Galveston Getaway Itinerary
We went to Galveston,TX from Minnesota in November 2020. Our focus on this trip was to safely enjoy Galveston, its beaches and the seafood and what the gulf has to offer. We spent nearly a week in a comfortable Airbnb(The Palms at Cove View Blvd) which we called it our home in Galveston. Below is a sectional breakdown by the places we visited and the food we ate.
Beaches
Though Galveston beaches are not as pristine blue or any blue for that matter as compared to the Florida ones, but the sand definitely is fine and smooth for a dip in water. You can stroll on a number of fishing piers on the Galveston beach but do bear in mind that some of them charge you for the stroll as well. So if you interested in fishing, go ahead and try that. With respect to swimming, we would definitely recommend moving away from the Seawall Boulevard towards Jamaica beach if you prefer less crowd. If you are looking out for beach combing, the beaches on the Seawall Boulevard will be your best bet. We went swimming at Access Point 9, it is right behind the Tipsy Turtle Bar & Grill. (This access point does not have a bathing facility or a restroom. We selected this as it was very near to our Airbnb). Other notable beaches for strolling around are the East beach, West Beach and SeaWolf Park(if you don't mind the fish smell). All the beach access points have good parking area.
Sunset & Sunrise
Most of the time, I visit beaches just to witness the play of colors in the sky. I did the same in Galveston. I patiently waited for 3 days before I could make use of being an early bird. The thing about Galveston is that you can watch sunrises anywhere on the side of gulf but sunsets are difficult to view as you can only see them on the bay side. The day we went to see the sunrise , it was 45 KMPH wind but the colors made everything worth it. (Tip: Reach your spot anywhere on the beach just 10 mins prior to the sunrise time on your weather app). Access Point 9 allows you to drive your car into the beach and that's where we saw our sunrise.
For sunset, we ventured out of the city to go to Tiki Island(15 min drive from Galveston). But more than sunset we were awed there by the multi million dollar houses that blocked all the sunset views. The Tiki Dr just felt as though we were in some dream of this unflawed houses built on a pier. But nevertheless we did catch the sunset colors on our way back into Galveston.
Shopping
For shopping souvenirs and buying some local stuff to take back home, we strolled "The Strand". It was filled with all souvenir shops , local restaurants , cafes and bars. We did buy and cook a lot of seafood in our trip. Katie's Seafood is the place to go if you want to buy fresh seafood. We went twice here and bought different varieties of gulf shrimp. Allex seafood which is bit far towards the Jamaica beach also sells some fresh fillets that are worth a try. We bought a couple red snapper fillets which were cleaned and fresh. Notable mention: If you are looking to buy fresh live blue crabs, do head to Discount Seafood, Texas City.
Food
Here comes my favorite topic. For food in this trip was mainly did takeouts and drive thru. But as always we made a point to try local, especially in times of pandemic where the restaurants need it more than ever. Below is a list of all the places and what we ate and we were not disappointed :
Gumbo Diner - Crawfish PoBoy and Gumbo
Seahorse Grill - All there tacos were worth it. Also ate here twice.
Taqueria Flores - Food Truck with awesome chicken tacos.
Day Trip to Corpus Christi
On Thanksgiving day , we thought of taking advantage of low traffic conditions to go out of Galveston to Corpus Christi & Padre Island. Here are some of the places visited en-route and in Corpus Christi.
Goose Island State Park - Do Visit the Big Tree to take some photos.
Ocean Treasures at Corpus Christi- It was closed but we took some pics of the sand castle it has on the front side.
Corpus Christi USS Lexington - The museum wasn't open but nevertheless we had our feet wet on the beach near the ship. This one was less crowded as well.
White Cap beach - You can drive your vehicle inside the beach and you will usually see cars parked next to each other and families enjoying with children making sand castles. We did get to see a lot of jelly fish here as well.
Thai Spice - We ate Green curry from this place, as this was one of the few places that was open on Thanksgiving day and we were surprised by the authentic Thai flavors. Do try some Thai food here if you are in the area.
