Galveston Island Tourism

Best way to get down to Galveston

Lucinda — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:52:45 GMT

HI EveryOne,

What is the best way to get down to galveston? Ive heard that i could take hwy6 all the way down to galveston is that true? or would i have to get on to I-45 at one point?

I45 road closure Aug28th

Dixie — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:00:44 GMT

where can i find more info on this. I can't believe they are doing this during THE SEASON ! let's kick an Island when they are down! gawd

Need Lcoal Help ASAP

AGDEC — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:07:47 GMT

Heres where Im at. I am looking to get engaged to my girlfriend later this summer and was going to do it at Galveston because it was at Galveston last year that we really fell in love with each other. Here's where I need your help, I had found a website airplaneride.com, that offered sightseeing over the island in a plane. That is how I was going to propose, in the air over the island at sunset. Well the number no longer works and I recieved no email reply after sending a message to the address. Does anyone have any info about the company? if not would anyone be able to network me to someone with a plane willing to do me this huge favor! Thanks so much

Galveston was great!

connie — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:08:13 GMT

I just got home from spending 3 days in Galveston and I was just amazed how great everything looked. Everyone I told I was going to Galveston said why--there's nothing left there--it all got swept away. From my research here and other places I knew that wasn't true but I did expect to see a lot of evidence of Ike. I had to look really hard to find it and I believe someone who has never been to Galveston would hardly see any at all. Everything was neat and tidy, the landscaping looked great, almost all signs were replaced, the beach was fine--I could go on and on. We spent a day on the beach and enjoyed our rented umbrella and chairs. We spent another day at Schlitterbahn's and really enjoyed that. We stayed at Casa del Mar and it was in great shape and we ate in several restaurants. I was so proud of what Galveston and the state of Texas had done in such a short period of time and was happy to spend my tourism dollars there.

Way to go, Galvestonians!!

Have a few questions...

Nazran — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:59:38 GMT

I haven't been to Galveston in a long time and will be coming with my family in Aug. I just had a few general questions.

1. I thought I read some where that the seawall has had new sand put down in front of it since Ike. Is that the entire length of the seawall or the east end where the beaches are?

2. Any word on when the pocket beaches on the west end will re-open?

3. Is it ok to park where the seawall ends (west side) after the road splits? I think I have seen it called the Seawall Terminus?

4. Is the beach at the end of the west seawall a public beach?

Coming to visit!!!!!!!

David — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:18:30 GMT

Hello,

First I would like to say hi to everyone here.

We will be returning to Galveston this August for a little vacation time.

I hope all is well on the island and surrounding area.

I like to do a little research on thinks to do and where to eat when we are going to visit any area we don't know much about. We were in Galveston a few years ago and had a blast. I had to extend our stay last time because we didn't want to leave.

I would be interested in any and all information you all can share with me. It would be great to know some of the great places to eat that maybe only the local's know of. I also would like to know about some of the beaches in the area. I really like to fish and I know there is some great surf fishing in the area.

We will be visiting some of the regular places that we know about like the water park and Moody Gardens but I want to be able to show the family some great things about Galveston that others my not know or do when visiting the island.

David

Schlitterbahn

radknapp — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:41:54 GMT

We were planning on coming to galveston again this year and the kids love to go to Schlitterbahn. I have heard that every thing is still not up and running at Schlitterbahn. But I have recieved emails for Schlitterbahn that every thing is good. Please let me know if all the slides and everything is operational . Also what about Moody gardens we go there every year too. We will be down in July.

Paying to park on Seawall

TX Traveler — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:54:46 GMT

Just have to comment on a quote from GCDN February 16th's guest columnist Jeri Kinnear, chairwoman of the Galveston Park Board of Trustees. "Parking fees will not keep visitors from coming to the island. Most travelers expect to pay for amenities they receive, and if they cannot afford a small fee, most likely less than $10, then they don’t need to spend the money on gas to get here but should spend it on family necessities."

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=f2a5a86b441184fa

Really?

If I stay in Galveston a minimum of 15 nights a year at $10 a day for seawall parking alone, I would probably have to stay at least one night less to be able to park on Seawall provided that I do stay in the same parking spot all day. However, if I want to park in several places along the Seawall, then I have to feed the meter multiple times for however much time I spend at each spot along the Seawall.

