More Texas Love Heading West

In between dodging windstorms and lots of work (not actually dodging the work), we’ve had a few more great stops in Texas.  But first a bit about driving lately. Twice in the last couple weeks we’ve had to change plans due to 50+ mph winds either at our location or our destination.  Luckily the parks are used to last minute changes and do their best to accommodate and we were able to hunker down, pull in the slides, put on the Lion King and wait out the wind.  Even with that, seems like most drives have been two hands gripped tightly on the wheel while the wind has it’s way with us and I’m trying hard to keep us in between the white lines.  Then throw the infinite convoy of semis into the picture, who really drive at whatever speed they want to, (much faster than what’s posted and probably what’s safe), and a bit of a challenge ensues. When a semi passes, first it pushes our bus right, then sucks us into the trailer, and the trailer gets sucked into us too.  Sometimes it feels we are inches apart. I know this is a case where most of you are saying ‘Stop whining, you’re living the dream’, and I completely agree! But it’s just worth a few sentences to mention how our travels have been lately.  Luckily no severe storms!

Galveston

If ever in Texas, make sure you put Galveston on your to do list.  Looking at a map, you’ll see that Galveston Island is located along the same stretch of land as Padre Island in Corpus Christi.  It’s a long breakwater for the Texas coast that appears to have broken off of the mainland.  Galveston seems to be much more developed and maybe a bit more wealthy than Corpus, although they are building some swank places on Padre Island as I write this!  Galveston is also unique in the entire portion of the Gulf Coast that we visited, in that the hotels and restaurants (for the most part) are across the street from the beach.  The road through town follows along a beach wall that goes for miles with parking beside the whole thing instead of hotels lining the beach and blocking access with their own private property. 

Galveston also has an old town region called The Strand.  Much of The Strand looks similar to the French Quarter in New Orleans – lots of old two-story buildings with wrought iron railed balconies.  At the end of The Strand is a free short ferry boat ride to the Bolivar Peninsula.  Bolivar is a stark contrast to Galveston with old homes, no new development, and a ‘locals only’ feel.  

In the other direction from The Strand is Jamaica Beach, an upscale residential area with beautiful homes that back up to a canal system so you can park your yacht in the ‘driveway’.

Driving onto Galveston Island you can’t miss the three Pyramids just to the right of the bridge.  This is part of Moody Gardens, a tourist attraction that is actually worth the price of admission.  We explored two of the pyramids, first the Aquarium.  I should say that we stopped visiting aquarium exhibits years ago because as you may know, I’ve had reef aquariums for years.  In our Bellingham house I had the aquarium built into the wall with all of the water filtration in a closet behind.  That was supposed to be Tami’s kitchen pantry but she gave that up for my hobby and a unique display in the living room!  But after having my own, it seems most aquariums are not as interesting as my own tank was and I think it would still be hard to find a public aquarium with as many live coral as I had in one tank. Most are fake, dead coral that are painted to give them color!  But the Moody Gardens aquarium had high reviews so we thought we’d give it a try, and we were pleasantly surprised!  The penguin exhibit was fun as they always are, and there is the must have walk-through room with massive sharks and other reef fish on all sides, but the jellyfish room was our favorite.  Each tank is home to a different species, illuminated from the bottom so that the jellies seem to glow, showing off their transparent bodies.  I think when the aliens attack they are going to be mad about the humans putting their relatives in glass cages.

The second pyramid was even better than the aquarium though.  The Rainforest Pyramid is a massive greenhouse that is like walking through an indoor jungle.  It starts with a walk through the upper regions of the trees where you’ll feel the high humidity and see colorful tropical birds of all kinds, an occasional butterfly, and maybe a monkey or two. Then down to the lower level where orchids of all colors line the walkway like Audrey II’s children in Little Shop of Horrors.  We rounded a corner where some movement caught my eye, and in the tree right above our heads was a cotton-top tamarin, a small monkey with a black face resembling something you’d see on a stick marking a head-hunter tribe’s lair.  (We’ve seen lots of those).  After watching for a while, one of the attendants stopped by and spoke with the monkey, admonishing him for stealing fruit from one of the other animals in the jungle.  Also at the bottom level is a river system with giant lungfish, turtles, and other massive freshwater fish that definitely wouldn’t fit in my tank. 

With miles of beach, great places to eat, shopping or just sitting to watch a sunset, Galveston is absolutely a destination worth your time.

Port Aransas

At the east end of Padre Island is little town that we missed when we visited Corpus Christi the first time.  Port Aransas is a beach goer’s town.  Stop at any of the Stripe’s gas stations and get a parking pass that allows you access to the beach in your vehicle and you can drive for miles.  We were there the week before official spring break and they were gearing up for large crowds – already getting pretty busy by then.  To really enjoy the beach, you’ll want to buy a high-end golf cart with chrome rims, knobby tires, an extended back like a pickup for carrying coolers full of … water I imagine, and a stereo system that’s loud enough to drown out the other stereos thumping nearby.

At the very east end of town there’s a nice public park where you can spend the afternoon sitting in the sun and watching the boats come and go.  Dolphins play in the wakes and are numerous just out from the shore.  Fishermen line the water’s edge, and one had a ‘pet’ pelican that was very friendly while being fed.

We sat for a while watching the dolphins and the pelicans in their Top Gun fighter jet formation as they zoomed a few feet over the water.  

Fredericksburg, Texas Hill Country

If you live in Washington where we’re from, you’ve probably been to Leavenworth.  An old mining town that was about to go bust, Leavenworth became a tourist attraction when a couple of entrepreneurs convinced the locals to convert it to a Bavarian looking village with enough shops and German food to give tourists something to spend their money on.  Fredericksburg reminded me of Leavenworth except that it’s actually authentic in it’s German heritage.  The town was founded in 1846 by German immigrants and although it has the food and tourist town feel of Leavenworth, the buildings show their weather beaten age giving it a historic charm.  

Although we didn’t visit, the National Museum of the Pacific War is located here as well.  It is a six and half acre tribute to those who fought in WWII with Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who was originally from Fredericksburg.

We tasted wines from the Texas Hill Country that surrounds the town, listened to some excellent live music while dining alfresco, and meandered the town shops over a couple of expensive days.  The one downside to this town is that everything is priced for tourism so expect to pay up to twice as much for food, or anything in the shops.  We also like to look at real estate prices in the areas we visit, and this one was deceiving.  Driving around the outskirts you’ll see houses that look average at best, but surprisingly boast a price tag of what would appear to be a much wealthier town.   Again, twice as much or more than what you’d think by looking at the place.

Winding Down

Well that’s about all I have to say for now.  I know this post lacks the nerdy humor I try to imbue into these paragraphs (for the most part), but as I’ve said, I never know what’s going to come out and I guess that may be a reflection of my current mood.  When we have a deranged lunatic on our planet murdering innocent people every day and ruining the lives of so many, a subdued perspective tends to permeate what would otherwise be a more light hearted essay.  Tami and I have never taken this opportunity for granted, but despite the hard-headed political differences dividing our country, we know we’re pretty blessed to have landed in a place where we can live this lifestyle, greet people with friendly smile each day, and feel a sense of community at some level.  We certainly hope it stays that way.

We’ll be ‘home’ in a few weeks and I’ll post one more time about our last stops in Arizona and sum up the trip with some overall thoughts and numbers once we’re settled.  Until then, we wish you all the best and as always, thanks for riding along with us!

G&T