Houston...

Thankfully they have replacement underwear at roadside convienence centers along the concrete runways and canyons in the city of Houston. We needed to get a laptop repaired so it required a trip to the city today. White knuckled and hoping to keep between the white lines, we managed to get there and back alive. Whew! One thing quickly became apparent. Our Garmin GPS unit saved our marriage. Lacking this gizmo we would have been at the mercy of my navigator Emilia and we may have ended up somewhere west of Pennsyltucky with me whimpering at the nearest rest stop. Like I said, we did make it and actually had a good time.

We got back to Kemah and decided to take a little tour around the waterfront before dark. Amidst the oil refineries to the north and south, this little oasis with it's own boardwalk, quaint shops, roller coaster and trendy bars turns out to be a neat place.


Next ... Galveston

We got a late start (weather issues) today but since Galveston is only about 20 miles south of here, we decided to see of little of that area. Our short trip took us over many bridges and past enormous oil refinery complexes and oil storage tanks each the size of a Kmart superstore. Just so all you folks around the country think you're getting screwed at the gas pump, I found gas and diesel prices directly across the street from the refineries to be high, if not higher than any place on our trip. Very little transportation costs baked into prices ... I guess just more profit. Oh well ... off my soapbox.

So we get to the Galveston area and somehow end up on a street that ended at the ocean (okay sea). Anyway it was pretty spectacular with the high winds, big surf and something I heard about on the radio but had never seen ... sea fog. And foggy it was. It didn't seem to bother the folks we saw jogging along the sea wall but it was rolling in with the surf accomplied with a salty spray that had a rather fishy aroma to it. Looking at the condos and apartments that were adjacent the shoreline road, I couldn't help but think how ticked off I'd be smelling that for a couple of weeks; and at those prices.

All up and down the shoreline was a large contingent of surfers. Except for our trip to Hawaii, I had not seen as many in one place. They'd appear out of the fog atop the froth and work their way to the beach. With the tide coming in and the high winds, they were getting just what they wanted. I guess they all must have charmed lives as there are no life guards within a 50 miles of this place and as darkness was also approaching, any chance of getting help if they got into trouble was about as good as me winning the lottery.

Before getting away from the shoreline we found a restaurant that Sharon's Dad and Uncle Wes had been to years ago. Gaido's is a sprawling place with linen convered tables all facing out to sea. Looked like a nice place. Sharon went inside to look at the menu but discoved we were still a little early for dinner so we moved on. The sign said they had been there since 1911 so apparently a storied institution in the area.

While poking around the town we could see some pyramid shaped building on the horizon so we thought we'd investigate. As we approached, we stumbled upon an airplane museum that begged me to visit; but was unfortunatly was closed for the day. I will return as I now recall this was a good one to visit. I could tell Sharon was highly excited to.

Anyway we found the pyramid and discovered it was an aquarium adjacent to Moody's hotel/convention center. Quite a place that was also closed for the day. Guess we need to start exploring a little sooner in the day.

As this was 'Fat Tuesday' and the final day of Mardi Gras here in Galveston, we decided to drive around and see what was going on. They had a parade planned with bead tossing, colorful floats, marching and bands and all the other New Orleansesque' stuff. The town has many beautiful old Victorian style homes that I'd like to photograph another day. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating so we decided to finally find another place for dinner. We ended up near the cruise ship docks and found, to our great surprise, a resturant that we just had to go into. Obviously our old friend from Delton has another hobby we didn't know about so he now has some explaining to do. He's sure got the staff trained well as we enjoyed excellant service and ample amounts of salmon and red snapper followed up with creme brule and key lime pie. Since this was the only meal of the day, we splurged a little.

So Galeston has a lot more to offer so before we leave for our next destination, we'll return.

Another day ... 'Livin the dream'