Friday December 9 (Galveston)

It was quite a cold morning so the warm clothing came out but I will need more tomorrow, lol! After breakfast we set off, bang on time at 10 am, for Galveston. It was a cloudy morning but the cloud was patchy and it looked as if the sun might break through.


We stopped at Woodlands for coffee where MJ paid for the coffee of the person in the car behind us (pay it forward) and then we rejoined the expressway that took us through Houston and on to Galveston. As we left Houston we could see a line of cloud and then blue sky behind it! We arrived at or destination after a steady two hour drive.

We drove along the road that is part of the seawall and I was seeing yet another, for me, new body of water, the Gulf of Mexico. I could see several area where off shore drilling was taking place and I did not realise there were so many in such a relatively small area. 

There were also a number of tankers in view, probably either taking crude to Galveston harbor or waiting to receive the crude oil. Galveston is actually an Island which I had not realised.

We parked the car and then walked along the sandy beach for quite a long way, the tide was going out and the water was quite rough although the waves were not very high. It was such a lovely experience as the sun was out and it sure helped warm us up. Although it was too cold for a paddle, I did get my hand wet in the Gulf, lol!! MJ found some neat shells and even a piece of driftwood that will go in her garden. There were quite a few Sandpipers running around on the edge of the water and they look so funny when they run, like small wind-up toys! We saw what appeared to be a mother looking after some offspring.

We eventually arrived at The Pleasure Pier and headed for lunch at Bubba Gump. I ordered a delicious drink, non-alcoholic, Strawberry and Mango crush. We both order shrimp for our meal. The shrimp were tasty and obviously nice and fresh. We took the glasses with us as as they were part of the deal and they both had lights that changed color in the base. MJ went ahead and collected the car while I walked much more slowly and then stopped, on one side of some works, to wait for her to return. While I waited I noticed some clouds approaching from the south west, they were dark and solid!

We then headed to a McDonalds on the outskirts of Houston and just before we would pick up the expressway, to use their restroom. On the way we passed The Moody Mansion, it was the home of a wealthy American financier, William Moody, and is now a museum although a variety of events can be held there. At McDonalds, as I was in my stall I suddenly heard "Oh F***!" come from the one next door. She needed toilet paper, lol!!! Once I managed to get some off my roll and had finished, the next door opened slightly and I passed said paper in!!! When she came out all she could do was laugh and of course I did too!!

On leaving Galveston, as we crossed the bridge back to the mainland, I got a good view of all the Petro Chemical facility, It is huge and I have never seen anything like it anywhere before! As we did not get out of Galveston until about 3.45 pm we knew we would get caught up in rush hour traffic and we were not wrong, lol! It could have been worse and the only real hold up was when we were in a stationary lane and the others were moving. Eventually MJ moved into the HOV lane to get past the hold up and it was due to a small truck that had a tyre blow out. I am not sure why people were just sitting in line behind it as there was room to get out and round!!

We arrived home in the dark, about 6.30 pm and saw some of the Christmas lights people have put up, very pretty. Bob was just preparing the home made Pizza that was for tea, it was delicious!! while it was cooking I had gone up to do some packing so I only had the last few things to put in later and in the morning.