Weekend Review: The 2nd Weekend in August (2 of 5)

This past weekend was an extended weekend because it was our mini-summer vacation and my Valentines Day present (as mentioned in my previous post).

Friday evening we took Carter and Canton to my mother’s house for “dog-sitting.” We left the house about 8pm planning at the last minute to drive to Galveston. About 25minutes into the drive Kari remembered that we forgot the baseball tickets. So, really we started for my mothers and Galveston about 9pm. We dropped the puppies off and headed to Galveston. We arrived on the island about 2am and crashed immediately.

Saturday morning we were a little sleepy, but we were looking forward to the beach. We hit the water and spent some time with friends from Milano and Kari’s mother and sister. We hit the road about 11:30am for Kari’s cousins wedding in Baytown. We crossed the beautiful bridge in Baytown and looked for our destination (a good road trip isn’t good till you get lost). As we raced the clock and hunted for the hotel, we took a wrong turn on 1-10 East, instead of West. We crossed the Trinity River and quickly realized we were not going the right way. We U-turned and headed back to Baytown. After a quick stop at the hotel, we headed to the church. We arrived at the church with about ten minutes to spare, but the wedding started late, so we were golden. This was the fastest wedding I have ever attended. It was about 12 minutes long. I don’t think the preacher paused once. It was awesome! We visited with family and friends at the reception and ate some good sea food that evening with family. Later that night, we took a swim in the pool at the hotel and enjoyed more time relaxing and visiting.

Sunday morning we got up and headed back to Galveston. Normally we take I-45 South to Galveston, but we decided to take a scenic route this morning. We went to Port Bolivar on Hwy 87 and enjoyed a pizza at Bob’s Restaurant on Crystal Beach. It was surprisingly good pizza and a good snack for the delay at the ferry. In order to get from the peninsula to the island you have to take a ferry. It is the only path to Galveston Island from this point of Texas. I have ridden the ferry before, but never from Port Bolivar to Galveston, so this was an exciting trip for me, except for the hour and a half wait. What would have normally taken about 45 minutes to an hour, it took us about 4 hours to get to Galveston from Baytown. We hit the beach again, and met up with James, Ashley and Daniel. The water was warm, but pleasant to ride some waves. That evening, we had dinner at Shrimp & Stuff. Shrimp & Stuff is one of the most amazing places to get cheap seafood. It has been around for 32 years and is still serving some amazing food. I enjoy the Crab Po boy upon every visit to the restaurant. Later that evening, we went on a little historical trip to the Balinese Room. My mother-in-law’s father and grandfather worked at the Balinese Room. The Balinese Room was home to illegal gambling and many raids by the Texas Rangers. Mr. Franklin was one of the runners; upon arrival of any law enforcement, he would run down the hallway to the ball room, alert the guests and help flip tables in order to conceal the gambling. According to the website a former employee said, “the Balinese was raided on 64 consecutive nights without a single bust.” It was shut down in 1957 and re-opened in 2002 (without the gambling, I guess).

Monday we hit the beach again. The ocean was rougher than the previous days and the rip tide was very strong. If I was a surfer, I would have been on my surf board, but I’m not; so I just waded in the water. It was probably the best day for the beach because of the rough waters. We went to the candy shop on the strand and ate some lunch with the family. After that, we drove around the island taking pictures of historic and memorable places. On the way to Minute Maid Park, we stopped in on some friends Blaine and Lauren. We visited the afternoon away with Lauren and briefly said hello to Blaine. It was good to see them. We got to Houston quickly and met up with my brother and sister-in-law, Aaron and Katie. As we walked into the stadium, my brother exclaim, “Awe, sweet!” I was excited to see he was thrilled. It was Aaron, Katie and Kari’s first time to enjoy a game at Minute Maid Park. It was an awesome time with an added bonus, the Astros won, 3-1. We drove back to Milano after the game and slept in.

Tuesday was spent sleeping and hanging out. I enjoy working with the lawn at my in-law’s house, so I went outside and played in the dirt/grass. The thunder began to rumble as I completed my task. I sat on the porch and listened to the thunder turn to rain and sat in porch swing with my wife enjoying the cool weather and rain. It was delightfully relaxing to sit through an amazing rain shower from start to finish. We were going to swing by and pick up Carter and Canton, but found out we were going be taking our nephew Daniel home with us. So, we went by my grandparent’s house to introduce Daniel to my ma-ma and pa-pa and have dinner with them. It was cool to see “parent nurture” come alive in my grandparents. We are going to see my mom and pick up the puppies this evening.

Well…that’s about it…without posting pictures...I hope I painting a good picture of an amazing vacation. God Bless…catch you later this week.