Not wanting to pay to park on Seawall really has nothing to do with me not being able to pay to park but everything to do with the removal of a privilege I have long enjoyed as a frequent visitor to the Island. Not sure if parking meters will net enough revenue to be able to support the Parks Board’s plans “to match grants, provide for its upkeep and pay for new services that will be required.”

Surely Ms. Kinnear is unaware of how elitist a comment like this sounds. Perhaps I am no longer a typical tourist that the Galveston of the future would welcome.

Seawall Traffic

Coastal Dreams — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:28:59 GMT

You know that tourism is alive and well when you forget it's a weekend and get stuck on the Seawall. I can't believe how many people are out there. This is great! And the beach looks fantastic. What a gorgeous night...

Visitors Centers

TX Traveler — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:47:08 GMT

The visitors center on 61st is still gutted, right?

Is the one on the Strand opened yet?

I think there is one in (Fertitta's) the Convention Center. We were going to visit it one time but there was no easy place for visitors to park so we drove on. Where can a visitor get information about what is opened and when?

My source says that the Moody Mansion is opened on a limited basis in spite of everything on the lowest floor being damaged with the exception of a Tiffany lamp that bobbed on the table that it was on while the water rose and then receded in the building.

Ashton Villa is still closed? I read that after Hurricane Ike, the "curators" were looking for "cold storage" to place some of the building's valuable furniture to hopefully slow down the growth of mold until it could be restored. Apparently, a local restaurateur volunteered his cold storage to them. I don't know if that is true or not, but it makes me want to visit his business over others that had the same opportunity to do so but chose not to.

What is the status on Bishop’s Palace? Is it not open for tours anymore?

Also, someone had heard that the Island is “closed” after 8:00 pm. Someone going to a convention this week was told that they needed to get to Galveston before 8 at night because they closed access to the Island at that time. Surely, this curfew is not still in effect? If it isn’t, then whoever’s passing out information to convention visitors needs to fix that.

Any information about where to get "tourist information" would be greatly appreciated.

The condition of the west end?

nickalexzach — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:31:06 GMT

My family LOVES Galveston and we've been bringing the kids to the island every year since they were born. We have a house rented on the west end (Sea Isle) in mid May and were wondering what condition that area is in? I have heard that the beach is erroded in that area and that the city is really concentrating on rebuilding the beach over by the sea wall - what's happened to the beaches on the west end?

Anyone know??

Infiniti Vacations

Infiniti Vacations — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:24:52 GMT

We are proud to continue service to those affected by the hurricane. You can find out more about our travel company at www.infinitivacations.com

Thank you,

Infiniti Vacations

Romantic Galveston?

R.J — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:18:48 GMT

Hey I'm new to the Houston area so I dont really know much. I would like to take my girlfriend to Galveston this Saturday for her birthday; maybe for a nice dinner and a sunset on the beach or something. We havent really been around the Galveston area before. I was hoping I could get some recommendations for resturaunts, places to go, activites for us to do during the day while we're there. Thanks everyone.

R.J

how great the strand could be...

Bandit King — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:52:03 GMT

i just come back from New Orleans not to long ago and was thinking...that i wish galveston strand was as cool as the french quarter. i'm not talking about all the drinking and partying but all the awesome shops and restaurant. they have tons of different streets with all sorts of different shops. something else at every turn.

i just wish the strand wasn't just one street and like five blocks. i love galveston and i want it to be so much better.

Olympic Intervention IV???

Mach — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:52:50 GMT

Hi, all!!

Does anyone know what the Olympic Intervention is in port for?

She's a very specialized vessel:

http://www.olympic.no/default.asp?menu=10

Thanks!!

A few of my favorite things

Dixie — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:52:03 GMT

Bottle Rocket did a great job colecting these ideas!!!!

