Well first off if you are going in August be prepared for some serious humidity…I mean really serious humidity. The kind of humidity where you turn into a towel that’s just been shared by half a Rugby team – limp soggy and smelly in the time it takes to walk 10 yards.
But on to flying there is a lot of GA in the area besides Sugarland itself Within 30 to 45 minutes flying you could go to Galveston (the Lone Star Museum of Flight is at Scholes Field) a little ways south is Clover Field there’s some pretty interesting stuff there (actually it’s where much of the early Rimmer childhood was spent... Hangar 20 being the home of ole man Rimmer’s fleet).
Further East the other side of I45 there’s Ellington – again all sorts of comings and goins there from UPS 767s to light Aviation via Air Guard F16s and NASA T38s and Vomit Comets (actually the the original Vomit Comet is the gate guard these days). I believe there’s a Wing of the CAF there too. Not to mention a couple of FBOs Last time I was there (hmm this would be in March) I had to wait for t/o while an bunch of Navy Res F/A18s did touch and gos and pretty loud I have to say.
Further afield, a comfortable hour or so (at 172/PA28 speed) west/southwest will get you to San Antonio, well worth a visit spend the night hanging out in the bars along the river walk. Or conversely, head SW to the Gulf Coast for Corpus Christi and South Padre Island. On the other hand go pretty much due East (or actually slightly south of East) for two or three hours (a bit hazy on this it’s been quite a while since I did that trip) and check out New Orleans.
Expect vis to be less than perfect – as I said before at this time of year there’s a LOT of mositure in the air combined with the fairly impressive pollution it can be a bit on the claggy side especially on the east side and south of the city (where a lot of refineries and chemical plants are). Having said that a quick flight near sunset and the pollution can be quite pretty!! The other thing I’d recommend is that you get your flying done early in the day . The convection turbulance can get… mmmm….let’s say…energetic… by lunchtime/ early afternoon and tends to stay that way until just before sunset.
That said there are a bunch of places to explore and the bigness of Texas means you won’t have too much trouble racking up the hours and doing some very different navigating – if you get to west ern part of the state you’ll really see what I mean. On the whole you’ll also find some of the most hospitable people on the planet I’d be amazed if you don’t have a great time.