We left very late on Monday morning. Fortunately, Galveston is an easy drive (especially without the rushhour traffic). Unfortunately, we arrived around noonish and could not check into our hotel until 4 pm.
I decided due to logistics, we should go to Moody Gardens that afternoon before checking into the hotel. (after the fact, wishing I had just ignored the issue of beach sand and gone to the beach that afternoon instead).
We grabbed lunch in the car and then headed into Moody Gardens Aquarium, one of my favorites. (I am glad we did not purchase the day pass for other activities because at this age, we only ended up managing the aquarium).
We did not follow the signs too well so we ended up viewing all the sections more than once. Love the shark tunnels/tank. The penguins are a riot to watch. And the seals were interesting...especially the largest one that outweighed Michael maybe 3 to 1? It was huge! Other fish were also fun to see.
Had to have this picture. Last time I took one like this, David was reaching the Macaroni penguin (see to the right of Abigail)
2009-05 (9 months old)
this turtle was missing a fin on the front left
a lionfish
"nemos" (aka clown fish in anemone)
these fish swam vertical the whole time
Isn't it amazing what different colors God uses even for starfish?
Here is the "bruiser" seal... Can you catch a glimpse of his size???
potbellied seahorses
no wonder penguins are often the image of soldiers in the animal kingdom...they all stand at attention in ranks!
After the aquarium, we were able to check in a bit early to our hotel. After lots of research, I decided to choose the Holiday Inn Resort. It certainly was not the cheapest hotel but I knew that it was right across the street from a decent beach which was more than I knew for some of the others since parts of the seawall drop off straight to the gulf. Our first room was on the second floor and had a nice view for so low down. All their rooms have a balcony to the gulf.
However, after spending a few minutes there we determined: 1. the promised wi-fi was only available for 3 seconds at a time before dropping signal. 2. the in-room smoke detector was not working and so covered up with a black garbage bag. Um, against fire code?!?! We requested to be moved. They moved us to the other end of the hotel where we were told the wifi signal was stronger. Yes, it was better...until we tried to use for more than a few minutes later that night (upon which we discovered it was equally as unreliable). For this trade-off in wifi access (hah!) we moved up a floor. Better view, right? Wrong! We now stared out over the restaurant roof-top a/c units. Not only that, but opening the door the noise drowned out all sound of the waves...which we could hear in the other room. Ok, you could say the hotel was a bit of a bomb-out. Would definitely stay somewhere else next time. (also looked rather shabby next to the exquisitely manicured grounds of the San Galvez hotel next door).
We spent one hour+ urging the kids to take a nap. A did for about 45 mins. After naptime, we got in the car and drove the seawall in search of dinner. We ended up at Fish Tales (a landry's property). We got to sit outside (brrr...the breeze was quite cool). The food was a sore disappointment. And the price very steep for blah food. The kids food was by far the best. At least the straw and cup kept Abigail happy the whole time...
After dinner we went back to the hotel and changed into our suits to "enjoy" the swimming pool. Another good reason to go with the previously considered heated indoor pools. The water was so cold, I jumped in and jumped right out. David and E got in, but it was cool enough outside (sun had set too) that we could not stay too long. Bedtime! Amazingly, all fell asleep just fine and did not awaken until a reasonable time the next morning.
The next morning we ate a leisurely breakfast downstairs in the restaurant. The one redeeming value of the hotel was its generous breakfast buffet (which we had to pay extra for). After breakfast, we decked ourselves out for an hour on the beach... (this ended up being the best part of the whole trip and because of checkout time and the necessary shower after all the sand on the beach, I really wish we had done it the day before so we were less rushed.) Sorry, in advance for all the beach photos. Nature is just so magnificent!!!
There was an awful lot of sea kelp washed ashore at low tide that morning. It seemed to attract the sea gulls which were everywhere!
mounds of sea kelp along the seawall
We built an appropriately nautilus-shaped sand castle structure.
there was also a "bathtub" next to it.
We finished off our trip with a lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Again, owned by Landry's but this time it was a bit tastier. Still a bit overpriced but more reasonable since lunch prices. The atmosphere with trumpeting elephants, flapping butterfly, several aquariums, hooting gorillas, and tropical thunderstorm were worth the cost as a novelty. Abigail made me laugh. The minute the lights went out and the thunder started for the thunderstorm, she perked up, put her finger up, and then rather than screaming in fear (like many little children her age would have done), she began to dance complete with her side sway and finger pointing. So funny! After a few poses with the animals, we got in our car and drove home again. Overall, a rather successful trip!