Courtesy of Bottle Rocket
Trip to Galveston

Burgers – The Spot 32nd and Seawall (wifi) (409) 621-5237
Pizza – Marios (wifi) (409) 763-1693
Seafood – Fishtales (409) 762-8545, Clary's (8509 Teichman Road) (409) 740-0771
Mexican - The Original Mexican Café (1401 Market St.) (409)762-6001
Apache Mexican (511 20th St.) (409)765-5646
Salsa’s (4604 seawall and 61st) 409-621-2630

Wifi internet(seawall & 7th, 23rd, 32nd, 37th) and the strand & 23rd and GalvestonStatePark 14901 FM 3005

Buy Fresh Shrimp - Bring ice chest
Moore's Shrimp shack (409) 744-5449
Shrimp boats behind Joe’s crab shack
Katies, Pier 19 (409)763-8160, 888-235-3223
Sampson, Pier 19 (409) 763-9316

GalvestonHistoryfoundation 409-765-7834
Bike Rally (beginning of November)
Mardi Gras (February)
Dickens on the Strand (December)
Tent Camp or screened cabin $20 at state park near west beach 389-8900
Surf lessons
Jet ski 53rd & seawall and on 12th & seawall
The Homes Show (tour private homes) May
Trolley (409)797-3900
Horse carriage (409)765-6951 (409)925-3312
Hunt seashells under west bridge early in morning
NOAA Sea turtle rescue facility http://galveston.ssp.nmfs.gov/seaturtles/index.html 4700 Avenue U - 766-3500
Park Ranger Nature tour http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/galveston/ (409) 737-1222
Schlitterbaun
Moody 741-8484
Nasa
Ocean Star offshore drilling rig 766-STAR
Tall ship ellissa 763-1877
crabbing / fishing
charter fishing boat
horseback riding
kayak
duck tour $7 kids, $13 adults (409) 621-4771
Treasure Isle Tour Train $3 kids, $5.50 adults (409)765-9564
Fly a Kite
Barbq on beach
Balinese club
ghost tours
Railroad museum
San Jacinto Monument

Labor Day Week Activites

ll20025784 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:37:07 GMT

My boyfriend and I will be visiting Galveston, Sept. 1st-6th. I have not been here and he has not since he was little. I was wondering what there will be to do and when she would visit certain places. We weren't sure if there were things that may be closed for the season at the time. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!

Ferry

highrez — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:06:43 GMT

Next weekend I will be groing from Port Bolivar to Galveston on a birding trip. I have heard that the the ferry is very slow right now. Do you think we'll have a long wait to get to Galveston from the Bolivar side around noon or so on Sunday?

Thanks,

Judy

Family Trip Report

bgsnmky — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 17:19:28 GMT

Just wanted to write a brief trip report for everyone and thanks to everyone for helping.

We rented a beach house in the west end from Sand n Sea. This trip was a family of 10.

Two Grandparents
1 Single Dad with 3 kids - age 20, 16, and 14
Two parents with 2 kids - 15 and 12.

The house was perfect - loved being right on the beach. I wouldn't change anything about that. We were far from town, but the private beach was definately a plus more than being close to town.

Our favorite days were the BEACH days - just hanging out and doing whatever. Football on the beach, boogie boarding was a big hit, and fishing.

Fishing included fishing at the surf where we were staying....at the San Luis Pass, and then on Pier 61. Pier 61 was by far our favorite. Caught lots of fish (and the MUSIC was awesome).

We decided to skip Schlitterbauhn in favor of another free day at the house.

We did have to evacuate our house on Monday in case the Tropical Storm created flooding etc. So we just went into town stayed at the Super 8 on 61st street, and then were able to get back in the house on Tuesday. No big deal. Not fun packing...but everyone was good sports about it. (THANKS DIXIE for checking on us).

We did go to Moody Gardens on Tuesday, the rainy day. And we really enjoyed it. Reviews on this board liked it and didn't like it. We thought for the two day pass it was good. We did the aquarium, titanic exhibit, rain forest, and saw 4 3D movies. We liked them all --- Except skip the Haunted Castle....no one (except the 12 year old) liked it. Really weird.

We did go deep sea fishing with Williams part boats. EVERYONE got sick. REALLY --- 5 out of 6 of us got sick....the other person felt sick. We would definatly need to take the sea sickness pills before going next time. We did catch lots of Spade fish tho.

All in all --- great trip!!!

Fishing

Arlington Male Human — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:18:14 GMT

Anyone ever use squid? I heard it stays on better than shrimp. I mainly use soft plastics, but wanted some squid input.

Gracias!

