Galveston, O Gavelston!
Galveston, O Galveston! (cue the Glen Campbell song)
In case you missed Part 1, check out my time at Anna and Greg’s wedding in Houston here!
Always cheaper to fly on a Tuesday than a Sunday, and wanting to spend a few days together, Mikey and I decide to explore the area and took a drive to Galveston, an island that’s on the Gulf Coast. On the way, we stopped at Target for groceries (and, because, TARGET!) and stocked up on healthy food for the next few days aside from dinners out. Oatmeal, lots of fresh fruit, nut butter packets, nuts, beef jerky and even some giant pickles to go.
Mikey booked a beautiful room in a unique Air Bn’B at the Charles W Adams house, about a 15 min walk from the beach in an old, colonial home with a huge bed, tall ceilings, a claw foot bathtub, and big porches with swinging chairs.
Once we dropped out stuff, we walked straight to the beach and, although not sure if we’d swim, immediately dropped our stuff and spent at least an hour swimming in the warm but still refreshing water on the hot, humid day, even at 4 pm!
We walked along the beach and pier after swimming and then, upon the recommendation of many, hit up the Original Mexican Cafe in town, and it was worth the long, hot walk to get there!
(Not much food that day; believe it or not, Mikey ate it all!)
We walked back to our room and enjoyed some Netflix shows while we put up our feet and enjoyed some cold LaCroix’s, courtesy of Target, from our mini fridge. The next day, after a sleep-in and breakfast and coffee on the porch, we headed to the beach armed with just our towels, waters and some cash to rent paddle boards!
It was super windy and there was a strong current, and I hadn’t paddle boarded in the ocean with my belly yet (so different with the currents than on lakes or rivers even!), but I knew I could do it in some capacity, so our we went. No pictures to show the fun, but we had a BLAST on the water – and what a workout in the ocean! I remembered that from my last two ocean paddles, and we had fun heading out for an hour the first time and about 30 minutes the second time, trying to surf and getting pummelled by the breakers! It was certainly harder with my belly and different center of gravity, but I stood and paddled hard, fell off my board a few times and was fine, and even caught the longest wave between Mikey and I.
We were at the beach from 12-5 and after 2 hours of paddle boarding, rented some beach chairs and an umbrella for some shade. We got the boards and umbrella set up with a discount thanks to SUP Gulf Coast! – Marlo was awesome there chatting and giving us tips and helping me get mine to the water since the lack of core made it tough to carry my board in the wind.I went for a beach stroll while Mikey read for a while, and then we walked home, happy but sunburned (forgot we are basically on the equator!), and used the tub to get ready for dinner. We wanted something on the water to sit outside and opted for Bubba Gump’s for the price and coconut shrimp. Good thing we decided to take the car, because it stated POURING (aka a real tropical storm, not a normal shower!) and we sat inside, above the water, and watched the storm.
It is SO ODD to be warm even while soaking wet outside, and then to go inside in the air conditioning and freeze because of the cold air; heading outside after dinner (when the storm happened to pass!) was so refreshing. After a short seawall walk, we decided to grab some fro-yo, which was a GREAT decision.
Home. More Netflix. More solid sleeping. A last breakfast and a shoreline drive and walk (again, narrowly avoiding another crazy storm!) and a great last day in Galveston.
We drove back to Kingwood to Anna’s parents’ house and Mark (her dad) graciously gave us a ride to the airport. A little bit of Houston Chick Fil’A (grilled chicken sandwich + a fruit cup for me!) and we were off. It’s about a 4 hour flight from Houston to Calgary, so, in my 2XU compression gear (to help with swelling and my left leg’s growing varicose veins!), I practiced some BirthFit squat therapy and stretches.
On that note, don’t be afraid to get up, stretch, stand or squat on a plane! People won’t think you’re weird; they’ll just wish that they felt fine enough to give their bodies a sitting break, too!
And just like that, we were home. What a meaningful few days away with Mikey to just enjoy us, a very new climate and landscape
(everything on stilts!), and the chance to talk and be together before his busy Survive & Thrive summer is underway. I love this man so much – there’s just no other person I’d rather spend time with and he’s my favorite to adventure with. It was fun to have him feel the babe’s kicks and movements, which are coming all the time now, and watch his face light up when the movement reached his hand. What a gift this baby and time was! We don’t take it for granted that God provided the time away from work and the financial ability to go support Anna and Greg and get the chance to spend time as a married couple ourselves.
It was real, Galveston! Thanks for the chance to swim in the warm waves and soak up that salty air! Have you ever been to Texas? What about the Gulf Coast? First time there for us, but not to Texas; we’ve been to Austin twice – an awesome city!
And how do you do in the humid climate?We couldn’t get over how different it was! It’d be hard for me to live there, but visiting was awesome – my skin was shiny but loving it.
Live well & be well,
Bonnie
