Sunday in Galveston

Jutta is the early riser and she captured this morning's sunrise.

She gets out and walks the beach at first light.

These are a few pictures she took and shared with me.

That's what we do nearly every day and how our friendship has continued to grow all these years since we first 'met' one another here on the blog.

We've been sharing our lives and experiences through photographs....

and we sometimes add a few words.

It's amazing how strong our bond has become over the years.

Jutta came in from her walk and I was just leaving for mine.

This was one of my favorite moments of this day......

Sunday morning on the beach.

As I sat here watching the surf, listening to the birds and praying, Louis Dean called.

As is his custom every Sunday morning, he turns on his computer and pulls up some gospel songs on YouTube. Since I wasn't home, he called me and I listened on the phone. That was so sweet of him.

Then I continued my walk.

I love everything about the beach.

The sand, the surf, the shells, the birds.....the sounds and the sights of all of it.

I had just reached this spot when Louis Dean called me again and asked if I wanted to hear one more gospel song. That's when Jutta found me sitting on that rock. She's an avid walker and said she would walk on down to Murdoch's and Summer and I could meet her there.

So that's what we did.

 Murdoch's is the best shell shop on the island and we needed to make one more visit!

Plus we hadn't had the frozen margaritas we always get there yet!

Another favorite moment of this day!

We fed the leftover corn cracklings to the seagulls and had one last beach walk together.

We shopped a kite store and stopped at Kroger so I could get tea for my Christmas Tea Party - I had forgot to get the TEA - can you believe it??

Then we came back to the hotel to rest before our dinner tonight at Gaidos.

Jutta was treating me to a belated birthday celebration!

Look who I ran into there!!!

Next door neighbor, Stephanie!

She and her sisters and mother were here for the Dickens on the Strand weekend.

My birthday piece of pecan pie - which I shared!

Our gracious tour guide.....

After dinner we were given a private tour of the newly renovated Carr Mansion.

Amber had recently written a piece about the mansion and the proprietor graciously invited us to stop by. It was so cool to get to look at all the rooms - every room has a special name.

The mansion is a bed and breakfast and features 7 bedrooms.

It had been a busy weekend here what with Dickens on the Strand!

It was a lovely way to end our time here in Galveston.

Tomorrow morning we will pack up and go home. 

Summer will be flying back to Puerto Rico from Houston on Tuesday so we will drop her off at her hotel near the airport and then we will drive on home and hopefully arrive before traffic as we drive through Dallas.

I've already told Jutta that she can visit on the porch for a few minutes with Louis Dean while I run in and do damage control and turn on all my pretty lights.

She said, "I know. It was the same way last time I was here."

Jutta is a pretty special lady!!