After a couple of busy days in Cleveland Texas at our storage space, we traveled south to Galveston for our winter retreat. The traffic and road construction were horrible. I remembered some fun times on I-45 when I worked for MCC, Inc. out of Cincinnati and did a consulting job at Sakowitz department stores here in the Houston area. One of their stores was NASA off of I-45 South and I do remember driving that highway. (Must remember to plan a trip to NASA while we are here) I-45 has not changed, except to get narrower and rougher. I was VERY happy that Mike was the designated driver!!
We had a windy crossing on the bridge to the island. Our destination was The Dawn condominium complex on Seawall Boulevard. The directions were perfect and we were here in no time. Wait, what do you mean we're on the third floor and there is NO ELEVATOR????? Poor Mike! He carried up everything out of the truck while I unpacked. I think by the end of this stay, we will both be slimmer and have excellent lung capacity from the climb, not to mention riding our bikes up and down the seawall.
Our VRBO condo is a 2 bed, 2 bath facing the ocean. It is well decorated (except for the dreaded sofa sleeper every rental seems to have these days!!). The sofa is very uncomfortable but the love seat and side chair are just right for us. Mike has set up his temporary office at the end of the dining room table and we have unpacked everything. Galley kitchen makes it a little tight for 2 to cook at the same time but we are managing.
NOTE: While I thought we'd gotten rid of enough, we weren't even close! One of the first things to locate on the island was the Goodwill store. We will be carting a number of items over there in the next month or so and reducing yet again the amount of clothes & shoes I thought I needed and the amount of kitchen things Mike thought he needed.
We have visited the post office to mail out Mike's Christmas letter and verify where I can pick up mail for General Delivery there. Mike can't get over the fact that you can have something sent to you at most any PO in the country c/o General Delivery. It is great for our mail drop & saves us the 2 hour trip to Livingston this winter.
So some exploration is underway as neither of us has ever been to Galveston...what can I say? It looked good on the map and the winter temps were warm. Many of the summer activities and shops/restaurants are closed for the winter. We don't mind as it means we have peace and quiet. Some things, including the Pleasure Pier will re-open for a day or two at Christmas. They have the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruises that leave from here weekly so downtown is still a very active scene. We have meandered thru one big antique mall so far....I only found 4 things I wanted to buy before I remembered I don't have any place to hang/put them! Oh woe is me!!!!!
We've had a meal at Tortuga's (Mexican), Salsa (Mexican), Fish Tales & Gaido's. Salsa is worth a return trip(s) and Gaido's was an experience. Our waiter was very young and was probably the owner's grandson as there was a noticeable lack of experience and training. The restaurant has been here since 1911. We kind of stumbled into it and then I thought 'holy moley, this might be a little too fancy for lunch' as I saw the white tablecloth & linen napkins along with the white shirt and black vested waiters. The food, while a little pricy, was very tasty. The best part of the meal was Mike ordering the shrimp bisque soup. Our little waiter kept calling is bisquick!! Made us laugh every time. My shrimp and blue cheese grits were very tasty and I must have eaten a loaf of bread. We will most likely go back for a splurge evening meal next month.
I have saved the best news until last!! So far (less than a week) I have met 2 wiener dogs who live in this complex. Miss Goldie is a small petite gal about 6 pounds and a lovely red color. She adores attention with scratches. CoCo lives on the first floor of our building. He is a doxie mix and he keeps barking at us until we walk over and pet him. His owner said it was strange how he took to us right away but I told him we are dachshund people and they seem to recognize that.
I think we are going to enjoy our time on this island.
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