Galveston, Texas
Galveston in January.
Grey skies, wide beaches, and not a crowd in sight.
We loved it.
The Beach
First order of business: the beach.
The Gulf of Mexico at Galveston — steady waves, January grey, all ours.
The beach was wide and mostly empty. A cluster of seagulls had staked out a stretch of sand and had no intention of moving.
Sea Gulls
We love walking the beach and looking for shells. We found plenty.
Shells along the Galveston shoreline.
And then Ben found something a little more alive.
A moon snail — still very much at home.
A moon snail, tucked up in its shell. We put it back.
The Coffee Shop at the End of the Pier
We spotted it from the beach and had to get closer.
A coffee shop. At the end of a jetty. Over the Gulf of Mexico.
A coffee shop, sitting at the end of a jetty, jutting out over the water. What a great location!
Haircuts
The next morning, we both got haircuts.
Now, a haircut on the road is always a bit of an adventure.
Fresh cut. Happy about it.
My stylist was a character. Older. Very experienced. Very Italian-like in personality — direct, confident, and not afraid to tell you exactly what your hair needed and how to take care of it. She cut it short and gave me a full tutorial on managing my hair. It was genuinely fun to be in the hands of someone who really knew what they were doing and wasn’t shy about it.
The Gypsy Joint
We found an intriguing coffee shop in Galveston: The Gypsy Joint.
The Gypsy Joint — every inch of the ceiling covered, and somehow it works.
Every inch of the ceiling covered in Mardi Gras beads, flags, decorations, and things we couldn’t quite identify. Funky. Warm. The kind of place you stumble into and immediately want to tell people about.
Unique and fun. We were glad we went.
Catfish Tacos at Seafood Grill
We also enjoyed lunch at Seafood Grill. Just a casual place, nothing fancy.
Catfish tacos with avocado, coleslaw, and chipotle sauce. Very yes.
We both had the catfish tacos — avocado, coleslaw, chipotle sauce. Simple. Very good. Very Gulf Coast.
The Trolley
On Jan 23, Ben took the car in for an oil change. The appointment was at 9am. They didn’t get to it until nearly 11:30.
So I took the trolley to go meet him.
The Galveston Island Trolley — classic, and a great way to get around.
Galveston has two trolley lines. The first runs along Seawall Boulevard. Our AirBnB was along Seawall Boulevard. I just walked across the street to wait for the trolley. Then I transferred to the “Mule” trolley to get into downtown. The Mule trolley was beautiful. All wood on the inside, brass fittings, warm and old-fashioned.
Inside the Mule trolley — all wood, all charm.
The view looking back in the trolly - which is th front when you ride the trolley the other way.
I eventually met Ben at the automotive shop and we explored the rest on foot.
Downtown Galveston
The Strand district did not disappoint.
The Strand in full — iron balconies, brick facades, and a lot of history.
Galveston was once one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. Before the Great Storm of 1900, it was the largest city in Texas. You can still see that in the architecture — ornate Victorian ironfront buildings, wide streets, the bones of something grand. Very fun to walk around.
A Rainy Walk
January 24th, it rained most of the day. Windy, too.
Around 3pm we went to the beach anyway.
The beach after the rain — grey, quiet, and all ours.
The wet sand absorbs the water differently — firms right up and makes for good walking. The town drains onto the beach, so we could see where channels of water had carved their way down to the ocean. It rained on us on the way back.
We didn’t mind.
The Puzzle
We do a puzzle at every stay. The Galveston puzzle: a French village along a river, flowers in the foreground, a castle tucked into the hillside.
The Galveston puzzle — completed.
Not a bad way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Next up: we’re heading to Austin, Texas. Stay tuned!