Baytown in one day with teenagers

They don't want the bird sanctuary. Here's the day that works anyway.

10:00 — Late start, on purpose. Doughnut Wheel's kolaches are gone by now; Heart and Whisk on North Main isn't — it opens around seven, Wednesday to Friday — and the pastry case buys you goodwill for the rest of the day. Otherwise the breakfast tacos at whichever taquería is closest.

11:00 — Hooky Entertainment, I-10 Service Road. Bowling, arcade, the games, a bar for the adults. Two hours, and the one place on this list they'd have picked themselves. Book a lane on a weekend; walk in on a weekday.

1:00 — Lunch they'll approve. Rooster's burger on North Alexander — Best Burger in Baytown, and they'll want to argue about it. Or Black Bayou on Garth if anyone's brave enough for the garlic butter. Or the Cuban Cafe on Decker if you've built it up enough. Bocanegra's downtown if the group wants queso, and it usually does.

2:30 — The ferry. The one "boring" thing on the list, and the one they'll photograph. A few minutes across the ship channel — under three by the historical commission's count, up to ten in wind and traffic — with tankers going by; the Battleground on the other side has a monument taller than the Washington Monument with an elevator to the top, which is the pitch, and the museum has weapons, which is the other pitch. Weekends from eleven; free.

4:30 — The bridge. Drive the Fred Hartman both ways with the windows down and the music up. Forty seconds of being higher than anything in the county. Nobody's bored on the bridge.

5:30 — Downtown. Art Alley for the photos they'll actually post. Town Square. The Little Theater if there's a show. Bocanegra's if you didn't do it at lunch. The Dirty Daiquiri does non-alcoholic ones, and the cup is the point.

7:00 — The night. ShowBiz Cinemas for the movie. Max Bowl if Hooky didn't happen. The PAC at Lee College has the five-dollar film nights and the touring shows, which is the sophisticated option and cheaper than the cinema. High school football on a Friday in the fall is the actual night out in this town — a few dollars, the whole town there — and they know it.

Summer version: swap the morning for Pirates Bay at opening (Memorial Day into mid-September; weekends only from mid-August), and everything else moves two hours later. Calypso Cove is for the younger sibling.

Rain version: Hooky, lunch, ShowBiz, Max Bowl, the library's teen room if they'll admit to liking it. The ferry runs in rain and the bridge is better in it.

The thing they'll remember: the ferry and the bridge. Every time. Don't skip them because they complained.

En español. Baytown en un día con adolescentes: Hooky en la I-10 (bolos, juegos), almuerzo en Rooster's o Black Bayou, el ferry de Lynchburg (tres minutos, buques petroleros) y el monumento de San Jacinto con elevador, el puente Fred Hartman con las ventanas abiertas, Art Alley para las fotos, un daiquiri sin alcohol en el Dirty Daiquiri, cine en ShowBiz o las noches de cine de $5 en Lee College, o el fútbol americano del viernes. En verano, Pirates Bay a la hora de apertura. Lo que recordarán: el ferry y el puente.