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Featured Replies

Black Pearl dining room was open last week.

On 6/21/2020 at 11:01 AM, dcbc said:

So we rented a house in Sea Isle for the week after the 4th.  Went last August and had the beach that far down the island virtually to ourselves.  Packing all of our food in for the week.  No restaurants.  Anyone ventured that far down and have reports of what we're in for this year?

Sandbar at West End Marina (Sea Isle) is open and so is Nate's in Jamaica Beach. I think Waterman's in Pirates is open, but would not go based on recent reviews I've heard. 

On 6/21/2020 at 11:01 AM, dcbc said:

So we rented a house in Sea Isle for the week after the 4th.  Went last August and had the beach that far down the island virtually to ourselves.  Packing all of our food in for the week.  No restaurants.  Anyone ventured that far down and have reports of what we're in for this year?

we will be there for the 4th. went to gaidos saturday and it was awesome. decided to drive to sea isle to check out the house, then take 288 back to houston (we had house showings and needed to kill time). the place is packed. try to rent you a golf cart if possible. will bring my polaris down. i have never seen galveston as crowded as it was and i grew up in galveston county.

10 minutes ago, riloh05 said:

we will be there for the 4th. went to gaidos saturday and it was awesome. decided to drive to sea isle to check out the house, then take 288 back to houston (we had house showings and needed to kill time). the place is packed. try to rent you a golf cart if possible. will bring my polaris down. i have never seen galveston as crowded as it was and i grew up in galveston county.

Watch out. Gaidos just announced they had an employee test post positive for Covid. 

31 minutes ago, riloh05 said:

we will be there for the 4th. went to gaidos saturday and it was awesome. decided to drive to sea isle to check out the house, then take 288 back to houston (we had house showings and needed to kill time). the place is packed. try to rent you a golf cart if possible. will bring my polaris down. i have never seen galveston as crowded as it was and i grew up in galveston county.

Agreed.  Galveston has been packed this summer. 

We've taken the boat over to Watermans a couple times in the last few weeks.  We just stayed downstairs and it was much better than it used to be.  Of course it's hard to mess up Fish & Chips and a bucket of Coors Light.

We've taken the boat over to Watermans a couple times in the last few weeks.  We just stayed downstairs and it was much better than it used to be.  Of course it's hard to mess up Fish & Chips and a bucket of Coors Light.
Have you been over to Bolivar lately? We have a friend trip w kids (5 families) planned there for a month from now and I'm wondering if it might be dicey

We are heading to Crystal beach in a month.  Hope it works out.

On 6/23/2020 at 6:53 AM, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Heading to Pointe West Thursday.
Although the there are usually a few spots we like to eat, we are taking all our food and cooking at the house.

Stayed in a house out there last week.  Beach was very quiet.

I didnt go to the pool bu my kids did.  Said it was about ok.  People were keeping their distance from each other. 

The worst part of the whole trip was going to Kroger on the Seawall @ 61st.  That place was a freaking zoo.

I won't go to Kroger or any of the big stores after 8am

  • 2 weeks later...

We've been on the island since Sunday evening.  Cops were stopping everyone before the bridge at the Freeport end of the island.  Just told them we'd rented a house for the week and weren't planning to go to the beach that night (beaches didn't reopen until 12 a.m. Monday.  Sea Isle is moderately crowded.  The beach was pretty crowded near the access point, but after a 5 minute walk, we set up shop with plenty of room around us for our socially distanced beach vacation.  Convenience store by the marina required masks and we didn't see any Island Karens pushing those boundaries for a helping of rights to go with their six pack of Bud Light Lime.  All in all, it's been a nice getaway.  Granted, we haven't gone anywhere near the more populated end of the island, but that was never part of our plan for this trip.

Edited by dcbc

We stayed in Pointe West about 2 weeks ago. At one time we were the only people in the pool at the clubhouse. It was surreal compared to other trips there.

On 7/8/2020 at 5:23 PM, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

We stayed in Pointe West about 2 weeks ago. At one time we were the only people in the pool at the clubhouse. It was surreal compared to other trips there.

Was just there last weekend. Definitely more people at the pool and beach. I’d say Saturday there were probably 30-40 people in and around the pool area in the afternoon. 
 

Ate Sunday on way out of town at Blvd Seafood at 29th and Seawall. Was surprisingly good. Had a good looking brunch going although we were just keeping it simple. Had plastic screens up between tables for distancing. Will go back there again next time. 

I'm headed to Bolivar peninsula today for a family weekend trip. Is this storm going to fuck us? Is there a chance they shut down or evacuate the peninsula?

@Spur08 Rain and nasty weather is certain.  Close to zero chance they will issue mandatory evacuations. 
Decent chance there might be street flooding. Depending on where the house is located there is a very small chance water might creep up under the house and cause issues with parked cars/trucks.  But that all depends on the lot layout and elevation.

that said, bolivar has been having a lot of issue with their drinking water pipeline recently and as of last week was under a boil water notice. Not sure if they are now. Either way, I would bring your own drinking water. 
 

side note: there has been almost zero social distancing going on over there. So I would Bring your own supplies and stay away from the big store if possible. 

Edited by Xian

Friday and Saturday are scheduled for a lot of rain, I'm sure Bolivar has the same forecast as I do here in Galveston,  with slight differences. Its going to be a rain event.

Don't have to boil water anymore,  that was lifted days ago. Most people will drink bottle water anyway 

We had a nice visit to Bolivar.  Could've stayed another day but decided to leave early to beat the weather.  

I love going down there

We're staying in Surfside for the weekend, got a house on the water. I know Covid is hitting fairly hard there, but we aren't planning to go anywhere except the house and the beach. What are we in for? Crowded beaches? Or relatively low key?

