Galveston, TX - Day 1

Wednesday, February 3

Good morning from the Bolivar Peninsula!

Andi and I have been waking up about an hour before the kids every morning to read and blog, and this was the view from our bed today. Looks like a screensaver, doesn’t it? The sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico was beautiful!

We camped for free on the beach last night, and woke up this morning with this stretch of sand to ourselves. It was very peaceful listening to the birds chirping and waves crashing outside our RV.

After breakfast, we drove to the Galveston - Port Bolivar ferry station about a mile down the road to catch a lift to Galveston Island. This free ferry operated by the Texas Department of Transportation runs continuously (24/7/365) between the two port cities. I was surprised to learn it can transport vehicles up to 65 feet long and 80,000 pounds! Our RV’s size and weight comes in way under that limit.

Getting onto the ferry was simple. We pulled up, waited in a line of cars for about 10 minutes, and then we were directed to drive right onto the ferry boat. We had the option to remain in the RV for the duration of the 20 minute boat ride, or we could have put on a mask and gone out onto the boat deck. Our family opted to stay inside our RV since the journey was so short.

Twenty minutes later, we were there! Easy breezy. Andi drove the RV off the ferry and into the city of Galveston. Taking the ferry from Port Bolivar both saved us time and it was a fun & unique experience to add to our visit.

We still needed to do school, so Andi searched for a playground and navigated us to the first one that popped up in his Google search — SeaWolf Park on Galveston’s Pelican Island. The park offers a popular fishing pier, playground and is in close proximity to the Galveston Naval Museum. Unbeknownst to us, it cost $10 to park at SeaWolf Park. We probably would have picked another park to go to that morning had we known that, but we were there now so we paid the parking fee and found a spot near the playground entrance.

Galveston’s Pelican island was windy, but neat to see all the boat traffic coming and going in Galveston Bay. Tory, Aden and I did some of their school in the RV, and then we decided to go outside to play on the playground. The kids were so happy monkeying around on the climbing structure. “They act like they haven’t been to a playground before,” Andi said. Well, they kind-of haven’t. Not for a while at least. I don’t think we’ve been to a public playground since COVID started last March. This was a treat having this nice, big playground structure all to themselves.

Andi and I were able to pry Tory and Aden away from the playground for a few minutes to take a walk with us to the end of the pier. There were a handful of fishermen standing on the dock and signs posted about sea turtules, but we didn’t see any wildlife.

The kids played on the playground for a few more minutes and then we decided to make our way into Galveston to have lunch and get to Andi’s eye appointment. Andi was craving street tacos, and found a food truck not far from the optometrist. He ordered carne asada and al pastor tacos for he and I to share & a gordita for Tory. Aden isn’t a big fan of Mexican food, so he had a hot dog and some strawberries from the RV fridge.

Andi’s been experiencing headaches the last few weeks, which seem to immediately come on when he’s driving for a long period of time. He decided he wanted to get his eyes checked sooner than later and was able to get an appointment in Galveston. As he suspected, he does need glasses to see long distance, but the optometrist he visited wasn’t able to fill his glasses prescription until next week. Ideally, we wouldn’t have to wait around Galveston until then. The eye doctor recommended another optometrist in town that could fill the prescription more quickly, so next we drove to downtown Galveston to meet with that eye doctor. She were able to take the prescription from the first optometrist and fill Andi’s prescription for glasses that afternoon.

While we waited, the four of us decided to walk around Galveston’s historic downtown area. Immediately, I fell in love with the old architecture, iron-clad store fronts, and brick streets. Signs posted along “The Strand” which is the name of Galveston’s downtown shopping area, detailed the city’s rich history. In the late 1800’s, Galveston was known as the “Wall Street of the Southwest.” Fortunes were made in cotton, publishing and printing, mills, railroads, land development and shipping. Tragedy and rebuilding since followed.

We stopped into the famous La King’s Confectionary for a sweet treat. This is quite possibly the largest candy store we’ve never been to with rows & rows of old-time candies, chocolates, truffles, ice cream and more. Store employees weren’t making candy at the time we visited, but we did have fun peering into all the cases to see the various confections. Tory picked candy corn for her treat, Aden got a small bag of Peachie-O rings and Andi selected a handful of homemade caramel-filled chocolates for the family to share. “Oh my gosh, it’s sooo good!” Aden exclaimed as we sampled a few of our chocolates on the street.

Before we left downtown Galveston, Andi picked up his new glasses. I’m so glad Andi was able to see an optometrist and get a new pair of glasses all in one afternoon.

We left downtown Galveston and drove along the famous Seawall Blvd toward Jamaica Beach. Andi reserved us a campsite at Jamaica Beach RV Park for the next two nights (they have a two-night minimum). This place was huge! We settled into our campsite and then the four of us walked around the property to check it out.

The RV Park has all kinds of amenities we aren’t accustomed to having — several pools, two hot tubs, mini golf, playgrounds, basketball courts, and even a lazy river (which isn’t open during the off-season). Aden begged to go swimming, but it’s still a little too cold outside (55 degrees today).

The handsome boys in our family — Aden felt pretty special now that Dad has glasses just like him.

Back at our campsite, Tory and I chatted with my Nebraska family on Face Time while Andi grilled fresh gulf shrimp and zucchini for dinner. Tory started to complain that her neck felt itchy and I noticed big welts on her neck and back. She and Aden each took showers, and then we settled in for the night. I gave Tory some Benadryl for her hives. Hoping she feels better tomorrow.

We have another full day to enjoy in Galveston. There’s lots to activities to do here, and the weather looks like it will be warm tomorrow. More to come.