Galveston Island

 We came down to the Gulf Coast to celebrate M's birthday with some Mardi Gras festivities, enjoy winter beach time and learn about space exploration. For the first part of our trip, we caravanned from one parking lot to another with my parents, putting in long days in order to get out of the cold, and luckily we got to Galveston Island just in the knick of time to avoid ice storms. The weather was cool and rainy on our first few days, but the sun eventually came out and we are enjoying the beach and pool now. I bought a membership to the Houston Space Center to allow for multiple visits and we still haven't seen everything there. We also did some Adventure Labs in Galveston (this is an add-on to the Geocaching app where it leads you through a guided tour - usually walking, but sometimes driving - to see noteworthy sites). We learned about the businessman and philanthropist, Henry Rosenberg and ended the tour with a visit to the library he funded, which also had a rare book collection with a 500 year old book (!) and an exhibit of photographs from the devastating 1900 hurricane that killed 1 in 6 residents of the island. We ate kolaches, crawfish boil and king cake. We got a new single line kite and are flying our dual line stunt kite on the beach a lot. 

We are staying at a KOA Holiday here in Galveston. It's newly updated with concrete camping pads (great for rainy weather - no mud!) and full hookups. There is a lazy river pool, a regular pool, a hot tub, laundry, hot showers, a trampoline and a playground. Our site backs up to a marsh and we have spent many evenings sitting around our campfire and listening to the birds. Definitely a luxury setting for us! M is working during this trip, so having wifi or good cell is important. I also like this campground because you can walk right across the street to get to the public access beach and it's all houses down here so the beach is never crowded.