Questions about Houston... (Dallas, Galveston, Spring: home, tornadoes, living in)

[beckycalder]

What's the food like? I like spicy foods like jerk chicken, curried meats, Mexican etc.[/quote]


You can find some spicey stuff for sure but it is the seafood that really attracts me! I have never seen such big lobster!

[txgrl]

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

I don't expect sparkling blue waters. I'm used to the Atlantic coast in central FL and Myrtle Beach areawhere the sea appears a brownish green. What kind of sand does it have? Most of the sand I saw in the Carolinas was as fine as flour. It squeaked when you walked on it. The only thing that wasn't nice about it's ultra fine texure is that the wind blew it everywhere. Like getting a fine dust of sand completely covering your legs when it was breezy. It was a light beige colour. I might be disappointed at the supposed normally weaker and smaller Gulf of Mexico waves as I like to surf, but I think it'd still be better than here where I don't have an ocean.

How often do they get waves over 3 feet high? Do they have any nice natural sand dunes/vegetation near the beaches around Galveston? What's this about tar?

The sand is fine but not white like in the Carolinas. It's darker in color and compacted. It does blow around on a windy day and can be bothersome, but I guess that's a problem with any beach with fine sand. You'd be surprised that alot of people do surf around here. I'm not sure about how high the waves get, as I don't surf myself and don't keep track.. but on a good day there are tons of surfers out there. As for the water being dark, that is attributed to the sand itself. Most people think it's dirty but it's actually because the sand is fine and stirs up all the time. That and the dark color of the sand make the water murky.

[momof2dfw]

That is correct, the color of sand is what makes the water in this part of the gulf darker. Most of the sand on the beaches in Galveston is brought in. During March you will see them dumping loads of the stuff for days and then bulldozers leveling it out. They built the Seawall after the hurricane of 1900 to protect the city. Naturally the water takes the sand out with the surf so in order to keep a beach in this area they must bring the sand in. Along the Seawall (which is also Seawall Blvd) there is only a few buildings ON the beach side. The Flagship Hotel is built out over the waters on a pier. Tillman Fritita (sp?) has bought that hotel and is planning on redoing it along w/ the Balanese. He has done a lot to bring Galveston back up and popular again.

Yes, you do see surfers in the water. So it must be pretty decent.

Tar. Back years ago there was a bit of a problem w/ the boats carrying the oil into/out of the ports not being "up to par" so hince the problem w/ the tar. It would literally cover the beaches. Every where you went there were big shoe scrapers and mats in front of the entrance to EVERY thing in Galveston for you to wipe the tar off your feet. YUCK!!!

[txgrl]

I forgot to mention the dunes you asked about. We have some small dunes here but not alot of them. All of the original natural dunes were either carried out to sea with the 1900 storm or used for fill when they built the seawall and raised the grade. There are some on the west end, but nothing big like South Padre. You can check out the Galveston Beach Patrol site for some more info about our beaches and surfing.
http://www.galvestonbeachpatrol.com/

[momof2dfw]

There is a website for Galveston. Try galveston com. They did have live webcams. It was pretty cool to watch last year when Rita was coming in. They also have a forum that you can check out. Seems most on there though prefer to stay at the Casa Del Mar condos. I personally don't because they are across the Seawall from the beach and the beach there is kind of small. We prefer Seascape as they are ON the beach and a small public beach on one side and a pretty nice RV campground on the other. So the beach there is not crowded at all. They are also a smaller complex with a nice sized pool that is right there at the beach. Great w/ the kids so we can go back and forth from the pool to the beach w/o having to pack up EVERYTHING. They are also pretty reasonable on prices. With only 4 of us we only need the one bedroom as most of the units have built in bunks in the hallway (a treat for the kids). There are some really good places to eat there too. Galveston also has its own Mardi Gras and it is a BIG TO-DO. Galveston has lots of culture that you would not normally find in a city its size. Big on the theater and arts. If you ever get a chance to go sometime let us know and we can tell you all the haunts that are not "touristy" that are the flavor of The Island. Oh, you can take the ferry across over to Bolivar and Crystal Beach. Not much over there, more residential than anything. And I mean like in spread out residential not your subdivisions and large complexes. A few places to eat that are kind of the hole in the wall places and that is about it for that island. If you want somewhere away from everything that is where to go.

[randtbrown]

my hubby is a surfer and wouldn't waste his time in galveston. his words, not mine. Maybe in a hurricane there are some real waves?

[randtbrown]

Sad about Galveston- we were there on a weekend in May and there was NO ONE around. We were the only people in the resturant and on not too many on the streets. And, as I said, we had just come from Hawaii.....and my expectations were a little high. We are both from here and neither had been to galveston since we were really really young. No one I know makes a trip there for any reason. Kemah sometimes for the boardwalk to eat, but that's about as far. South Padre and Corpus may be worth the drive.....haven't been there in years either.

[AK123]

No one I know makes a trip there for any reason. Kemah sometimes for the boardwalk to eat, but that's about as far. South Padre and Corpus may be worth the drive.....haven't been there in years either.

You must have been there during a slow week, because the last few times we went were in the off season (Fall) and there were still plenty of people.

[AK123]

No one I know makes a trip there for any reason. Kemah sometimes for the boardwalk to eat,

Galveston has actually become very popular as a place for second homes for people from Houston and even Dallas. There's a huge building boom right now. Kemah, on the other hand, is too touristy for me...

[etexbill]

Forget Galveston, go to South Padre Island.