December 2024 Travel: Galveston, TX

Our next vacation is about three weeks away which means I should probably recap our December 2024 vacation when we visited Galveston, TX and took our first Princess cruise.

 

In early December, Kenyon and I, along with our friends Wanda and Michael traveled to Texas to take part in Dickens on the Strand before we boarded the Regal Princes for a Western Caribbean cruise.  I’ve been to Texas but not to Galveston, which was a neat island, and I’d love to visit again.  Especially since we didn’t have favorable weather for Dickens on the Strand. 

 

Upon our arrival, we had dinner at Pappacito’s Cantina to meet Wanda’s friend Katherine.  The happy hour margaritas were delicious, and they have the best chips and salsa.  We loved our dinner.

 

No trip to TX is complete without a stop at Buc-ee’s and had we not just eaten, I would have gone for the brisket.  It is so hard to go to Buc-ee’s and not spend a fortune on all the fun stuff. 

 

It was late when we arrived at our AirB&B which made me excited to explore the following day so we could see all the sights.  Getting to our destination at night wasn’t the easiest but we found the location along with a possum sighting!  It freaked me out the remainder of the stay.

Our first full day in Galveston was exploring using the trolley.  We had good eats and drinks.  We visited the Sunflower Bakery & Café, Naked Iguana Brewery, Queen’s Bar-B-Q, Stuttgarden Tavern, and Shipley Donuts.  We also had THE BEST ice cream, Blue Bell, which we picked up several gallons at H.E.B. 

 

We toured the 1877 Tall Ship Elissa and rode along the waterfront on the trolley.

 

We were in town during the Mountain West Championship and needed a place to watch the football game while we cheered for our Boise State Broncos.  I called the Galveston Elks Lodge #126 who said we could watch the game.  OMG what hospitality!  They had great food and such friendly members not to mention an impressive lodge. 

 

Our second day in Galveston was Dickens on the Strand.  This is an annual Charles Dickens festival that has so much to see and do.  Our weather didn’t cooperate which impacted the amount of time we spent on The Strand.  A huge downpour started the day, and it stays overcast and chilly. 

We will have to make a repeat trip to try this festival again in the future.

A Much Needed Break

I am ready for a break.  It is well deserved and 100% earned.  This year has been rough so far and sometimes I feel like I can’t juggle it all.  Our staffing at work has finally come full circle and we actually have filled shifts and semi-happy staff.  It is about time.  I tell my trainees all the time that I am really good as a dispatcher, really good as a supervisor, and really good as a trainer…but I am not really good at doing them all at once.  Not even two at once and I’ve had to juggle all three.  It is exhausting.

I thought a break was coming but I am pretty sure I’ll have to jump back into the trainer role mid-May.  For now, let’s just enjoy vacation!

I am stoked for my first Carnival cruise.  I can’t wait to eat all the yummy food and drink all the yummy drinks.  Downtime with my husband and my friend Dawny is also going to be the best.  I am ready to get this party started.

We have booked tour tickets to tour The Queen Mary and that makes me excited too.  When we arrive back in Long Beach, we will rent a car from LAX and tour the Regan Presidential Library & Museum before a late flight home.  It will be a fast trip and there is just never enough time for it all…but it will be awesome.  I’m looking forward to it.

Texas: South Padre Islands

If you missed the first part of our Texas adventures, Texas: San Antonio Riverwalk and Houston Space Center.  You can read about it here <—

We made the drive from Sugar Land to South Padre with a planned stop for breakfast at Grandy’s in Victoria.  Kenyon took me there on our last trip to Texas and we were looking forward to their yummy breakfast steaks.  They were delicious.  We continued to Harlingen where we met up with Phoenix and clan at the big Texas grocery store called H.E.B.  We had seen semi trucks all along I-10 and were eager to check out this store.  We loaded up on groceries for the week and made the very long drive to South Padre because…you guessed it…traffic!  OMG it took forever to make that last 23 mile stretch.

We were happy to be at a place for a few days were we didn’t have to drive.

I can’t say it enough.  If you can afford it, go for the condo on the beach.  Having six adults on this trip allowed us to have such lush accommodations.  We booked our condo through VRBO and it is connected to LaCoppa Inn Vacations, which meant we had included breakfast at their main hotel.  It was basic and so so delicious.  I loved the refried beans and the tacos.  After we drove the first day and had a tough time parking, we rode the bus the remainder of the days as it stopped right in front of our breakfast spot.  We continue to use the bus the remainder of our trip as it is free and easy to hop/hop off.  The bus also goes onto Port Isabel Island.

Our first night was dinner at Longboard Bar & Grill where we had the best view of the sun setting.  We also saw a beautiful boat come by.  

