Peace, Love, and All The Good Stuff: BEACHY KEEN DAY

Hey, Y'all! I love road-trippin' as you well know, but sometimes it's about the journey. Ya know, getting away from stacks of moving boxes, holiday stress, and stacks of moving boxes. Taking in the sights and sounds of a different place. A purposeful EXCURSION! Now, don't get me wrong--junkin' road trips are awesome fun. I love the adventure of not knowing exactly what I'll find at the end of the day. (And if you read this blog on even a somewhat regular basis or know me, you KNOW I always do at least a little JUNKIN'!) :)

However, every once in a while a girl just needs a "get-away" to refresh her mind, body, and spirit if only for a day. We recently had one of those kind of days and headed to Galveston Island.

Our first stop was The Sunflower Bakery and Cafe. We've been going to this wonderful local place for years. We had a fabulous lunch and shared a piece of fantastic chocolate pie. (It's my favorite chocolate pie!) Once we had fortified ourselves with a delicious kicked-back lunch we wandered across the hall to a conveniently located antique shop called, Bacon Farm Antiques & Oddities. We then headed to Hendley Market, located at 2010 The Strand in historic downtown Galveston. Hendley Market is a funky shop! It has a little bit of everything. Here's what I found.

We also perused another shop, Vintage Galveston, 1708 23rd Street. It is part art gallery, part architectural salvage, and part antiques and vintage goodies of every kind. Upstairs was especially interesting as it was once used as a boarding house and hotel. It still has the original wood car-siding, wood ceiling, transom windows, and aqua paint. Quite a trip back to a time of no air conditioning or electricity and only the most basic plumbing. From there, we headed past the brand new Paradise Pier

(where the old Flagship Hotel used to be--another victim of Hurricane Ike.) It was bright and looked exciting, but we wanted something more laid back and serene.
A quick trip to the West End of the island took us to Galveston State Park.

When our children were younger, we took them to Galveston State Park in our RV trailer for a week each fall and summer. We spent endless hours grilling fresh shrimp, building sandcastles, and relaxing.
In 2008, Hurricane Ike literally swallowed a good part of the beach at and near the state park. In fact the former park offices are now about a half mile out in the Gulf. (Yes, sadly, many houses were also washed out to sea.) Much care is taken to protect the frail sand dunes at the park as sea turtles also call this beach home.

We had a wonderful afternoon. We strolled. We dug our toes in the cool sand. We talked. As it was the end of November, there weren't many others on the beach, but those of us there got to watch a school of playful dolphins catch their dinner less than a quarter mile from where we stood. In all the years I've come to this place, I'd never seen the dolphins so close! It was amazing.