Galveston, Texas

We make a yearly trip to Galveston . . . not for the beaches but for Schlitterbahn.  I know there is one closer to where we live but Colin loves the one in Galveston for some reason.  This trip we would not be going to Schlitterbahn but leaving tomorrow for a cruise.  I love cruising . . . really I do!  I mean I get more sleep and naps and well more food than one should be allowed in a week too.  So we are hanging out in Galveston today before we board the ship tomorrow.  The beaches are not desirable this year . . . why?  Well there is a ton of seaweed . . . and by ton I mean literally tons everywhere we look . . . oh and the smell . . . it is yuck.  So today we are going to do the driving tour of the Tree Sculptures.  I had heard of this but really did not know much about it.  Basically trees that were destroyed during Hurricane Ike were used to carve beautiful creations.  We picked up a very useful map at the Visitor's Center and hit the road . . .

 I loved this frog.  At the bottom right is a small turtle . . . all the details amazed me!

Now the carvings/sculptures were amazing but so were the houses too.  After all these years of visiting Galveston how did I not know about all these grand, beautiful houses?  It was time to grab something for lunch and at the recommendation of the lady at the visitor's center, we headed to The Mosquito Cafe.  Now this is kind of a place that is hard for a picky eater to find something . . . not mentioning any names but the child wasn't so thrilled with his options.  I on the other hand wanted to taste it all; the entire menu sounded yummy.  So what does he order?  Chocolate Cake!  I was willing to let him since I really wanted to eat at this place.  My mom and I split an 'Almost Reuben' sandwich and my dad had a pulled pork sandwich.  It was a lot of food and both were yummy!  Across the street was a bakery, Patty Cakes Bakery, that had the same owners so we got a sweet treat while Colin ordered a loaf of bread.  Go figure, but he ate it.  Did I mention someone was a picky eater?  So we head to the car and devour our yummy treats.  I think we have found a new favorite place in Galveston!  We headed back to the hotel for some afternoon swim time and down time.  It was nice to relax and maybe nap too.  Someone was becoming antsy so we got back in the car and cruised around the city ending at Mario's Seawall Italian Restaurant for dinner.  What we really enjoy the most at Mario's is the Sunday brunch but since it is only Saturday we had pizza.  Back to the hotel . . . we decide to go check out the beaches and seaweed . . .

    . . . there is absolutely no sign of sand!  The rocks Colin is standing on are at least 2 feet high and you can barely see them.

There are literally mounds of seaweed as tall as the seawall which is at least 10 feet tall.  Of course I don't know how tall the seawall is exactly but it is tall.  At places driving you can see the seaweed piles as tall as the seawall . . . no thank you . . . I was amazed at the people sitting in it and walking around with no shoes!

I was glad Colin had no interest and was ready to go back to the pool!