travel

Galveston ’25 – Kids’ summer getaway

| patmcg

With Claire being off at college most of the year and working a summer job at home, plus Molly being busy with cheer stuff, it’s been hard find a time we can all take a trip together. But after scouring the calendar, we finally found a few days that work.

And we make a road trip to good ol’ Galveston, my personal favorite nostalgic childhood beach town, and where we last went two years ago.

We’ve stayed in a few types of places in Galveston over the years:

  1. A historic bungalow in town – good town access, no beach access
  2. A beach house with a lazy river and a giant pool way out on far end of the island – good beach access, no town access
  3. A condo with a giant pool closer in, but separated from the beach by Seawall Boulevard – decent town access and annoying beach access
  4. Plus a variety of day trips from Houston back in the way

With all that experience behind us, I finally decided to get it right this time and get a spacious condo close to town with a giant pool and a lazy river and direct beach access with no Seawall Boulevard in the way. 👌

Did I mention it was for perfect for swimming in the morning and shaded by later afternoon? The nights out there were gorgeous too.

Once we had our perfect castle, it was time to play. The lazy river was amazing. Moly saids she would be out there three hours every morning if she lived there. I actively considered buying our condo. 😆

The beach was soft and sandy, and the water was the perfect temperature. I didn’t get many beach pics because I generally left my phone in the condo. 😊

During the steamy, sunny, tropical afternoons, we retreated inside and played Hey, That’s My Fish!, played guitar, napped, or watched LA Confidential. We also gorged on key lime pie.

And we explored the classic spots in town in the evening. Plus we discovered a new one for is: Maceos’ Import & Spice Co for po boys. (I still need to get these girls a proper muffaletta sandwich.)

We walked from the strand to The Original Mexican Restaurant (circa 1911), which was one of my dad’s favorite restaurants.

The only real problem was we had to get back to normal life and didn’t stay long enough. We still wanted to do mini golf and have pho. At least we have this song to remember you by.

Welcome (again) to New York

| patmcg

Fresh off of Claire’s spring college break to Atlanta (TODO link), I had two days in Austin, and then it was off to NYC with Molly on her high school spring break.

We spent two full days camped in a tiny but pleasant hotel room SoHo, which we kept accidentally calling Austin’s own SoCo. The hotel had a rather large balcony, with a view of the World Trade enter Center, some lawn furniture, and an outdoor shower!

Day 1

On day 1, we walked nine miles of Manhattan. We got the world’s best bagels from Popup Bagels and enjoyed them in a brisk Washington Square Park. We checked out music spots Electric Lady Studios and 23 Cornelia Street, plus the nearby Friends apartment building. We trekked up to Little Island park, explored the High Line, and dining at Chelsea Market. The server was definitely an actor on the side. Also, finding the Apple Store for an  Pencil tip, thank you very much. We headed back towards our “home” in SoHo and skipped over to Chinatown to get a Bahn Mi, which somehow Molly had never had?!? Whose daughter is this? She loved it.

Finally, inspired by the Friends apartment building, we got last-minute tickets to an off-broadway Friends musical parody, Molly confessed that she loved musicals, which I did not know. We had been walking and taking the subway everywhere but settled for an Uber from Hell’s Kitchen back home to SoHo late that night.

Day 2

Day 2 got us another nine miles on foot, the time like Washington’s Army, crossing briefly into Brooklyn! We hit the Museum of Illusions (not the Museum of Allusions, which would have been really boring). Then our favorite sport just about anywhere, Central Park. We came across Strawberry Fields and someone singing Let It Be. Followed by ice cream on the Upper West Side, obviously. We were determined to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and see a Broadway show before we left, so we hurried back to SoHo, refreshed a bit, and headed out to Brooklyn on the subway, which took forever because basically all the trains were express and most distinctly not the other side of Brooklyn Bridge.

Somewhere along the line, I bought tickets to The Book of Mormon for that night.

We hurried back on foot and had a quick pizza at our favorite spot next door to the hotel, LTD Pizza. Exhausted, we changed clothes and headed uptown for our real freakin’ Broadway play, The Book of Mormon. I had bought on my phone somewhere along the line between Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The show was amazing; Molly really wants to see more musicals! The crowds in Times Square insane, so we walked to Hell’s Kitchen for a thinner (but still thick) crowd and an Uber back to SoHo.

