From Houston, did you enjoy going south to Galveston?

Growing up I spent a lot of time in Galveston on the weekends. During HS we would skip out of Katy High and make the drive to the beach. It was never great, but it was our beach.

Around 1990 a horrible MardiGras night with a b****y girlfriend, and her 2 b****y friends, a head full of psychedelics and a 6 hour sit in traffic on broadway trying to get those b****es off the island, made me swear off the island for almost a decade. I later rediscovered the island again when I had kids and learned how to avoid the crowds.

Now living near Austin I do miss the "quick" hour trip it was before. Like others said... it's not the best beach but it is (was) our beach.

 

Galveston defines what going to a beach is for me. I know it isn't supposed to be a good beach. But, I go to other beaches and the sand is too gritty or too powdery, the water is too cold or too choppy, the tide is too long, the birds aren't right, the weather is too cold or whatever. I won't complain if some other beach doesn't have tar on it like Galveston did when I was a kid, or doesn't have jellyfish or tons of seaweed, or it has clear water. But I just accept those things as the character of Galveston and it doesn't detract from the experience. In the end, I have fun with people and not with beaches. When I go to Galveston, I've got my people with me.

 

Still love it and take the kids all the time, like my parents took me when I was a kid. Lots to do there besides just the beach itself.

I love the laid back vibe of the whole island. Such a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle of Houston, especially since it's less than an hour away.

Pro tip: from 61st, turn RIGHT on Seawall, not left.

 

is it really? you live in New Zealand? just curious...

 

How anyone would not want to go down there in HS confounds me. You parked on the beach, got some beer and talked to girls in bikini's all day.

After that, we'd either go sneak into the pool at San Leon or Key Largo. And on the weekends we'd all pile into a room at the Silver Sands for $15.95/night.

Good times...

 

The west end of the island near San Luis Pass is really peaceful. Even with tourism coming back after Hurricane Ike, the masses rarely make it all the way over there. I also like going to La King's on the Strand when it's not peak season.

 

Grew up on surfside but I was also BOI so I enjoy both beaches.

 

Benno's; Gaido's; Shrimp 'N Stuff; Rudy & Paco; Mosquito Cafe....

 

didn't go there much. we'd take night trips there with a group of buddies and drive back a few hours later. galveston as a whole was so-so.

 

It's funny that there are no more tar balls on the beach.

Jamaica beach house rented for a month in the summer. My pops ran crab traps in the surf all morning, then we'd have a boil for 30 people.

I miss Col. Bubbies. That place was amazing fun for a kid to explore.

 

I admit to being disappointed by Galveston the first time I saw it...the muddy water was such a let down.

But now, having moved away from ANY beach over 5 years ago, I can say honestly I miss Galveston. The Strand, the restaurants, the sea air, the laid back beach town feel, Moody Gardens, all are things I can't get where I live now.

If you're still in Houston, enjoy it. Not everyone can.

 

Love the island. So many great childhood memories. People love to bash it but idc, that place will always be dope to me. Plus the bars are mad lit.

 

Before there was SeaWorld there was Sea-Arama Galveston and I was there.

I know it shut down along time ago but whatever happened to the site? Was it tore down or still abandon?

 

Google it. Somebody took a bunch of pictures a few years ago and it was eerie.

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one keeping this song alive

 

I did and saw the pics but did not know how old they were.

 

Looks like it was demoed around 2005

 

I remember one late spring night on West Beach in 1969. Split a tab of Purple Double-Dome with my girlfriend and we put a blanket on the sand, staying until the sun rose. We were alone on the deserted beach and the sky that night was wild. I don't know about her, but I felt like I was lying on my back looking at a Van Gogh painting. That was a good night.

 

In my day, around 1989, we'd go to Thousand Trails (or Indian, or 11 mile) and occasionally just get drunk and burrow holes in the dunes to sleep in until the morning when everyone else got down there.

Does anyone recall what that burger joint was called if you were heading east? It was the first Restaurant you hit after you left the Seawall.

 

BTW, seeing all of the books on the bottom, Isaac's Storm is a great book about Galveston during the Great Storm of 1900. (before they were called "Hurricanes.")