🚙Houston’s Sea 🌊 Galveston Travel Guide: In-Depth Edition

🦃🎃Spent two days during Thanksgiving at Galveston, the southernmost city near Houston—the closest beach in Texas. A detailed guide including attractions, hotel, and restaurant recommendations. 🌈 Every highlight is a must-see❗️❗️ 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 Set off from Dallas the previous day—a 6-hour drive to Galveston. Checked in at Galveston Beach Hotel. The hotel has been renovated, offers a rich breakfast, and is budget-friendly. It’s right by the seaside, perfect for watching the sunrise 🌅. 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 9 AM - 11 AM: Drove along the coastline, making stops here and there to take beautiful photos by the sea. The scenery was stunning! The sea breeze in winter was quite chilly, and there weren’t many people around. Managed to collect many pretty seashells 🐚 on the beach. Figure 2 shows a bridge extending into the sea and a souvenir shop. 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 11 AM - 12 PM: Drove to Galveston Ferry Terminal and took the free 🆓 ferry ride ⛴️. 🌈 This is a must-do experience! Rode to the opposite shore and then back again. The car queue looked long but moved surprisingly fast—each ferry can fit over 30 cars. You can get out and walk around on the boat. (Don’t follow my example—feeding the seagulls is not allowed 🙅. I stopped immediately after being reminded.) 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 12 PM - 1:30 PM: Had lunch at 🌈 Katie’s Seafood House, a star seafood restaurant highly recommended by locals. It was super popular—waited in line for 20 minutes, but it was totally worth it! The oysters 🦪 were a bit small this season, but the shrimp and cheese pasta 🍝 is highly recommended. 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM: Drove along the 🌈 3005 toll coastal highway to Surfside Jetty County Park. Passed a cross-sea bridge along the way and saw many beautiful houses 🏘️ and scenic spots. The park itself is small but interesting—there’s a stone path extending into the sea where 🌈 many locals were fishing 🎣. We even saw someone catch a fish longer than their arm! 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM: Visited the 🌈 free wetland park, Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge. Autumn arrives later in the south, and the park was serene and pleasant with crisp fall weather! Surprisingly, we spotted an alligator 🐊 waking up from hibernation for a breath of air. I’d seen alligators in Miami and New Orleans before, but finally checked off “Texas alligator” from my list! #IslandGetaway #TexasTravel #Galveston #HoustonExploration #TexasBeach #GalvestonIsland #TexasTravelGuide #TexasUSA #HoustonBeach #CoastalDrive 🌊🚗🇺🇸