Swim out as far as you can until you land on a sand bar and wait till it gets dark and see where it takes you.
Come on guys , let's have some pride,how we supposed to get hot olympians in their kinis to come when we talk trash about the beaches being so dirty.
Sunney Beach and Hersey Beach (7 1/2 Mile & 8 Mile) are good right now. Seaweed is minimal and it's been a good crowd the last few weekends. As for the Pleasure Pier, parking is a nightmare and completely overpriced. Plan on spending some time to eat at Bubba Gump's so they will validate your parking and make it a little more affordable. As for nightlife, if you are there Friday night Yaga's has some good bands playing and on Saturday nights Bucks is pretty good.
Benno's is good for a quick bite. If you are going to the Strand, make sure you enjoy the old time soda fountain at LaKing's. I love that place.
As a jaded Galveston resident, I can say that there's little I enjoy doing in Galveston. -Bennos has solid fried seafood. -The Spot is way overcrowded for the quality of food, but the location and style sells. -I religiously avoid anything on Seawall during tourist season; the traffic sucks and pedestrians pop out of woodwork when you're trying to drive over 10mph. -The Strand has some fun places to go on a Friday/Saturday night. Yagas/Tsunamis (yaga-nami's) is a med school favorite with live music on the weekends. Brews Brothers (microbrew and bar) used to be good but is pretty intolerable now that the smoking ban was lifted.
I'd like to get your opinion on something. Are there man people who live in Galveston that don't want gambling? After the storm, I thought the Fertittas would get gambling legalized by now. From my outsider perspective, I've thought the economy to be desperate for it. I assume Louisiana and Las Vegas lobby to block it, but I thought the storm would be the tipping point. The cruise terminal, and a few hotels seem to be the only attractions that draw enough people to support additional business in the immediate area. I understand some reservations, but the pros of gambling on the island seem to outweigh the cons BIG TIME. With gambling, the hotel business would boom, more cruise would come through, because it would instantly be a bigger attraction... I thought local government would rally around the idea.
Actually yes. As with anything else it's all about money and power. Galveston is run by a few select old-money families: the Sealys, the Moodys and a few others. They've been in power for decades and their influence is seen everywhere, most notably at UTMB. At least 4 of the hospital buildings, including the main hospital, are named after Sealys. For better or worse, UTMB is the lifeblood of the island. It employs 10,000+ on an island of 50,000: you do the math. Anyway getting back, the Sealys and Moodys are adamantly against the legalization of gambling in Galveston because it would erode their power/influence base. Right now they call all the shots with respect to major decisions. The Sealy and Smith foundation even coughed up $200m+ to keep UTMB on the island after Hurricane Ike. Fertitta has steadily been rising in power and fortune but he's no match for the old-money families. I'm pretty sure the Sealys and Moodys don't even like Fertitta because he's a seedy guy who's descended from the mob families that used to run Galveston in the 30's.
Casey's which is the low end Gaidos is good.. The Black Pearl which is towards the strand is excellent and reasonable.. Avoid Pleasure Pier.. Avoid Seawall.... Go to the Strand and shop, beer is allowed on street which is awesome. Olympia Grill is good but pricey. Beach wise go to the West end of the isle ... If you decide to go to Moody Gardens its about 50 bucks a person but it will take you most of the day.
Shrimp and Stuff is the locals seafood spot (best gumbo ever). Brews Brothers on the strand if your into being a beer snob. Yaga's night club if you want to see some young ladies shaking their stuff. Molly's/Old Cellar if your into the bar seen. Bucks if your into country dancing. Yamatos for high class sushi. Los Campos or Mi Abuelita's for good breakfast. Olympia for good Greek. Kind of depends on what you like to do and your bank roll. If you go to Galveston you should never have to eat at a chain restaurant. There are too many good local restaurants there.
