Galveston, Texas

Ground Control to Major Tom.

Life is a beach.  Or at least it has been for us this week.  We enjoyed another week at the beach here at Galveston Island State Park.  The weather did not cooperate with us and it was cold (30-50 degrees) and rainy, but we made the best of it!  It was the first beach that Wizard was allowed on, and he loved it!  He ran fast and furious in the sand, jumped over the incoming waves, and tasted every bit of sea debris possible.  We had to tell him numerous times to drop the dead fish. Luckily for us, he listens!  We also savored the many trails in the park.  Bird life is abundant and walking along the bay trails was a sensory and visual heaven.  They have really cool paddling trails in the bay, however it was too cold and windy for us to enjoy them.  Next time.  This state park is actually really nice, it is just outside the city by 10-15 minutes but you feel like you are in the ‘real’ Galveston Island.

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]

We did explore downtown Galveston.  It is a nice, laid-back city.  The historic district has many shops and restaurants to sample, along with historic homes, ships, theaters, and churches.  We enjoyed some delicious meals at the Rudy and Paco Restaurant and the Mosquito Café .  The Rudy and Paco Restaurant uses fried plantain chips with their salsas.  That is a genius substitution for corn tortillas.  Yum!

Of course we drove along the Seawall Blvd.  It is pretty crazy that the road is literally a step to the beach!  There is ample up front, great parking for all the beach goers.  You don’t have to tote your beach gear too far here.  The Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier along this boulevard looked fun.  However, we didn’t visit ourselves, as the weather was not cooperating.  There are plenty of non-beach activities here as well.  Moody Gardens  provides an amusement park, aquarium, and rainforest habitat to explore, while nearby the Schlitterbahn Waterpark  provides indoor and outdoor water adventures.  There is a lot to explore in Galveston!

We couldn’t visit the Houston area without making a voyage to the Johnson Space Center.  I have to admit up front that we enjoyed Kennedy Space Center more, but it was a nice visit.  The tram tour was the best where they toured you around the Johnson Space Center complex.  We got to sit in the famous Mission Control room!  History was made in that room and we sat a couple seats away from where Queen Elizabeth sat on her visit.  We also visited Building 9, where astronauts train on replicas of the International Space Station modules, space shuttle, and the new Orion.  Lastly we walked around the gigantic Saturn V.  The visiting center is more focused on shows, than self-touring NASA equipment.  So you have to manage your time, in order to catch all the shows.  The shows were very informative, but nothing beats climbing in replicas or actual pieces of the space shuttles, etc.  We did get to walk into the training module of Space Lab and touch a moon rock!

That rounds up our week here in Galveston.  The best part was watching the joy in Wizard’s face as he explored the beach.  Until next time, stay warm everyone![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]