly, of course, but there are also lots of native and migratory birds all around the huge park; even a flock of American Black Vultures. Well, flock may be too cute a term for these scavengers, but the should given were credit is due. Vultures help keep the park pristine, not to mention cleaning up at least some of the road-kill. 

Vultures promptly dispose of carrion (meat of dead animals) and thus render a
useful cleanup service because it prevents the carcasses from decaying and putrifying.

Vultures near the pot-bellied pig pen at Bear Creek Pioneers Park

Exotic birds at the Aviary in Bear Creek Pioneers Park (photos)

Peeking through the wire mesh at the enclosure

Two man-sized birds behind fence seemingly conversing with each other

Common Rhea interpretive poster with bird posing in front of sign

Huge-size bird: No wonder they keep him behind fencing

Info on the Emu posted at the pen

Green Amazon Parrot in aviary in Houston-area Park

Sign: Do not feed the birds - They are on a special diet!

Crested Caracara (PolyborusPlancus) in cage
These birds are locked up at the aviary and cared for
because they could not make it in the wild