We're thinking about a trip to Galveston ... Moody Gardens and the beach. Anyone visited Moody? Also, what's a good beach for young kids? It's been many years, iirc Jamaica beach was one of the cleaner beaches when I was in HS.
My parents just take the grandkids to Moody Gardens. If I wanted seclusion at the beach, I always drove around to Sea Rim State Park.
Moody Gardens has a great little fake beach for kids, with a built-in wave-pool and everything. Just make sure you get there early enough to nab some lounge chairs...its usually extremely busy by mid-afternoon.
We've got a house in Jamaica Beach, it's just as trashy and seaweed infested as anywhere else on the island. The city may keep East Beach cleaner ( they were selling us sand to build our giant new dune). Jamaica Beach leaves the seaweed in place as an effort to lessen erosion. I liked it better when they used to drag it up to the dune. Their is like a billion tiny gnats living in it. I don't have kids so I don't go to Moody.
I just got back yesterday from Galveston, we stayed at the Maravilla Condos. However, to be honest we did not even go to the beach, it looked pretty bad as we drove by....Stewert Beach is the one that they keep cleanest. We were there for 3 full days and here is what we did. Monday - All day at the new Schlitterbahn, an amazing waterpark, not too crowded, especially after 5pm....we got there at 10am and left at 7:30pm...around 4pm or 5pm most people left and the rides lines were non existent, I rode the pink dropper about 3 times in a row....exhilirating. Tuesday - All day at Moody Gardens, did the Aquarium, the Discovery pyramid (kids loved it), Mad Science, rode the steam boat (this sucked) and saw the Sponge Bob in 4D (Highly recommended) and the Sharks on the Imax... Wed - Miniture golf at the Magic kingdom, and then to the WW2 Aircraft mueseum across from Schlitterbahn...went to eat at the Amazon Rainforest Cafe at about 2pm (because it was an hour and a half wait the night before) it was a GREAT experience and there was no wait, get the Volcano at the end of the meal, the kids dug it. Also, there is a river ride inside of the resteraunt, hidden in the corner, it is all animatronics animals, and a jungle ride, indoors, very cool. Galveston has had a LOT of rain lately so there are a lot of misquitos, bring bug spray or get eaten alive. I recommend the Maravilla suites because they have 2 pools, the condos are clean and ok, but they have one pool that is huge and great for my 2 boys three and seven. We usually unwound by the pool at the end of the day. We had a blast, and we never hit the beach....... Oh, one more thing, most of the locals think that they are REALLY close to legalizing gambling on Galveston Island...bring on dem casinos ! DD
Galveston State Park is the best beach for kids http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/galveston/
Thanks to all; ya'lls suggestions are much appreciated. (I even forgot about Stewart beach) DaDakota, esp. relevant and helpful...the family appreciates it.
The Saltwater Grill, 2017 Postoffice Street, has great seafood and killer gumbo. If you have young kids, it may not be the best place to go, and is a bit expensive, but the Postoffice Street area has a bunch of art galleries, antique shops, and other funky places (in a good way). Worth walking around and checking out, but do it later in the week, when everything is open. Some of the galleries are closed Monday and Tuesday. And have a great trip!
Last summer I went to Galveston for the first time. When we arrived, I was a little turned off by all of the seaweed on the beach--it looked nasty to me, but after a while I really liked it and I thought it was pretty cool that they leave things natural looking there. It was clean--no trash on the beach or anything, I really had a fun time at the beach there. Galveston, IMO, is underrated and underappreciated by most people that live in Texas. I've been to certain beaches in SoCal that were really trashy--no seaweed and nicer looking sand, but still very trashy and overcrowded. IIRC, the beach we went to was the one at the State Park a little ways out of the main part of the town...It wasn't very crowded at all. I would go back.
Cohen, Are you staying in a hotel or Condo? The reason we stayed in a condo was so that we could have 2 seperate rooms for the kids and my wife and I. The one's we stayed at had just been refurbished, granite counter tops, DVD player, etc...they were not on the beach (just across the seawall), and our view from the porch was average at best, but the pool more than made up for it. Not to mention you can bring your own food and save a few coins. There is a Walmart supercenter about 1/2 a mile away and we stocked up there. The prices in Galveston were only slightly increased from normal, unlike South Padre (Where we went last year) which had things jacked way up, so it was ok to stock up on food in Galveston rather than carry it with us. Oh, also, if you are coming from Austin, take the tollway south and bypass all of downtown Houston, it now runs all the way to 45 south and cuts off about 30 minutes of drive time. Overall it is about a 3 & 1/2 hour drive, or 2 kids movies in the car DVD player. If you want the numbers of some condos etc.... Condo link we used The room we wanted was M328 (Flat panal TV etc), but it was booked. Input the room number to see the pictures etc. The one we stayed in was M248, make sure if you call, you ask for a NEWLY remolded room. Phone numbers are: 409-740-1245 or 866-940-1245 M-F 10-5pm. Hope this helps. DD
Galveston may suck for a beach, but at least we have a beach close by. A sucky beach is better than no beach. I'm headed down right now!
Is schlitterbahn finished being built yet in Galveston? Last time I went they were still adding new parts to the park.
You act like they won't let you in to Moody Gardens if you didn't have kids... would you turn down DisneyWorld tickets if I charged you 1/10 the price? Of course not, man. All I am saying is that you can be an adult and enjoy Moody Gardens. If not, then cool. We always visit WEST POCKET beach... last I remember, they were renovating it, and it's more expensive now but you can do Ski rentals and horse rentals nearby. If this is too late by the time you read, sorry, Cohen.
I second everything that DaDa said. We did the same thing excpet spent a second day at Schlitterbahn instead of what he did on day 3. We satyed at the Inn at the waterpark, which we liked. it wasn't anything spectacular but the rooms were clean, they had a fridge and microwave and lots of space for my kids to move around ( I have a 6 year old and a 17 mo. old). Both of my kids loved Schlitterbahn and my older son had a blast at Moody Gardens (we even enjoyed the paddleboat for an AC'd break). We got to the park at 10 and the lines weren't bad until about 11:30. Then at noonish we left and went back to the hotel and had lunch/took naps. Then we went back to the parks and finished what we wanted to do. I'm not sure how old your kids are, but mine enjoyed the Rainforest Cafe complex they have on Seawall Blvd.