Treasure Island Train

Mc Cool — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:56:54 GMT

Last time I was in G-town we rode the Treasure Island Train( I was going to abbreviate but it would have been inappropriate) and I learned so much about the historical homes on the island. Who knew, I thought I knew it all welllllll I was so wrong. Sooo I was a little hot but it was so worth it. It is worth every penny of the $10. to ride. If you like history you will learn things you probably never knew.CM

stewart beach

tcpaint — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:14:23 GMT

Hi y'all again, Had some free time so i thought i would mention our beach stay. on our 1st full day we were at stewart beach around 9am. Plenty of parking and flat beach. Our beaches up here are only flat when the tide goes out, otherwise they are hilly with soft sand. The beach was pretty empty when we gotr there but quickly filled up (it was sunday). We rented 2 sets of the beach chairs/umbrellas. I spoke with the man who has that business. He told me that he started that 49 yrs ago and only works 5 months a year. He has a great office and obviously makes a bunch of money. The water was a balmy 85 and the kids really enjoyed it. At our beaches one can only walk out so far as there is a drop off. They loved the fact that they could walk way out. While the six of us were in the water we saw a 2 dolphins way out. When we went in the water again we saw 2 more dolphins and we were way out on a sand bar. These dolphins were swimming by us about 25 feet away. My kids as well as my wife and me were amazed. That is something we do not see in my neck of the woods. My kids also enjoyed the giant water slide, they spent an hour on it. One thing i did do and anyone who is on vacation might be interested. I called my folks in Mass (they are on in years and enjoyed what i am about to tell youz) and had them go to galveston.com and click on the web cam for stewart beach. We stood on the beach in front of the camera and kept them on the phone so we would be sure they saw us. They were thrilled. I wanted to do it again @ the Spot but we never made it there. All in all stewart beach was a nice take. Of course we almost got nailed by your local yocals on their 4 wheelers. We each had a cold beverage that is not allowed and they snuck up on us. They actually stopped right next to us and looked in a large groups cooler and emptied out something. I did not see, i was too busy trying to cover up my koozie. So we really enjoyed our day @ the beach and all got sunburned. Tom from Red Sox nation

what is a pocket park or pocket beach?

Dixie — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:55:20 GMT

I just assumed it was Poretti beach or something similar. I looked on the map and noticed the are located on the West End...

Free Ferry - Galveston to Bolivia

bgsnmky — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:55:32 GMT

So we have heard this is a nice thing to do. Question - is ther eany reason to get off the Ferry in Bolivia. We can just stay on and head back to Galveston right???

CRUISE SHIP PICS

Dixie — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:03:46 GMT

LURKER , MOJO , MACH , LUV LADY, everybody... post your photos!!!

Seaweed on the beaches

Bryce — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:44:43 GMT

Is there anyway to tell when?

I know this seems like a silly question, but taking a vacation to Galveston seems to be a hit-or-miss affair as far as the beach-going goes... Sometimes the beaches will be covered in seaweed (all mounded up along the shore, you know what I mean) and sometimes there is none at all.

Same goes with the seaweed IN the water. I've gone before and there's none, but there's also been tons in the water at other times and it's just downright unpleasant.

Any thoughts?

--Bryce

Water Temp

tcpaint — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:13:51 GMT

Hi First of all...What happened to the forum. I clicked on it in my favorites and there waqs nothing there. I searched and found this new one but i could not sign in..i needed to join again. This is Tom from the great cold Northeast (actually 80 today). My bro-in-law told me he was in Gal last week and the ocean was like bath water. I find that hard to believe. Also i wanted to review all the info you galvetinians gave me a couple of months ago but it looks like all is lost so i will be posting more questions as the best places to eat etc. We arrive in Austin on July 11th and drive to Gal the 12th for 3 days. Happy Summer Tom from RED SOX NATION...soon to be CELTIC CHAMPIONSHIP NATION

how to come Galveston From Houston

drynhwyl — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:54:17 GMT

Hey, I'm coming to Galveston at june 8th. I'll arrive at Bush Intercon'l Airport 7.30pm and i really don't have any idea about how to come to Gaidos Inn. I'll be glad if one of you guys inform me about the shuttles to the island from Houston. Thanks in advance.

WIFI HOT SPOTS

Dixie — Sat, 31 May 2008 11:08:59 GMT

anybody remember where the wifi hotspots are?

I went to the Mosquito cafe for coffee yesterday , they have a sign up that they have wifi now.

the spot?

Mod coffee

somewhere on the beach too .. right