VACATION AT THE BEACH

This year we rented a beach house in Surfside, an hour south of Galveston, TX. The house was nice, but the beach was nasty. The tides had washed up ugly mounds of brown, scratchy seaweed; there was so much ugly seaweed that it was nearly impossible to play in the sand. And beach combing only turned up those tiny, ordinary white shells that the tides chip and break into shards.

The weather was blisteringly hot, and daily afternoon showers kept us inside after lunch every day. One day a particularly bad thunderstorm blew through. As the house swayed and the porch furniture fell to the ground below, we couldn't help but think of all the houses along the coast that were destroyed with the last hurricane.

I shouldn't complain so much-- we were very lucky not to have encountered any of the disgusting oil from the BP disaster last spring. I believe the Texas coast fared well, on that front.

Besides playing in the sun and surf, we also made a trip into Galveston. We ate at a wonderful pizza restaurant and visited the Bishop's Palace. The kids did exceptionally well on the hour-long tour of the mansion. In fact, Claire was extremely disappointed that we hadn't come on a Saturday, because the tour guide told us that on Saturdays they offer an extended tour of the mansion that includes the attic and the basement! She was game for another 30 minutes of history!

A second trip into Galveston had us visiting the Railroad Museum and the candy store on The Strand.

All in all, it was a simple, easy vacation. We came home well rested, and sweetly sunkissed!