We braved the hour-long subway ride to JFK airport the next morning and got home exhausted but happy.

A Sort of ATL Homecoming

| patmcg

“Claire was born in Atlanta, but she’s never been there.” At least that’s what I tell people.

Okay, Claire (and this blog) was born in Atlanta, and she’s hasn’t been back since she’s was two years old. Notice that the Atlanta-tagged post before this was from 2007!

So I decided to take her there for a couple days on her college string break to see her “birth” house and the town that created her.

We had a fun time seeing the old neighborhood, which Claire has no memory of but enjoyed. It wasn’t quite what she expected Atlanta to be like, which is what we thought when we moved there.

We also got to take in some movie sights, most especially the real site of the fiction and creepy AF Hawkins National Laboratory from Stranger Things.

After seeing the sights in Atlanta, I wanted to take her somewhere new for both of us. My dad had always said that Helen, Georgia was one of the prettiest places he had ever seen. So we ventured an hour north of the city and explored the Bavarian-style Disneyland-esque town as a little day trip.

It was a fun couple days with Claire in her lovely home state, although I think she still considers herself a Texan. 😉

Three generations and new friends in DC

| patmcg

With my brother Tim going though some life changes lately – a new house, a new girlfriend, even a new kid and a dog in his life – we’ve aiming for a visit to Washington DC (technically, Northern Virginia) to see his new haunts.

So we finally got it together and actually planned a summer trip with the whole family to check out (or “Czech out”, as Tim would say) Tim’s new situation.

This audacious plan included getting myself and two other generations (Claire and Molly along with my Mom, aged 82) on an airplane to DC, during what turned out to be a worldwide computer outage affecting, largely, airlines. Our flight was delayed by a few hours, but luckily, we got to while that time away peacefully at home. 🙏

The whole gang!

This was primarily a family trip, and we enjoyed exploring Tim’s neighborhood, getting pizza by the Potomac, swimming, playing board games, and getting attacked repeatedly with a rubber snake and a fart gun (thanks, Avett 😜).

Claire and I have also been on a Lincoln kick due to the incredible show Manhunt about the Lincoln assassination and the ensuing hunt for his elusive killer. So we did make a trip into downtown DC to see Ford’s Theater, the infamous site of Lincoln’s murder. Claire and I both got chills as we stood beside the very balcony where the great man was slain. 😢

We also checked out Lincoln’s summer cottage, the pastoral alternative to the White House, where Abe spent much of the Civil War.

Tim heroically drove us all there and avoided crossing some theoretical red dotted lines on a paper map (unmarked in the real world) that would mean his immediate arrest as a the federal offense. Federal law apparently does not take kindly to trespassing on the surrounding US Army retirement home. Good driving, Tim!

I’m so glad we got to visit Tim in his natural surroundings along with Claire 2, Avett the maniac, and Waffle the monster, while it’s still possible, before Claire goes off to college and starts getting busy with her own summers.

Mitski en Miami 🎸🏝️

| patmcg

Claire is a huge fan of Mitski, and so am I. Claire and I had been trying to see Mitski live for a couple of years, but last time she was nearby, in Houston, we noticed too late and the aftermarket tickets were like $700. Ouch; that’s almost Taylor Swift levels.

When Mitski announced a tour for new hew release, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, we wanted to jump on it.

The only problem was that Mitski was not playing in Austin. Or anywhere in Texas. Or within like 1000 miles of us. 🤷🏻‍♂️ We puzzled at how Mitski could miss our whole big state. Does she hate Texas? I mean, she does have a song based in Texas, so what gives?

So I coordinated care with Claire’s mom to get her a Mitski trip for Christmas. The only condition was that Claire could not miss even one day of school.

Some late nights on the problem yielded a good result – we could fly to a Mitski show in Miami, New York, Boston, or LA in January/Febraury, all for less than the $700 (each) that the Houston concert would have cost. Being winter, I chose Miami – duh. 🏝️

I told Claire we had a very early flight out on Saturday morning, but at least it’s direct. Claire asked, “Are we going to have to get up at like 4 am?” And I was like, “Nah, the flight’s at 7:10.” And then I was like, “Oh crap. Yeah, we’re going to have to get up at 4 am.” 🤦🏻‍♂️

The flight back got us home at midnight the following day, Sunday. Then back to school/work. Yeah, this better be a good concert.

