Galveston, Oh Galveston

We aim for two beach trips a year, one in May and another in September.  Oddly, that's about how many times a year we made it to the beach when we lived much closer to it.

In the past we have always headed to the more southern Texas beaches where we were told by a few the water was clearer and cleaner than the Galveston beaches.

This time, we decided to give Galveston a chance and come to our own conclusion and opinion.

Well, they were right. The water was browner and not as clear as the Port A/Corpus Christi area. That said, it was cleaner than what I had expected and also seaweed and jellyfish free which is always a plus where I am concerned.

I also enjoyed the fact that I saw more active ocean life than I had possibly ever seen anywhere. Our first morning there I sat on the seawall in front of our hotel and enjoyed watching a storm roll in, the dolphins frolic, fish jump, and pelicans dive for breakfast. All this was happening close enough to the shore that it made it pretty awesome for me to sit and watch..aside from the multitude of mosquitoes that were snacking on me.

We also took a self-guided tour of Galveston's downtown. Galveston is a tourist town, so most everything was shut down or not open so we couldn't get a really good feel for it. We still enjoyed walking around looking at the architecture and stopping in a few art galleries to browse....

A year round haunted house

I understand Galveston has a nice Mardi Gras celebration

On the day we planned to go to the beach it was cloudy and threatening rain. Since we were so unfamiliar with Galveston we didn't really know where the best beach areas were so we just sort of  picked a spot to stop off. Because of the weather Toby and Skye didn't even wear their swimsuits. I wore mine. I like to be prepared.

When we first got there we walked along the beach. Eventually the lure of the ocean compelled Skye - my fish - to change into her swimsuit...even though it was sprinkling lightly and there was lightening in the distance.

Toby - my other fish - is Skye's swimming partner, but even at Skye's insistence that he get in with her he was reluctant because he assumed the bottom was about to fall out of the sky.

I was determined that SOMEBODY was going to swim dammit!! I didn't drive 4 hours through Houston traffic to come to a beach that nobody was going to swim in so I got in with her. I hate ocean water. Absolutely hate it.

Luckily, the black cloud above us slowly passed us by and the sun peeked out so Toby decided to get in with her. I sat on the shore watching them boogie board and enjoying the scenery.

In all fairness to Galveston we weren't there long enough for me have a well formed opinion of it. No matter what opinion I finally arrive at, I know that one drawback will always be that I have to drive through Houston to get to it.

Our time in Galveston was short but sweet. I know Skye must have really enjoyed it because she kept asking me the whole time we were there if I liked Galveston. I think she was making sure I liked it as much as she did.

We will go back and explore a little more next summer.