We have been promising Brooke that we would take her to the beach for over a year now. It didn't end up working out last summer, since Jeff had to leave for training sooner then we had originally thought. So we figured we would take a mini vacation to Galveston Island, as one last hoorah before school starts up!
We left on Thursday and stayed for two nights. It was about a 5 hour drive. We arrived in Galveston at around noon, well before check in time at the hotel, so we decided to grab some lunch and sight see a bit. Our first stop was
Fisherman's Wharf for lunch.
We really enjoyed our lunch here, and especially enjoyed the views of Galveston Bay. Such a great location, right on the waterfront, walking distance to the Historic Strand District, the Tall Ship Elissa, and the Galveston Cruise Terminal.
After lunch, we walked next door to
Elissa. While we didn't actually tour the ship, I did read up on her a bit. She was built in 1877 and carried cargo around the world for 90 years, before being rescued in Greece and lovingly restored. She now lives in the Port of Galveston, but is still a fully-functioning ship, and sails the Gulf of Mexico annually.
Next we headed over to the Historic Strand District.
The Strand, suffered a 10-foot storm surge during Hurricane Ike. This district consists mainly of Victorian era buildings that now house restaurants and antique stores. I love walking through historic districts everywhere we go, and I truly enjoy looking at the architecture of each of the buildings.
I stopped in
LaKing's Confectionery with Brooke while Jeff was tending to Avery. It was such a cool place. They had a working 1920's soda fountain serving malts, shakes, ice cream sodas, sundaes, splits, floats and your favorite fountain treats. They also serve old time specialties like Peanut and Peco Brittle, Divinity, Pecan Pralines, Hand-Dipped Chocolates, Fudge and their famous Salt Water Taffy, which they actually make right there in front of you, on antique equipment! Avery was in desperate need of a nap, so we planned to take the kids there for a sweet treat sometime before we left Galveston, but we never ended up having the chance to, which was kind of disappointing.
We loaded up in the van, and drove around a bit. Avery and Jade both fell asleep within minutes.
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| Here is a 1900 Storm Survivor- this building was also on the strand. |
We drove around the Historic East End. The homes there were a rainbow of colors, Victorians dating back to the early 1860's.
Many of the historic homes, like Bishop's Palace (below), are now museums and offer tours.
While they have worked hard to restore the island, there are sadly still some reminders of the 2008 disaster of Hurricane Ike...
After our drive of the island, we decided to check into our hotel. We stayed at Moody Gardens. Moody Gardens is an educational tourist destination, with a golf course and a hotel, among other attractions, including three pyramid attractions and Palm Beach.
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| View from our room |
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| The hotel portion of the resort |
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| The pyramids |
There were three pyramids at the resort. The Aquarium Pyramid, is one of the largest in the region and holds many species of fish and other marine animals. The Rainforest Pyramid contains tropical plants, animals, birds, butterflies, reptiles, and a variety of other rainforest animals including free-roaming monkeys. The Discovery Pyramid, focuses on science-oriented exhibits and activities.
We got settled in our room and changed into our swimsuits and headed over to Palm Beach for the evening. Palm Beach is a landscaped white sand beach with freshwater lagoons, a lazy river, tower slides, and splash pad play area for children. On our walk over we saw many little lizards!!!
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| The resort situated Palm Beach right against the Galveston Bay, so it felt as if you were really on the beach, yet had access to all the awesome amenities of the waterpark! |
We grabbed an easy dinner at Sonic that night and hit the sack!
The next morning Jeff and the girls had a pillow fight.... so fun :-)
I got the kids ready and we headed to the Rainforest Pyramid.
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| Monkeys! |
We saw a lot of cool things at the Rainforest Pyramid!
Next Stop, the Aquarium!
We had a really great time looking through both of these pyramids! After that, we were ready for lunch. This is where we planned on eating lunch that afternoon....
But this is where we ended up...
AGAIN!
I went into "The Spot" restaurant with Brooke and Jade. It was the kind of place where you place your order at the counter and then bring it to a table. I thought I would order our food and get situated at a table, this way Jeff could come in with Avery and sit right down. Avery can be kind of fussy waiting for food, so we thought this would please everyone. WRONG. We waited in line for about ten minutes, and just as I was about to order, Jeff calls me and says "let's go." Apparently Avery was not having it, she was screaming in the van, and he just couldn't get her to calm down. He figured lunch would be a disaster at a sit down place, so we opted for something easier. Avery actually ended up falling asleep in the two minute car ride over to Sonic. I guess we will look back at these situations and laugh one day.
Since Avery was sleeping, we drove along the seawall and stopped at
Murdoch's. Murdoch's Bathhouse is one of Galveston's most historic locations. Originally built in the late 1800's, the wood structure was constructed directly on the sand. Without the protection of a Seawall , the 1900 storm destroyed the bathhouse. Although the structure was rebuilt in 1901, the storms of 1909 and 1915 were so violent, that reconstruction was required after each. In 1961, Hurricane Carla destroyed the bath house yet again. In 2008, Hurricane Ike destroyed Murdochs, and in 2009, miraculously, a brand new, sparkling Murdochs returned in its place.
We bought some seashells and souvenirs and continued along the seawall.
Pleasure Pier was a neat sight. It opened last summer and has 1 roller coaster, 15 rides, carnival games and souvenir shops. We chose to skip doing this with the kids, since there were only 2 rides that they would have been tall enough to ride.
After Avery woke up and ate her lunch, we went to the beach!
All the girls truly loved going to the beach, they had the very best time! Brooke really enjoys playing in the sand... Jade enjoys frolicking in the shallow water, and Avery is a water baby! She had no fear, and literally dove in the water.
We played at the beach for awhile and then headed back to the hotel. We went right to Palm Beach to play some more. It was fun to play in the white sand beach at the resort, because the actual sand on the Galveston shores is not pretty or soft at all (not that the kids minded at all).
After playing in the sand, the wave pool, and the lazy river, we finished up at the water slides.
Palm Beach was TONS of fun. Then, we stopped at the hotel pool and played for a bit and ordered some dinner, poolside, before winding down for the night.
On Saturday, we had a lazy morning in the hotel room before we checked out. We stopped at the last pyramid, the Discovery Pyramid before leaving, as well as the Dinosaur Exhibit.
Before driving home, we ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe, which the girls were just so excited about!
We planned on getting the famous Volcano dessert after lunch, but Avery clearly couldn't wait any longer, and insisted on banging her spoon on the table!
Here it is...
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| We bought the girls Monkeys on the way out. |
Overall we had a great time! It was definitely fun to get away for a few days, and I think the girls really enjoyed themselves. I can't believe next week Brooke starts Kindergarten, where has the time gone!
