O.T. Galveston island
- Thread starter Dogpatrol
- Start date
I had to do 5 days in Galveston several years ago so I say this in all seriousness.
45 minutes north of there is Houston Hobby Airport. Southwest has 3 direct flights every day to Cancun... cheap. Do that instead.
/unless you are being forced there for work like I was.. in which case...
As Charles Barkley said so eloquently “Galveston with that dirty a** water “
Not much of a beach, unless you just enjoy looking at oil rigs in the gulf.
I always stay at the Residence Inn on the Seawall when in town for business. I know several folks stay at a B&B.
If you are going on a cruise or vacation, I agree with Xeno….just stay in Houston.
Lives there for 5 years doing medical training. It’s not Destin but has or at least had some old world charm in the early 2000s. Hotel Galvez is an old traditional hotel on the beach with a great Sunday Brunch. San Leon is a modern hotel and probably the nicest on the island.
The Strand is the “downtown” area not too far from the beach and has definite charm. Great restaurants down there. Our favorite was a place called Rudy and Pacos. Authentic Mexican place was La Estacion. Best breakfast burrito ever.
Used to be a great Italian restaurant called DiBellas but I’ve heard it closed down after the storm.
they have some great hole in the wall seafood places where they serve boiled blue crabs fresh caught daily. Used to go to one right on the sea wall but can’t remember the name.
Hope this helps.
The Strand is the “downtown” area not too far from the beach and has definite charm. Great restaurants down there. Our favorite was a place called Rudy and Pacos. Authentic Mexican place was La Estacion. Best breakfast burrito ever.
Used to be a great Italian restaurant called DiBellas but I’ve heard it closed down after the storm.
they have some great hole in the wall seafood places where they serve boiled blue crabs fresh caught daily. Used to go to one right on the sea wall but can’t remember the name.
Hope this helps.
Watch Restoring Galveston on HGTV. It's like the couple in Laurel except in Galveston. They redid an old hotel in the historic district.
NEVER go to a beach that allows horses.
Beaches are not for 17ing horses.
Horse **** and sand is a terrible mixture.
Plus your young kids could accidentally see a big stud mount a lowly mare.
Would scar them for life.
Drive east 547 miles to orange beach.
No Horses allowed
Beaches are not for 17ing horses.
Horse **** and sand is a terrible mixture.
Plus your young kids could accidentally see a big stud mount a lowly mare.
Would scar them for life.
Drive east 547 miles to orange beach.
No Horses allowed
The further East you go the lower the people volume, but you lose any entertainment/retail opportunities while on the beach. We stayed a couple of days in the Palisade Palms recently. The beach is hard-pack gray sand and quite deep compared to the Florida panhandle. I wouldn't beach there on purpose. Galveston is fun though.
Hey now, OB ever had a top 10 song written about it?
Wife and I stayed there years ago when we played Houston in football. There's some condos several miles further down the shoreline from the city of Galveston that I liked really well. Had a great pool, their own beach access, and was really quiet and peaceful. We really enjoyed it. On another visit there when we played baseball at Minutemaid Park, we stayed in downtown Galveston in the historic district. I believe the hotel was a real neat renovated place that was really classy. Think it was called the Tremont House back then. Pretty pricey, but we happened to stumble across some good deals on Priceline that was almost half the regular rate. Felt very Victorian and a little bit like the Peabody in Memphis.
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The beaches are nothing to write home about. Packed brown sand, jellyfish everywhere, and generally murky water. Cool history/architecture scene in town. Head down to Freeport for good fishing, but if I lived in Houston and wanted to spend a week at the beach, I'd drive to Florida in lieu of Galveston.
The closest thing I have to a hometown is a short ferry ride from Galveston over to Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula. My grandfather moved his family there in the early 60's and he worked on rebuilding historic homes in Galveston after the city put in a concerted effort to restore them. I was a military brat, but every Christmas, Thanksgiving, and 4th of July I can remember was spent on that beach in the 80's and early 90's. It got pretty trashy after that to my understanding, but Ike wiped it out in 2008 and the rebuild is still in progress. In a truly horrible situation, our family cemetery where my mother, grandmother, and an uncle who died infancy were buried was washed away during Ike so the thought of going back was just sad for many years.
