My friend and I just took a trip to Galveston, TX for our other friend's birthday, so let's talk about what we got up to while we were there and what I would recommend for a quick trip!
To start off, I have never been to Texas, besides the Dallas airport, so I had no idea what to expect going down in December. The weather was pretty nice for the 5 days we were there. It was really foggy in Galveston and boy oh boy was it humid! I packed shorts, but only wore leggings or jeans the entire time I was down there because they have the AC cranked up in nearly every establishment we went to. If I were to go in the summer months, I definitely would have been wearing shorts, but in the winter, jeans suffice.
On our first full day, I started with the usual, coffee. Generally close to where we were staying was Seawall Coffee Company, so I walked there. This coffee shop is so cute and definitely worth a stop if you are in the area and looking for a good coffee spot with a nice vibe and lovely workers. Be aware, they are not open on Mondays, but other than that, this would be my go-to spot for coffee if I lived in Galveston. They had a nice list of specialty coffees that they make, so I tried a new one each day I stopped in.
This shop also has a great area to study, meet up with friends, or work if you are lucky enough to work-from-home and live in the area.
Once I was fueled up, one of my friends and I walked along Seawall Boulevard for a couple of miles. We definitely underestimated the time that it would take us to walk from Seawall Coffee Company to the more touristy area of the island. By the time we had almost made it, our other friend had finished her class and was on her way to pick us up in her car. Luckily, the walk was beautiful and it was a beautiful day.
We ventured back to where we were staying and then headed off to go play TopGolf. None of us had done it before, so we thought it would be a fun afternoon adventure for us. TopGolf isn't in Galveston, but it was still fun nonetheless, so I thought I would give it a shoutout.
On our way to TopGolf, we stopped at Buc-ee's and let me tell you what, I wasn't ready for this experience. All our friend that lives in Texas told us was that it was a big gas station. That was an understatement for sure. It was an overwhelming experience, but one that is needed if you are going to Texas. The Buc-ee's mascot was in there dressed as Santa as well, so we, of course, got our picture with the fella before leaving with cookie dough and cinnamon-glazed nuts.
For dinner, we headed to Vida Agave. With the slogan: Tequila, Mezcal, Tacos, this was my kind of place. I had the classic street tacos and a myriad of margaritas, which was all delicious. I would highly recommend the margarita flight if you are in the mood for a little bit of everything. Before leaving, I had the churros for desert, which were AH-MAZING. Not to mention, they had this super cute sign, which was fitting for the occasion.
The next day brought us to Moody Gardens where we went to the aquarium, rainforest, and spent a very short time ice skating. I personally love aquariums, so this was the highlight of my day. They had a large assortment of sea-life, including penguins, sharks, sea lions, seals, and sting rays, to name a few. The aquarium took us a good chunk of time to make our way through, but that was probably due to the fact that we stopped and stared at the penguins and seals for 10-15 minutes each. They are just so dang cute! If you have kids, this is definitely a place to go. There are so many cool things to see, plus they have a touch-tank where you can touch stingrays and learn about them from the worker.
Following the aquarium, we went to the rainforest at Moody Gardens. This was so so so worth the money. You walk into the pyramid and are met with high high humidity, but also a myriad of plants, animals, and noises as if you are really in the rainforest. It was really fun to walk around and try to see how many different animals we were able to find. Some of the animals we managed to spot were monkeys, a sloth, so many birds (including a parrot), leaf cutting ants, bats (so cute!), and a Komodo dragon. While some. of the animals were in their own habitats for safety, there were a lot that were just wandering around, including the monkey that you can see in this picture. Again, a great option if you have kids (or are a kid at heart!
Dinner was Mario's Seawall Italian and Pizza that we ordered in while watching a holiday movie on Netflix, but it wasn't long before we headed off to Pleasure Pier.
We originally just got a wristband to walk around the pier, but after seeing some of the rides, I knew I needed to get a ride pass, so I went back and bought an unlimited ride bracelet and let my inner kid out again. The rides were so fun, especially the rollercoaster, the Iron Shark Coaster. I hadn't been on a fair ride in a while, let alone a rollercoaster, so I took full advantage of my bracelet and hit nearly every ride before finally settling in for the night.
I am really glad that we went to Pleasure Pier at night because all of the rides were lit up and a lot of the crowd was gone by the time we got there, which meant no long lines for rides!
On our last day in Galveston we went to Galveston Island State Park and walked around for around an hour. To say it was muddy is an understatement. Our shoes were soaked and covered in mud by the time we returned to the car, but I thought it was worth it. Aside from getting eaten alive by the mosquitos, we were able to see quite a few birds and didn't get eaten by a crocodile, so I would call that a win in my book.
I think in the summer, when it hasn't been raining for the past week, it isn't as muddy and you are able to hike around a lot easier than we were able to, but I still had a good time nonetheless.
Lunch on our last day was hands down my favorite place we ate at the entire time we were down there. We went to Cafe Canela after a recommendation from one of our Uber drivers from a previous excursion and I am so glad we took his recommendation. I had the tacos al pastor and they were the best al pastor tacos I have ever had. They also had homemade tortilla chips which were equally as delicious. 10/10 would recommend.
Our last excursion of the trip was to Axecade where we spent the night axe throwing and playing arcade games. Axecade was honestly so fun and rather inexpensive for unlimited play. They also have a full bar where you can order drinks, so that was really nice as well. We spent around 2 hours axe throwing before we headed off to go grab dinner.
We didn't have to wander far before we ended up at Stuttgarden Tavern where we decided we would grab some food before calling it a night. Luckily for us, it was trivia night, so we joined the game and lost miserably, but still had fun. The food was great and Trivia Tom was rather enjoyable as well.
TLDR Recommendations:
Food and Drink: Cafe Canela, Seawall Coffee Company, The Spot, Stuttgarden Tavern, Mario's Seawall Italian and Pizza, Vida Agave
Activities: Moody Gardens Aquarium and Rainforest, Axecade, Walk the Seawall, Pleasure Pier, Galveston Island State Park, Buc-ee's
Shop: Honestly only went into one gift shop outside of Moody Gardens, so I don't have anything on this one!
That's all I have for Galveston, but I hope you enjoyed! I know I sure did. And as always, travel on my friends!
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