Galveston Trip Conclusion
Day 3 - Tuesday
We woke up again and had breakfast at the hotel. Our goal today was to go to
Moody Gardens. "
Moody Gardens is an educational tourist destination, with a golf course and hotel in
Galveston, Texas which opened in 1986. The non-profit destination uses nature to educate and excite visitors about conservation and wildlife."
We opted to do the rainforest pyramid (clear one) and it did not disappoint. I had read a lot about going here. (Bad and Good) We had a great time. It reminded me a lot of the Dallas World Aquarium. So here are some pics!
River otter in background sleeping
Chameleon
You take some stairs to get up in the rainforest canopy
Not surprising was the heat and humidity up there!
Looking down on some Macaw and Scarlet Ibis (What is the plural of both of these names? lol)
Butterflies getting ready to eat. A man was cutting up brown banana, oranges, and other fruits. They actually gather as many as they can in these 'cages' and place a plate of food in each.
They also have plant nectar too in the exhibit.
Fruit Bats
Leaf Cutter Ants
Poison Dart Frogs
Snake
Pitcher Plant
Komodo Dragon.... glass between him and that hand...
Mattie with an Ibis
Vampire Bats
Anaconda
You get the idea. I do recommend checking this place out if you ever find yourself in Galveston. Next time we will do the aquarium pyramid. After Moody we hit the gift shop and bought some stuff and then went to eat. This time Pizza buffet along the Galveston Seawall. After lunch we went back to the hotel and hung out an hour then got dressed for the beach.
I had heard tales of seashells on the west end of Galveston. So after a 20 min drive we were there on one of the many public beach access roads. It took me all of 2 minutes to find to a couple of Cantharus or Whelks (not sure which) that were fairly intact. The 2nd suprisign thing was the water was Texas-clear here. The crashing waves stirred no sediment or beach sand. This had the effect of clear water to about 10 feet of shore. After that 10 feet to farther out it was Texas-murky again. We got there around 3pm and stayed until 7pm. We dug we looked for shells we played in the ocean.
A mountain I was told...
Master of the hole she dug
So we got back to the hotel around 8pm and got everyone showered as best we could. However it was still 9pm and we were all hungry. Normally I would not take kids to dinner so late and I probably shouldn't have done it to them because we regretted it later... We went to
Salsa's Restaurant.
This place is ALWAYS packed with sometimes a 2 hour wait. Well we figured this would be a perfect time to try it. We were greeted with ONLY a 35 min wait at 9PM! Wow... We got seated and ordered. I ordered 20 oz Margaritas for Jen and I... Had I known they cost more than a Lapu Lapu at Ohana I would have past! Anyways the kids were tired and were very subdued. Michael however was thirsty. He downed 2 glasses of raspberry lemonade while we waited and took a third refill with his chicken tacos... We made him go to the bathroom 2 times before we left! The meal was the best meal we had the entire trip! Such good texmex!
Yes Mattie is eating a corn dog in a tex mex place... I am ashamed.
Gross Out Alert.. You Were Warned!
We finished around 10:30 and got back to the hotel and everyone was in bed by 11p. 15 minutes later (right when I was somewhere between sleep ans awake) I heard Michael talking to Jennifer and the conversation escalating to 'Oh my gosh he is throwing up!" All of that lemonade and food had sat in his stomach and his body just rejected it. No trashcan around. Couldn't make it to the bathroom... just leaned over and projectile! he eventually got up and made it to bathroom for the rest of the devils work. EWWW!!!! Clean Up was NOT fun.
Day 4 - Wed
Last full day on island. We played it very casual. Breakfast at the hotel, some shopping, and beach. However the end of the beach day provided mega excitement!
We have another Galveston tradition and that is to go to
Murdoch's Bath House. It is a souvenir shop/pier overlooking the Gulf. I remember going there in 1984 after we moved to Texas with my parents, so every year we have been going we check it out. Hurricane Ike took it out in 2008 and it was rebuilt in 2009. It has been destroyed by hurricanes at least 4 times and rebuilt each time. I like to go there for the open air observation decks... and the strong pina coladas
Hurricane Ike also took out the Historic Flagship Hotel too. What they rebuilt on the old pilings was Pleasure Pier. You can see it in the distance from the deck.
