Friday, September 4, 2020

Quintana Beach and Galveston! Beach Day #2 and #3

Summer and I slept like babies Wednesday night and spent a liesurely Thursday morning in our super nice hotel room.


I read Proverbs Chapter 3 aloud and Summer read from her Devotions From the Beach book that I gave her. We have had some wonderful conversations on this trip. It's been such a blessing to have this precious  time together. Summer and I text and have phone conversations every day or two - but to have these days together to visit and talk has been great.

It was a little after noon when we got in her van and headed to a different beach....


across the Old Intra Coastal Waterway......



I loved going up and then down....


....to Quintana Beach.
It's not even an hour from Surfside Beach where we were on Wednesday.


Right off the bat we saw a Great Blue Heron!


And Summer spotted a treasure!
A Shark's Eye!!


The largest a shark's eye will grow is two and a half inches -
and this one is right at that!!


You can see there's plenty of privacy and not many people.


It was another sunshiny day in Texas!


Wednesday I wore shorts and a top but Thursday I decided to wear a swimsuit and a 'Beach Gown.'
I call it that because when we returned to the hotel that night, a lady was checking in and told me, " I just LOVE your BEACH GOWN!" So beach gown it is!


We drove on down the beach until we came to the fishing jetty which is a great place for shell seekers. And Summer is an avid one.


We turned the umbrella as the day went on to keep us in the shade.
We have had some great meals on the beach.


This day we had Southern Shrimp Salad.....


and Cranberry Chicken Salad......
along with Laughing Cow cheese and some fancy crackers, grapes, pickles....and more.


We set up our chairs around 1:00 and stayed until 8:30.....
and drove back to the hotel as happy as we could be.
Summer had her fun shell seeking and napping and I read and sat and just soaked up the sun, the sounds of the waves and watching the birds.
So we have had quality time together as well as alone 'me' time.


Beach Day #3 was not spent entirely on the beach.....
after two days we opted to drive the 45 minutes or so to Galveston.....one of my Happy Places.


We rolled into Sonic to pick up our iced teas and headed on to the ......


The Bluewater Highway Trail.
No Interstate. No big roads. 


This was my first time to arrive at Galveston from the East.


We had to cross the San Luis Bridge.

We arrived at Benno's for lunch at the perfect time - after the lunch crowd!


Not many diners at that time.
And that's not beer in that beer stein!
Benno's serves wine the same way they serve beer!!
One year they tried using wine glasses and then the next year it was back to beer steins.
I asked about that and they said they kept breaking the stems off the glasses.
Works for me!!!


Summer ordered crab fingers.


And I ordered what I always order - the Shrimp Pasta Salad.
Summer mentioned we were from Dallas and that we have been coming here for 25 years and that her mama ALWAYS orders the Shrimp Pasta Salad.
Well, the lady came back to our table after we ordered and said they were out of the salad.
She told them we had come from Dallas and it was our tradition to order it.
Then she said if I was willing to wait a few minutes - one of the staff would go to their catering location and make one up for me. How kind was that???
No wonder we love this place!
Later, when we drove over to the Strand and the piers - we saw the Benno's Catering place and realized how far they had to go to get my salad! Talk about going the extra mile!

We had such a good time waiting for the salad.....we shared news from mutual friends.
One can't keep up with everyone. She showed me pics and we chatted on and the time flew by.

After our late lunch, we shopped at Academy Sports - we needed a small ice chest for my leftover salad - the other three we had were in the hotel room. I found two pair of shoes for Louis Dean ON SALE!
Size 13 is hard to find!
He's going to be so excited!


Then we went to the one and only Goodwill on the island.
I found an orange Coldwater Creek top and a cool sweater type cover.

We skipped Murdochs because the further you went down Seawall Blvd the more crowded it became.


We did stop at Gaido's where I picked up  Shrimp Bisque to go - that was Summer's dinner tonight.

We began the drive back to Lake Jackson and after we crossed the San Luis Bridge - we opted to drive along the water's edge of Folletts Beach.