Finally went back in the summer of 2023. Most of my family left for good in 2008, but one uncle returned about 5 years ago. The fishing was great and one of my favorite restaurants in the world is still standing... The Stingaree. Not sure if I will ever go back again, but glad I saw it one last time.
I don't know if it's worth the drive over, but if you want to see the highest levels of redneckery and beach life, Crystal Beach/ Bolivar Peninsula is on the top of the list.
The closest thing I have to a hometown is a short ferry ride from Galveston over to Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula. My grandfather moved his family there in the early 60's and he worked on rebuilding historic homes in Galveston after the city put in a concerted effort to restore them. I was a military brat, but every Christmas, Thanksgiving, and 4th of July I can remember was spent on that beach in the 80's and early 90's. It got pretty trashy after that to my understanding, but Ike wiped it out in 2008 and the rebuild is still in progress. In a truly horrible situation, our family cemetery where my mother, grandmother, and an uncle who died infancy were buried was washed away during Ike so the thought of going back was just sad for many years.
Finally went back in the summer of 2023. Most of my family left for good in 2008, but one uncle returned about 5 years ago. The fishing was great and one of my favorite restaurants in the world is still standing... The Stingaree. Not sure if I will ever go back again, but glad I saw it one last time.
I don't know if it's worth the drive over, but if you want to see the highest levels of redneckery and beach life, Crystal Beach/ Bolivar Peninsula is on the top of the list.
If you want something different, fly to norfolk and spend a day driving up Chincoteague Island. Beautiful scenery and wild horses still roam on the beaches.
Swing and miss, I stand corrected. Can't say I've ever heard it but I see we made it into the video.
Definitely underrated. Galveston was fun in the 70s. And studs mounting mares didn't scar me none.
... not that I know of.
... not that I know of.
Saw this post on FB today and thought about this thread:
“Kudos to the staff at Galveston Beach last Friday, the start of Spring Break, and a "senior skip day" in Houston. The parking lot next to the resort started to fill up around 11 am onward with what looked like gang bangers and the like. Young females were on roofs of vehicles and twerking to blasting music, and males were relieving themselves behind fences butting up to the resort. The staff was relentless in keeping them off the property under extremely difficult circumstances. The sheriff's office arrived in vehicles and on horseback, and cleared the area by about 2 pm. The staff and the sheriff's office continued their vigilence throughout the day and overnight.”
“Kudos to the staff at Galveston Beach last Friday, the start of Spring Break, and a "senior skip day" in Houston. The parking lot next to the resort started to fill up around 11 am onward with what looked like gang bangers and the like. Young females were on roofs of vehicles and twerking to blasting music, and males were relieving themselves behind fences butting up to the resort. The staff was relentless in keeping them off the property under extremely difficult circumstances. The sheriff's office arrived in vehicles and on horseback, and cleared the area by about 2 pm. The staff and the sheriff's office continued their vigilence throughout the day and overnight.”
Stay at the Galvez, East Beach in Galveston (rent a condo) or Jamaica beach ( you can drive on the beach here which makes setting up a breeze). Galveston is fine... people give it hell but it's not nearly as bad as people on here make it out to be. Jellyfish aren't that bad, water can be clear depending on currents, you can park right by the beach, the people and tourist are the same as a lot of places up and down the pan handle. I drive down from Houston all the time in the winter to surf (yes you can surf in Texas) and the water is fine.... Go down to Port Aransas or Padre Island and you'll get blue water and can park on the beach.
In regards to the beach and water, Galveston is a s***hole. Restaurants, shopping, and ambiance are fine.
Texas beaches = New Jersey ski resorts. If you are within a couple of hours, sure they'll do. But don't plan a vacation around them or you're going to be disappointed.
My father was in the Navy and we lived on/went to beaches my entire childhood. Every year we'd come back to Galveston county and it had the brownest sand, dirtiest water, and overall worst beaches I have ever visited.
By state here's my best beaches ranking that I have been to:
Hawaii
Florida
California
South Carolina
Oregon
North Carolina
Virginia
Alabama
Mississippi
Maryland
New Jersey
Texas