Houston: Back in the Saddle After Tough Times : This bodacious city had to diversify after oil prices plummeted.

To all but the most astute observer, this fourth-largest American city has usually been regarded as a town of big hats, big oil, big bucks, big pretensions and, not least, the big hustle. Nothing was too big, brassy or bodacious for Houston, as long as oil stayed at $40 a barrel.

But in 1982, oil prices plummeted and Houston felt hard times before the rest of the country. Today, oil is still a major industry, but the watchword is diversification. Aerospace, health care, import/export and modern technology are the ingredients that are making this city hum again.

The town actually got its start with a scam of sorts that would do J.R. Ewing proud. Just a few months after the fall of the Alamo and Gen. Sam Houston’s subsequent defeat of the Mexican army to create the Republic of Texas, two free-wheeling types cornered most of the land at the confluence of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou, named it Houston and counted their blessings that it was proclaimed capital of the new Republic of Texas.

They then ran ads in newspapers heralding the spot as the “Eden of East Texas,” neglecting to mention that this particular Eden was mostly muddy bayou (read swamp ), with a full quota of alligators, mosquitoes and inhospitable Indians just itching to lift a few scalps. The debilitating effects of the mosquitoes’ yellow fever also didn’t rate a mention in the ads.

A yellow-fever onslaught soon drove the capital to healthier Austin, and Houston’s history was a very checkered affair until the end of the century. That’s when the famous oil well Spindletop blew its lid and rained black gold endlessly into the town’s coffers, making Cadillac the car of choice and snakeskin boots the footwear.

Through later ups and downs, Houston never lost its helter-skelter ways. Urban planning has always been an anathema here, and Houston has the urban sprawl to prove it. They also once had a hotel (The Shamrock) that made Donald Trump’s monumentally tacky Taj Mahal in Atlantic City look like a Bauhaus study in simplicity.

Yet Houston has produced such notable figures as doctors Denton Cooley and Michael DeBakey, plus the country’s finest heart-surgery center; led us into the space age with its Mission Control Center; is one of the few cities in the country with major venues for all four of the performing arts (opera, ballet, symphony and theater), and has the renowned Menil Collection of art, with its breathtaking Byzantine works. The compact downtown skyline of handsome high-rises climbing dramatically above the Texas plains is a thing of arresting beauty.

The last time Houston saw a national political convention was in 1928, when Al Smith was nominated by the Democrats, its delegates described as “the most disorderly crowd ever seen.” The Republicans have a go at it here in July, and locals can’t wait.

Should delegates become too happy or unhappy over their candidate’s fate, and overdo the celebration or wake, they may choose to repair to Hermann Square. It was created in the 19th Century by a local lumberman as a haven for his woodcutters to sleep off their Saturday night binges, undisturbed by authorities.

How long/how much? The town’s low lodging and dining costs are sure to bring smiles, and prices go down further when the midsummer heat and humidity skyrockets to the levels of a Suriname rain forest. Give Houston at least two full days, plus perhaps another for the 40-mile run to Galveston’s beaches and fishing on the Gulf of Mexico.

Getting settled in: Near the museum area and gigantic Texas Medical Center, Harvey Suites provide guests with everything from a spacious double room to a choice of three types of suites, all with kitchenettes or full-size kitchens. Harvey is modern in every respect, yet has an agreeable softness and warmth in bedroom furnishings. The $7.50, all-you-can-eat buffet lunch has to be the best deal in town.

The Highlander B&B;, an old home with porch swing and rockers, sits among pecan trees in a residential neighborhood two miles from downtown. Owner Georgie McIrvin has decorated the downstairs area with creative whimsy, a distinct understatement. The bedrooms are very comfortable with their bookcases, fresh flowers, plants and a few four-posters. The Rainbow Room is just for children and decked out with canopied bed, stuffed animals, kids books and games, and a Legos telephone. It’s cheery, bright and goes for $10 per child.

The Holiday Inn-West Loop is a convenient place for anyone interested in shopping at the nearby Galleria, the city’s very upscale haunt. Huge bedrooms are what one expects at this chain, and there’s a pool, whirlpool, sun deck, bar with free hors d’oeuvres and a full $5.95 breakfast in the dining room.

Regional food and drink: Mosey into one of Houston’s 7,000-plus restaurants and you may cozy up to a meal of Tex-Mex, barbecue, Cajun from nearby Louisiana, fresh Gulf seafood or a formidable assortment of ethnic dishes from the world’s far corners, most of them reasonably authentic.