Can't say much about Surfside, but keep an eye on rip tides, been pretty much an every day for the past week.

On 7/30/2020 at 10:16 AM, BradInATX said:

We're staying in Surfside for the weekend, got a house on the water. I know Covid is hitting fairly hard there, but we aren't planning to go anywhere except the house and the beach. What are we in for? Crowded beaches? Or relatively low key?

We just got to Surfside today.  I hope you weren’t the fucks that broke a bunch of shit (chairs, picture frames, railings, ...) in our VRBO and delayed us getting into our place.  Anyway, the beach was crowded as fuck when we pulled in today.  We are hoping it chills out the next few days. 
how was your stay?  We brought everything we should need, but any info would be appreciated. 

We just got to Surfside today.  I hope you weren’t the fucks that broke a bunch of shit (chairs, picture frames, railings, ...) in our VRBO and delayed us getting into our place.  Anyway, the beach was crowded as fuck when we pulled in today.  We are hoping it chills out the next few days. 
how was your stay?  We brought everything we should need, but any info would be appreciated. 
It's been great. I posted on another thread, but everyone has been laid back. Respectful social distancing, general Texas laid back and kicking it. My toddler was the worst offender of distancing all weekend. A complete zero stress weekend. 28.99 tito's was the worst thing that happened to me

Thanks for the tip- I figured that out tonight while grilling a shit-ton of wings for my in-laws anniversary (tradition).  I got eaten alive!

  • 2 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Loading up the family truckster and heading down there next week. We are staying at the hilton galveston island and have planned absolutely nothing other than taking advantage of the heated pool. Have a 9 year old kid. Any new restaurants, things to do, etc? 

  • 1 month later...

Wife and I need to clear out of our house this weekend, so decided to use some hotel points and get a room down on the island. Despite having lived in Houston for going on 15 years, I haven't spent any time in Galveston (apart from driving through to take the Bolivar ferry) since I was a teenager. Weather looks to be pretty meh, so basically going to spend most of the weekend eating and drinking indoors.

Based on this thread, planning to hit up the happy hour at either Saltwater Grill or BLVD for dinner Friday evening. 

For Crystal Beach nostalgia purposes, at some point I will almost certainly pop into Sharky's for a drink and some pizza. 

Need some breakfast and lunch recs. Assuming Saturday morning we'll want to do legit brunch/cocktails and probably Sunday morning will just want a good coffee and something quick on way out.

Edited by Storm the Field

@Storm the Field just an fyi. Service at most restaurants has been terrible these last three weeks. They were short staffed due to covid and lack of business then BOOM.  A massive rush hit. The restaurants are trying to hire, but can find anyone.  Plus they arent getting their normal allotment of j1 student visas (ahem eastern euro slave labor) due to travel restrictions. 
 

At first the restaurants were seating everyone even with the lack of servers, but that causing an hour waits for before the servers would even take the orders.  Most have sense learned their lesson and now are just refusing  to sit tables, even with half empty restaurants. 
 

For nicer dinner establishments I recommend making a reservation asap. I would also keep it to restaurants that have loyal staffs (vargs cut and catch, rudy and pacos, and maybe gaidos.).
 

Bruch/ Lunch might be okay due to the weather.  I recommend maceos or Gypsy joint. Both have counter service, so you wont need to deal with  lack wait staff. Plus the best coffee in town is a block away - Red Light District Coffee. 

  • 2 months later...
On 7/14/2020 at 9:14 PM, GRHorn said:

Was just there last weekend. Definitely more people at the pool and beach. I’d say Saturday there were probably 30-40 people in and around the pool area in the afternoon. 
 

Ate Sunday on way out of town at Blvd Seafood at 29th and Seawall. Was surprisingly good. Had a good looking brunch going although we were just keeping it simple. Had plastic screens up between tables for distancing. Will go back there again next time. 

update- went back to blvd seafood for nice dinner. was excellent. is located next to public park so the atmosphere in and around the parking lot is "festive". seems there's a lot of pent up energy that needs to get out in galveston. it's a shame my kids didn't come. they could've seen people twerking in person for the first time. 

  • 6 months later...

fyi. Galveston historical foundation just released the tickets for the Tall Ship Elissa day sails in april.    i did this before covid and it was one of the coolest things i have ever done.   if you have interest, i highly recommend you buy asap. they sell out fast. 

 

pictures from my sail. 

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I should do that. My dad used to help do some restoration on it and I’d go with him a few times when I was kid. Been a long time

1 hour ago, Updawg said:

I should do that. My dad used to help do some restoration on it and I’d go with him a few times when I was kid. Been a long time

that’s awesome y’all have a history with the ship. if you go make sure you tell the crew.  i bet they will love it. 

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Went to the black pearl and found a pearl in one my oysters 60b34d282541120e8981499416a32f15.jpgda308c9d67802d4b1ca3dba4f9d46223.jpg

  • 2 months later...

I have two 15 year-olds I want to get rid of for a few hours tomorrow and it’s my first time in galveston. where’s a good place to dump them where they can stay busy?

14 hours ago, futureman said:

I have two 15 year-olds I want to get rid of for a few hours tomorrow and it’s my first time in galveston. where’s a good place to dump them where they can stay busy?

schlitterbahn

6 hours ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Pleasure pier

is this a gentleman’s club?

  • 2 weeks later...

About time for our annual trip. Any rec’s? Already have moody, schlitterbahn, and sea wolf on the docket for the kids. Always looking for a spot to head with the wife while grandma is on duty. 

  • 9 months later...

Anyone here for tall ships festival?  Bunch of ships from the age of sail.

Awesome first night.  Cajun band and all you can drink after party  

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Edited by FORTY NINE TO ZERO

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