The adults wanted a night out afterwards so we met up with a friend of Stacey’s who was in town for the weekend.  We didn’t go anywhere real great but enjoyed the company.  We redeemed ourselves a few nights later when we went back down to the waterfront and hit up several bars/restaurants in a row.  I loved the mixed drink options and the live music atmosphere.

One day we took in the farmer’s market and Sea Turtle Inc., a conservation, rehabilitation, and education center, were we visited their “resident turtles” unable to be released back into the wild.  The had to build a prosthetic fin for Allison.  I am so glad we got to see her.

Phoenix signed her kids up for surf lessons, which they really enjoyed.  A few days later she rented two surf boards so they could play in the ocean in front of the condo.

We tried a lot of new restaurants and bars making sure we hit up happy hour for the best deals.  We also visited South Padre Island Brewing and shared a flight.

I’m telling you, the mixed drinks were amazing!

One after breakfast we boarded the bus and headed to Port Isabel Island to tour the light house and walk around their area decorated in a pirate theme.  Phoenix and I did a tasting at the distillery and the kids and I got some ice cream.

Phoenix had signed up for a morning boat fishing excursion that was canceled due to the weather.  Maybe next time!  We headed home a day earlier than they did so we missed seeing them go parasailing.  I plan to do that in January on our cruise.  

If we weren’t out doing stuff we were taking in the amazing vies on our patio where we enjoyed morning sunrises and people watching through out the day.  This was a really wonderful trip and I would love to visit the island again.

Texas: San Antonio RiverWalk & Houston Space Center

We had an amazing time in South Padre Island, Texas.  I am missing the ocean views and the amazing weather.  

Renting a condo right on the ocean was the best idea ever.  

I am also so thankful I was able to enjoy a vacation with my best friend, her significant other, her children, and her parents.  Despite so many people, we got along well and everything went off without a hitch.

Our Texas vacation started in San Antonio.  We landed at the airport at 1pm, collected our rental car, and headed to the hotel as our room was ready.  We went for a hotel right off the riverwalk and were able to book for free with rewards points.  This was also an excellent idea as we didn’t need to move the car for the remainder of our evening stay.  The hotel had a walkway directly to the riverwalk and you could see the boats come by right outside our window.  I couldn’t wait to get out and explore.

Our first stop was The Alamo.  Although free to tour, there was an hour wait for the timed entry.  We popped into the visitor center to purchase our riverwalk narrated boat tour where the gal suggested going to the Bier Garten for a quick bite to eat.  It was also $7 liter of the day beer, which was an amazing price!  We shared two sandwiches and loved the chicken schnitzel the best.

We toured the Alamo and headed back to the room before venturing out to the San Antonio River Walk, the reason for this stop on the trip.

On foot, we walked up one side and down the other taking in all the sights along the water until finding a spot to grab a bite to eat and watch some of the NCAA games.

I wanted to wait until after dark to take our narrated river cruise as it all looked so magical when the sun went down.  The boat we boarded was packed and we got the last two seats.  In hindsight, I wished we could have been on a less crowded boat and/or been one of the earlier ones to board.  We were seated at the front and able to take in the amazing views.

It was a quick trip but we will be back.

The next morning we drove the 5-ish hours to Houston to take in the Houston Space Center.  Along I-10, I spotted my very first Buc-ee's, a gas station similar to Pilot Truck Stop but waaaaaaaay cooler.  I have been many travel You Tubers posting about the Buc-ee's excitement and I could hardly contain myself.  We made sure to hit up one more before our time in Texas came to an end.  Sadly, the really cool ones are right off the major interstates.

We also spotted an Igloo Factory Outlet just outside of Katy, TX and you know we had to stop.  The storeroom was small but this cute security shack was in the shape of the old school Igloo coolers we had growing up.  That alone made the stop worth it.  We left with a collapsable travel cooler, which is something we needed for our trip.  The couple ahead of us bought $1,233 worth of Igloo.  WOW!

After some grueling traffic delays, Texas traffic is insane, we arrived at the Houston Space Center a little later than planned but with plenty of time to explore.  We enjoyed the visit, which Kenyon was able to get us in for free with his EAA Oshkosh Membership.  That is a nice perk.

We stayed the night in Victoria, TX so we could get a head start towards South Padre and miss the Houston morning traffic.  On our way, I had to visit my favorite Mexican restaurant, Chuy’s.  It was just as good as I remember and I also remember how spicy it was!  OMG.  This may not be a go-to from here on out after all.

All was redeemed when we visited Rudy’s Country Store & BBQ for some of the BEST brisket I’ve had ever in my life.  I have been dreaming about it and will be looking forward to our next visit where we can stop in again and get a full pound of brisket.  Trust me, it is that good.

And with that, the first part of our trip came to an end.  We were looking forward to several days of no driving after the long trek across Texas.  I’ll be back with our South Padre adventures.