The Road Seems To Go On Forever

So, we did the hospital thing. Dunk had to have a hip x-ray before we left. Because the Dr. likes to compare them from year to year. And I live for indulging Dr.'s whims. Sometimes it seems that's what they think. Anyway, we did that and paid $800 to park in the hospital's garage and went on our merry way.

Generally, this would be the point we would turn around and drive back home. Which sounds like a really fun day, right? Up at 4:00 A.M., drive 5 1/2 hours stopping only to use an nasty truck stop bathroom, go to the hospital, turn around and do it again. Wheeeeeee! No way.

So, we decided to drive on, headed south. We went to Galveston. The kids were excited. Mom and Dad were already beginning to relax. Ummm, cool ocean breeze, sounds of the water, sand beneath our feet, Pina Coladas and walks in the rain- oh sorry, got off track there. We were in Galveston in no time and the kids were thrilled.

We found our hotel pretty quickly. We could only stay one night so we booked a very nice hotel that had a little kids water park, aquarium, IMAX, indoor rain forest, etc. We were also right next door to Schlitterbahn. We could see it out our window from our room, in fact. And we we got to our room and looked out we couldn't' believe how few people were there. We thought we should go because it was so NOT crowded. And in a few minutes we would be able to get the after 3 rate. Soooooo glad we never made it.

Why? Because apparently, everyone else in Galveston had watched the weather reports. We had not. It was raining buckets within minutes.

We put our swimsuits on and headed downstairs for a treasure hunt. The hotel was overpriced and the rooms were only okay but they definitely cater to families. Nothing like my most favorite-ist place in the whole world- the Hyatt, but still. There was a treasure hunt which consisted mostly of going up and down the elevator, which I will tell you isn't that much fun with a tropical drink in your hand. The prizes were rubber ducky's dressed like pirates. Well worth some motion sickness for Mom, right?

This is the point where the it's really, really raining. The kids want to swim anyway. And seriously, I was going with their logic. "We are going to get wet anyway, Dad" That's true. He didn't buy it, and somehow he is still known as the fun one. There simply is no justice.

We decide that this is a good time for the aquarium. Thanks to some online research Mom had done, we knew that the aquarium was the best thing the hotel had to offer. The desk clerk agreed with this assessment. Plus both kids are really into aquariums and the like. I guess most kids are but I never remember being that gung ho for fish. In fact, fish are just above birds on the creepy scale for me. Birds are simply flying rats in my mind. They freak me out. We do not do birds. Fish, I suffer through.

We decided there is no need for the handy little tram the hotel offers, we'll walk in the rain. And we arrive at the aquarium, soaked and freezing. The aquarium looked pretty cool from the lobby. Casey got in line to buy our tickets. Then some rude family tried to get in front of us. What kind of fool tries to cut in front of the kid in the wheelchair? This same family practically trampled ours at the starfish tank. Thank the good Lord above that we were on vacation and were simply not going to let anyone ruin our good time because otherwise, I might have tripped one or two of them. I might have done it anyway but unless presented with hard evidence that I am guilty, I am not talking.

Sorry, back on track. Casey bought the tickets after telling Mr. Rude to get his crazy butt out of the way. Hee-hee. He didn't say that, that's why I love my husband. He generally has no idea what to say to me. But he knows exactly what to say to everyone else. He just calmly told him he was NOT next and went on. I would have been crying and pointing and dropping things and telling my life story. You can see who is more effective.

Okay, so we have tickets and on we go. We saw the whole aquarium and the kiddos even got to touch starfish, horseshoe crabs, brittle stars and one other thing I don't remember. Dunk only had interest in seeing penguins but something about keeping them accustomed to their natural habitat (why is that may I ask? it's not like they are gonna send them back, right?) so it was dark most of the day. So you could see the penguin exhibit but it was dark. What the heck? Anyway, it really didn't take very long to tour the whole thing. And we took our time and even spoke with some of the employees about the exhibits and the sea life. That's a trick I picked up from Disney. Talking to the kids/young adults can be very informative, it's really amazing what some of them know. Well, what they profess to know. Who knows if it's actually true but it does entertain the kids!

Point? Aquarium was okay but in pretty bad repair and awfully expensive for about an hour to an hour and half of entertainment. Even the kids were underwhelmed. Sigh, guess we'll have to head back to Disney.

Still raining buckets outside so we decide to check out the handy dandy tram, which worked out perfectly. We went back to the room and changed for dinner. Yes, we did wear our swimsuits to the aquarium. We were wearing clothing over them, in case you were concerned. And I only carried in one paper bag with my beer in it.

We dined at a local seafood place called Casey's- how could we miss that, right? It was a long wait and the food was only okay. Dunk was the entertainer for the evening. He perused the menu before dinner and told me he was thinking about the Baby Bay Shrimp Salad. And if he ordered that could he also order something else? I should clarify that this was a dinner all to itself and he wanted to add the largest platter of seafood they offered. I tried to get him to share with me, which he is usually happy to do because we have the same tastes and he likes what I order. No go on sharing with Mom. Fine go with the salad and you can add a cup of soup. No, he didn't want soup. Actually, I believe the quote was "Hello! I came all this way to get seafood." Great. Dad came to the rescue when he suggested that Dunk order the seafood assortment on the appetizer menu. This was a great solution. So, when given the choice of that seafood platter, the Baby Bay Shrimp Salad or the kids menu- he went with the seafood. And it was enough food for all four of us. It was really quite hilarious. I will say he made a valiant effort at eating it all but he came nowhere near it.

It continued to rain all evening. We went back to the hotel where we carried Dunk in and Carly rode in the chair because they had both passed out in the car. Hopefully, I will have pics to add to tomorrow's post. I took my "good" camera but never took any pictures with it because I didn't want it wet or sandy. So all I have are some taken on a disposable one. Hope to have those developed by tomorrow.