Ice Cream.
Pina Colada for me
and some laughs....
After Murdochs we drove back to the west end of the island for more beach time. We chose a different area this time a bit further down. Unlike the previous days we had to park far away and walk to the beach rather than drive on it. No biggie besides the heat! We had a good last day on the beach. We got there as low tide was happening. Many tidal pools were formed. Tons of seashells were exposed. Michael caught a blue crab. We let him go
Nobody wanted to leave... We stayed until 8pm. We had such a good family time! However the reality was we had to get back to the hotel and get some dinner. We packed up and walked back across the bridge/walkover to the van. I was about 30 feet in front of my family and 30 feet to the van....
....when I heard the distinct sound of a rattlesnake rattling his tail. I froze and looked up to see what seemed like a 6 foot snake in the grass in front of the van! It was in the classic strike pose much like the photo below... he was not quite as coiled as this guy which made him appear so big to me. I was not close enough to be real scared but I was nervous Mattie might be running to get in the van so I turned around and yelled for everyone to freeze!
I told Jen "There was a 6 foot rattlesnake in front of the van!" She didn't believe me! I am known to be a prankster so they kept walking. I had to jump in front of her and say "No REALLY!" She looked over my shoulder and saw it! Funy thing is I had always heard that you never walk on Texas coast dunes because of rattlesnakes. I was never sure if it was true or not. I always picture rattlesnakes in west Texas and desert looking areas.
She wrangled the kids back about 10 feet and we watched it from about 50 feet away. I assumed he would be scared and would slither away after some time. Not knowing what to do really I did what everybody does these days... started taking photos of it! Here is the van from about 30-40 feet. This is about how close I got when I heard it and saw it in the grass. In this photo you cant really see but it had moved under the van and was inspecting the driver side front tire.
At this time another car pulled up 20 feet from the passenger side of my van. I motioned for the lady to roll the window down and I told her a Rattlesnake was under my van. She hung out for a while and then left
By this time he coiled up right beside the driver side tire. You can see him in this picture. My wife was sort of laughing at me saying... I don't think it is 6 ft. it wasn't I told her... probably more like 5 feet! She thought that was the funniest part.
I had never encountered a rattlesnake before and was unsure of what to do. I grabbed one of the blue metal shovels and went up to the van and banged on the concrete thinking the noise would scare him away... nope. Just sat and rattled. I debated calling 911 and getting animal control but it was late and I wanted to go home at a reasonable hour.
I went around to the back side of the van armed with shovel and camera.
I then hatched the idea of remote opening the passenger side sliding door. Jumping inside and seeing if the engine starting would scare it away... nope Jen said it didn't move over the phone. I don't hunt, I don't like killing any animals. However this sucker had to die. I was not going to chance getting bit or one of the kids. Not to mention if there were more snakes in the tall grass 10 feet from where my kids were standing...
I cut the tire full left and backed over it... It didn't die. I tried again. It was still alive at this point or nerves were keeping it moving. I took the blue shovel and finished it by decapitating it. I wanted it out of its misery. I stretched it out and it was 50" from head to tail so not 6ft... but 4ft 2" is still a big snake in my books. I am fairly sure it was a Western Diamondback based on its markings. No need to show the post mortem photos cause it is gruesome. It was Michael that asked me to cut the head off in case it still was in pain. He has a more tender heart than i do when it comes to animals. When we got back to the hotel I read on wikipedia that they typically do not shy away from a fight and stand their ground which explains why I was not successful in scaring it I guess.
Anyways... we finally got moving almost at 9pm. So we picked up a box of Popeyes spicy chicken and headed tot he hotel for our last night on the island
Day 5 - Thursday
We woke up and had breakfast, packed and checked out, stopped on the seawall for one more look at the Gulf and drove back home. It was a good trip. The kids had a blast!
I should get back to Disney tomorrow evening! Thank you for indulging the off topic mini trip!
) along with the extra seconds of Holiday at the very end. It was very cool close up though.