So we did get a beach into our third beach day!


Summer did some birdwatching while I walked a ways on the beach.


We lingered long so we could see the sun setting.


You can camp free on this beach for up to 14 days.
It was not crowded by any means but it was interesting to see the campsites of those who were there.
Several had beach fires.
Now that's on MY bucket list!

Our beach getaway is just about over and we will head back home tomorrow.


I'm about to take my shower and put my beach nightgown on.
I bought the pink wrap at The Cracker Barrel on the way down - on clearance for $12!


And I shall use some of the beauty products Summer gifted me for my birthday.
It's actually on the 24th but this has been a birthday celebration for both of us. 
Hers is October 26.

We are going home tomorrow and that means we have one more day of adventure as we drive back.
I see some Goodwill stops in our future!








15 comments:

  1. Wow, what a wonderful trip!!! I just love everything about it! BUT, is that really the eye of a shark, or is that the name for something else??

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  2. I am laughing out loud. beautiful beaches, food and sun and shade and a gorgeous hotel room. and then... and then.... Thrift Store Shopping. so YOU and i love it. your vacation has been amazing

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  3. What a wonderful trip! It looks like you two are having a great time. And now I want to visit that area. It looks lovely.

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  4. Such a wonderful laid back time together and then add a little shopping and lots of eating and you just can't go wrong.

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  5. I loved seeing all the beach pictures. You two make the perfect traveling companions. The food all looks and sounds delicious too. Glad you both got to get away and get some rest before busy days begin again. I'm surprised at how empty the beaches are. Almost like you had your own private get away!

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  6. It all sounds like a beautiful dream! The food looks awesome, and I know you and Summer got your batteries recharged. You two will treasurers trip!

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  7. What a great trip Linda ! I love your"beach gown" too.
    Such fun and leisure time and no people at the beach, wow !
    Food looks wonderful as well.
    Enjoy your weekend dear friend.
    Fabby

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  8. Linda, What a great time you and Summer are having. Some good food too. I know the relaxing on the beach had to be so good. I would love a trip like that with my girls. My Kathy is at a beach by herself ...just loves the water and needed to have some relaxing beach walks. I would have loved to have gone with her. She's been sending me pictures. She may come by here tomorrow on her way home Stay safe. Blessings to all, xoxo,love, Susie

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  9. I have enjoyed all the photos and the words about how you and Summer are co-celebrating your birthdays early and together. You have had some great weather and looks like not many crowds which is also great. Hope the last day goes as well as the ones before and with Goodwill stops on the way back, I'm sure it will!

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  10. I am so happy for you and Summer.
    These Girls Adventures are making precious memories.
    You are going Full Blast having fun and making use of every minute.
    Safe trip home
    Blessings to Summer too.
    Sue

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  11. A wine stein! Wow! Glad your trip is going so well. Cheers

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  12. What a fun time. Enjoy every minute.

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  13. Girlfriend you look like a mysterious mermaid there perched on that hunk of driftwood in your elegant beach gown! Pretty picture. I 'm so glad you and Summer got to go on this trip together, I'm loving all the pictures and it sure looks like fun. Love seeing what all you got to see and do and all the pretty beach scenes.....and THE YUMMY FOOD! Oh you got some fun presents, I loved seeing those. Well,I think y'all are headed back home tomorrow, so I'm wishing y'all a nice and safe trip. I haven't been to Galveston since way way back, like 1990s. Remember the old Glen Campbell song "Galveston"? Oh how I love that song.

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  14. Summer and I are practically twins. My birthday is October, too, and we were born the same year!

    I'm so glad you had these beautiful days together. That's my kind of beach going. My favorite time is late afternoon early evening. Less crowded, and the beauty of the evening at the beach is great!

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  15. i think you were as happy as "2 clams on the beach"!! thats what we always say!!

    awesome looking food and i enjoyed both videos. i always enjoy hearing you speak!!

    i LOVE cracker barrel for shopping, especially for clothes. you would never guess how many pretty white tops i have purchased there!!! and they always feature great sales!!

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