Traveling to Galveston

This morning, Mal woke up super excited to leave on our awesome trip. He had eaten breakfast and was raring to go about the time James got up and around and was trying to organize and pack some last-minute stuff, and eat breakfast himself. Mal and I ended up going outside and hanging out in the car for 15 minutes or so because Mal just couldn’t contain himself inside the house any more.

We drove for a little over an hour, stopping first at Giddings for a Buc-ees restroom and cheap soda break.

After that, we went on to Tomball to the Kleb Woods Nature Preserve. I’d read a very interesting story in our electric co-op magazine about how Elmer Kleb loved his homestead and almost lost it due to unpaid back taxes, and how many people and entities came together to preserve this beautiful site he’d carefully crafted, agreeing to let him live there for the rest of his life, at which time it would become a nature preserve.

Mal was not interested in doing this. He wanted desperately to head on to “the hotel” (which I’d told him was an RV and he also did not like the idea; he wanted halls to run up and down). I wasn’t the most tactful in explaining that we were ALL on vacation and we’d end up doing things that we ALL wanted to, but this might be one thing he wasn’t too excited about but would have to do, anyway.

James helped even more by giving Mal a pretty brief piggy-back ride up the paved trail from the parking lot to the nature center. It was lovely. Mal did love the nature center. It had a kids’ room, with lots of interesting artifacts, such as bones of animals found on the property, lots of books, stuffed animals, a few live reptiles and amphibians, and just air conditioned space for him to move around.

The whole area is becoming housing tracts (nice ones, but cookie-cutter neighborhoods, nonetheless) so it’s really neat that such a pastoral place will live on right in the middle of it. If James and I had been alone, we could really have enjoyed the trails… well, I guess, if James’s legs weren’t shot. I might have enjoyed them alone, but there were lots of signs warning to beware of venomous snakes, so I likely would have preferred a partner.

Regardless, the stop was lovely, and a great break from the driving.

We were going to stop at a taco truck I’d read about, but learned as we drove up that it was closed down (this was after I accidentally drove on a toll road on which I am not authorized, as I don’t have a Harris County EZTag pass, but Google told me to!). This lead to our accidentally eating at Mannie’s Seafood on the southeast outskirts of Houston.

This was a happy Plan B! James had some salmon, and the texture was amazing. I liked it a lot, but I think they used a sweetish glaze, and I’m not sure it’s James’s favorite. I got a fried fish combo: two fish fillets and three jumbo shrimp. Mal ate my fries. The fish was perfectly flaky but not dry, and the shrimp were not too chewy. They were lightly breaded and not greasy. It was just a great meal we hadn’t intended on having.

When we arrived at the Galveston RV Park and Marina, Mal cried. He said he didn’t want to go into the RV. He did, though, and by the time I got the second set of bags out of the car, he told me he loved it and wanted to stay here the whole trip. (He has no idea how much he’s going to love the cruise ship.)

Mal wanted to play with Legos, and I wanted to go to the store while James heated up his knees. James is seeing “Avengers: Endgame” right now, and I wanted some sodas before he took off. Mal didn’t feel like going, so I drove down to the beach (I mean, we’re so close; I had to see it!) then grabbed our drinks and a couple of pieces of fruit for Mal. When I got back, he said, “Mommy, I should have gone with you. I’m sorry.”

It was just as well. We decided to let James drop us off at the seawall on his way to the movie.

Mal LOVED the beach. He found a kid a little younger than he, and they ran and ran. Mal ran so much, and chased seagulls, and finally worked up the courage to let the waves roll over his feet a few times. It was a perfectly sunny golden hour, and erased every bit of travel stress from driving so many hours earlier!

We were going to get a Lyft to bring us back to the park, but ended up walking to a McDonald’s to see if they had a play area; they didn’t, which I knew, but Mal needed to see it for himself. They DID, however, have an aquarium, and Mal enjoyed that a great deal.

We kept walking inland up 61st, past all of the cemeteries. There was the Serbian Cemetery first, then Orthodox Jewish, then Greek Orthodox, and then the “main” (biggest; like blocks long and wide) cemetery with the huge catacombs. It was haunting and beautiful. 

By then, we were almost back to the “resort.” We scoped out the nearby restaurants (alas, all chains) and walked through part of a residential area, looking at the stilt-built houses. We saw a cat, several dogs, and at least one feisty pygmy goat.

In all, Mal walked over a mile and a third, plus all of the running he did on the beach. I guess he needed to make up for sitting in the car, too.

I showed him the Nintendo Switch James bought for him, and while Mal was extremely pleased, he was also too nervous to play it, but wanted me to do all of the mini games for him. Sigh.

The internet doesn’t work on his computer, which is just as well that he gets used to that now, as it won’t work on the ship, either. And the channels here are just weird. It’s like all of the shows are from 1974. Literally, I switched over and saw a Joan Rivers talk show, a la Phil Donahue.

Instead, Mal had fun playing a game where he’d run in circles in the RV: through the bathroom into the bedroom, then up the tiny hall and back around into the bedroom. Then, after I made the dining area into a bed, he did flips and jumped onto and off of it repeatedly. So much better than a hotel room: we don’t have to worry about anyone being bothered by the jumping… err, landing.

By the time he went to sleep, Mal was a weepy mess. He was mad we didn’t have chocolate chips, and then crying that I was so sweet and he loved me so much. There are a universe of big feelings crammed into that tiny body.

Tomorrow, we’re going to try to eat at three restaurants I want to try (plus, I really want to walk over to Darlene’s Shrimp Shack, but we just don’t have enough time for all of the food!); go to The Strand, specifically LaKing’s Candy Shop; visit Seawolf Park; maybe swing by Moody Gardens. I think that’s it? There’s a Catholic Church I’d like to visit, too. 

Now Mal is asleep and I’m just waiting for James to get back to I can let him into the trailer and go to sleep!

Good travel day; can’t wait to be a tourist tomorrow!

Also, no pictures yet. The internet here sucks, so it'll be later before I can post anything. It'll be worth the wait, though! If you want a link to the photo album, let me know and I'll get it to you!