Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Mini-Vacation to Galveston Island, TX

One of the things I love about my husband is that he can be very spontaneous.  We were enjoying our morning coffee this last Sunday morning when he mentioned that it would be fun to go to the beach for one night.  As our weekends are Sunday/Monday we can often benefit from the cheap Sunday night rates.  

And one of the many perks of homeschooling is we do school on Saturday and take Monday off so the kids have a full weekend with their dad.  And we can frolic on the beach during the week while the school kids are chained to their desks.  ;-)

We usually stay on the seawall at the San Luis, but we wanted to try something different and booked a condo at the Holiday Inn on the beach.  I have never stayed directly on the beach in Galveston, but was looking forward to not having to cross six lanes of traffic with the kids, and the last-minute price was right ($130 for a one-bedroom condo with a full kitchen) so we booked it.


I will say that I was 100% pleased with our location.  Here was the view of the ocean from our huge balcony.

Next door was a subdivision of gorgeous Easter-egg colored beach houses.  I decided instantly that I needed one of those beach houses.  What a great place to spend every weekend!  A girl can dream, right?


One of the perks of late check-in is that we don't have to worry about sunscreen.  I hate that stuff, it is poison.  By the time we hit the beach it was after 5 PM and it was so gorgeous.  I love the sand dunes.


The last few years Galveston has been trying to avoid beach erosion, so you often see piles of reddish sea weed between the wet and dry sand.  It is actually quite beautiful in the afternoon light.


Here is my sweetie!  Thanks to our  primal lifestyle (and P90X) he looks better in his 40's then he did in his 20's. Yep, my husband is hot!!!  ;-)





The boys spend quite a bit of time playing in the sand.  They love getting messy.  Here is a rare photo of their elusive mother.  I am usually the one behind the camera, but I try to get my husband to take a few photos of me with the kids.



The water was quite cold as we are having an usually cool spring, but it didn't keep the boys (or me) from spending some time in the waves.  I have to comment on Duke's face as he is running in the water.  He kept on doing that and it made him look crazy-evil!


I love that my boys are best friends and really enjoy spending time together.  Looking at this photo makes me want to go back to the beach today!


Here is my sexy "beach hair".  It looks slightly different than the beach hair styles seen on celebrities.


The kids enjoyed climbing and running on the sand dunes by this old wooden building.  At least until we found a sign further down the beach stating that we were supposed to stay off the dunes due to bird's nesting.  Oops!   "Come down kids, NOW!".


That evening we enjoyed homemade gluten-free pizza (the crust was already baked before we came) with grass-fed lamb, olives, feta cheese on a fresh basil-pesto covered crust.  

I will post my husband's gluten-free pizza crust recipe soon, it is honestly the most delicious crust in the world, better than the wheat flour ones!  This deep-dish version is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside and just heavenly.  My husband is hot AND can bake a mean homemade pizza.  I was a wise 17-year old when I fell in love with him.  :-)


We spent the evening and next morning on the beach and it was heaven.  This part of Galveston Island is simply gorgeous with the white sand, clean beaches and beautiful grass-covered sand dunes.  As I was enjoying the view I realized that we didn't have to worry about driving to another state like Florida to enjoy the beach, we have beautiful ones a short drive from our house.

All in all it was a perfect mini-break and we came back refreshed and relaxed.  My husband doesn't have the time to take long vacations with us and we don't have the money for expensive trips, but we have found that taking many short one to three night mini-vacations throughout the year is less stressful and so much fun.  

We live in a huge state that has oceans, mountains, deserts, piney forests, huge cities, beautiful wineries, and gorgeous rolling hills.  In just a few hours we can be somewhere completely different and beautiful!

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4 comments:

  1. Wow! What a nice getaway! I'm so envious!

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  2. Yes, He is hot.

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  3. Paula, many Texans complain about Galveston, but it is actually really pretty and so incredibly historic.

    And thanks Anonymous!!! We have been married for over 20 years (and together for 27 years) and he has never looked better. :-)

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  4. It looks like a lovely get-away! How fun! Thanks for sharing your photos! :)

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Rita