At the risk of starting a range war, we put Houston’s barbecue above Kansas City’s and right up there with Memphis and other Southern citadels of hickory smoke and hot sauce. However, some locals still cling to the well-done version of steak and chops. According to one cowhand who was served a very rare steak: “I’ve seen critters get up and walk away when they warn’t hurt no more’n that.”

Lone Star beer is a big seller, but Shiner and Shiner bock has a well-deserved reputation that reaches both coasts. Iced tea seems to accompany any dish, including the inevitable dessert of pecan pie, pronounced PEA-can hereabouts.

Good local dining: Goode Company Barbecue (5109 Kirby Drive) has a lock on most local hearts for the real version in a real setting. Decor is a cluttered jungle of stuffed armadillo and gigantic buffalo head, old license plates, an ancient pinball machine and an even older jukebox loaded with Tex Ritter, Bob Wills and other Texas icons.

Fish your beer from the 1930s cooler and settle down to mesquite-smoked barbecue that has just pulled more votes than any restaurant in any category in the city’s annual competition. Choose from barbecue dinners of beef brisket, jalapeno pork sausage, pork ribs, duck, chicken or several other meats, all with two vegetables and homemade bread for $6.50. The portions are huge enough for ravenous wranglers, the taste divine.

Cafe Annie (5860 Westheimer Road) is much fancier than its name, and was also runner-up in the “favorite restaurant” category of Houstonians this year. The multilevel cafe surrounds a gigantic and very dramatic dried arrangement, the room’s focal point.

Imaginative dishes crowd the extensive menu, from cinnamon-roasted pheasant with a green chile vinaigrette to grilled sea scallops with wild mushrooms and smoked chile. Lunchtime prices are in the $12.50 range, dinners about $24.

Jalapenos (2702 Kirby Drive) is a moderate and authentic mix of Tex-Mex and down-home Southwest cooking. Spinach enchiladas ($8.50) are a house specialty, as is the parilla jalapeno of pecan-smoked sausage, grilled chicken and shrimp at $11.95. The Margaritas are justly famous, as are the friendly prices.

Going first-class: Houston’s Omni Hotel, until recently a Four Seasons, has been called one of the country’s top 10 hotels by Conde Nast Traveler magazine, and we’ve yet to find one more comfortable and relaxing on our shores. The lobby of green marble, many plants and a few exquisite Chinese chests is a study in serenity. And by some totally inscrutable feat of memory, almost every staff person greets guests by name.

Bedrooms and suites meet any expectations for beauty and comfort, and there’s a pool, health center and a pond with two stately black swans patrolling with their cygnets.

Omni’s La Reserve restaurant would hold its own with any hotel dining room in this or any other country, and indeed has again been voted Houston’s best. Both food and service is exemplary.

A $45 Grand Menu brings one ravioli of crayfish with forest mushrooms, or lobster roe; then smoked salmon consomme, or pike quenelles; herb-crusted lamb noisettes, or roasted shallots. A watercress and chicory salad and desserts bring things to a happy end in true Gallic fashion.

On your own: Culture practically spills into the streets from Houston’s many venues nightly, so check local papers for your choice. Be sure to visit the Menil Collection, one of the world’s most impressive private museums, and also the Museum of Fine Arts for its arresting array of old masters, Impressionists, Oriental and pre-Colombian works, plus those of Western artist Frederic Remington.

The Lyndon Johnson Space Center is a captivating display (inside and out) of our triumphs in space, including a tour of the Mission Control room complex. The IMAX theater in the Museum of Natural History is showing a marvelous movie on volcanoes through the end of July, and the nearby San Jacinto Monument and Museum is always screening a 20-minute re-creation (42 projectors, surround sound) of the 1836 battle that defeated Gen. Santa Anna’s army and freed Texas.

There are malls and malls, but Houston’s Galleria draws well-heeled customers from around the world with its very elegant collection of wares. It’s a visitor attraction worthy of anyone’s time . . . and credit cards.

GUIDEBOOK: Hanging Out in Houston

Getting there: Fly Continental nonstop from LAX to Houston, or Delta, American, Southwest, USAir, United or Northwest. An advance-purchase, round-trip fare is about $242.

Where to stay: Harvey Suites (6800 Main St.; $69 double, suites $74-$89); The Highlander (607 Highland Ave.; $75 double B&B;, $65 sharing bath); Holiday Inn (3131 West Loop South; $78-$83 double B&B;); Omni Houston (Four Riverway; $180-$205 double, $99 weekends).

For more information: Call the Houston Visitors Bureau at (800) 231-7799, or write (3300 Main St., Houston, Tex. 77002-9396) for a 68-page color magazine giving all the sights with location map, accommodations with prices, dining guide, shopping and upcoming events.