The rest of the trip is sort of a blur, but yes, it was a great concert. Mitski had some amazing theatrical music, some surprising country versions of her songs, and some weird but beautiful dancing.

The icing on the cake was walking around Miami Beach in the warm weather, joking around, talking about deep subjects, napping in our “flophouse” of an Airbnb, having ice cream, coffee, and French toast, watching weirdos and families stroll down Collin Avenue, watching people play beach volleyball, visiting the botanical gardens… it was all a great time with Clairey.

It was really cool to be hanging out with what seemed like – and in fact actually is – an adult friend. I hope we have more fun trips in our future even though she’s all grown up now. 🤘

New Orleans ⛪️

| patmcg

I had long promised to take the kids to New Orleans, one of my favorite cities and a place I thought the girls would really like. With Claire almost off to college, this spring break was one of the last chances to take both girls on a trip, at least as “kids”.

Moly has turned into a bit of a Francophile, learning French in school, so New Orleans should be extra fun for her.

So off we went on a five-day road trip to the glorious crescent city.

We decided to stay in Houston for a night on the way since Molly had wanted to see the Galeria shopping center, which was apparently famed at her middle school. Despite many visits to see my parents in House, we had never set aside time to really “do” the Galleria. So we did it right this time – dinner at La Madeline (to match the French trip theme) next to the skating rink and taking our time to gawk at all the fancy stores. We all agreed it was certainly the most celebrated shopping center in Texas, at least. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Once in NOLA, we enjoyed some surprisingly cool weather and settled into our AirBnB on Magazine Street in the lovely Lower Garden District. I told Molly that New Orleans had a New York feel to it, and she was happy surprised to see how diverse and cosmopolitan it was.

We caught the swamp tour south of town. Despite the non-swampy, we saw more than a few big gators, who were friendly enough. The tour guide recruited Molly as a “volunteer” to jump into the swamp and find some small gators for everyone to bring home. He promised we’d come back to get her in an hour. 😆 Molly was a good sport about the whole ordeal and calmly stayed in the boat.

We explored the Lower Garden District and are a lot of delicious food, including Korean BBQ, Vietnamese, old-school and pizza in our neighborhood. Somehow we discussed World War 2 during our entire pizza outing. It started with, “Dad, can you tell us about World War 2?” 😆 And of course we hade the long-promised beignets in the French Quarter. The beignets took about an hour, but it was worth the wait.

As we ate at the chef’s counter at St. John, I was sitting between Claire and Molly. Somehow they invented a game where Claire spoke Spanish and Molly spoke French, and I had to translate between the two. Claire kept getting stumped on the phrase “slow metabolism”. 😆

We also enjoyed a crowded streetcar ride down St. Charles to Canal. Claire was drawn to the paranormal on this trip, first hit a voodoo store, which was more of an Apothecary & Botánica store. I almost bough some Tabasco cologne but didn’t quite feel it. Claire got her tarot professionally read in the French Quarter while Molly and I had a coffee and Italian soda across the street. Claire’s results were apparently helpful but not discussed with us. 😉

We left with plenty more to see in New Orleans, but I am so happy to have brought them to this beautiful and unique city just the next state over. Molly added it to her list of possible places to move because she liked the active, urban vibe. 🙂

Not bad for a quick trip. 👍

A Houston Christmas

| patmcg

We made it to Houston this year to visit my parents at their retirement home. The whole trip was a bit of a scramble to get out the door, get to Houston just in time for a Harry Potter spinoff play, and finish everyone’s presents in the hotel.

But getting everyone together for a couple of great outdoor picnics (due to Covid) made it all worthwhile.

DC Taco Party

| patmcg

My first week of summer vacation with the girls this year was a trip to see Uncle Tim and Aunt Cindy in DC (okay, technically Arlington, Virginia).  The official reason/excuse for the visit was that Tim and Cindy were having a taco party.  So naturally, we were in!

As usual, I’m mostly going to slap some pictures in here as a reminder of the trip.  But let me take quick note of a few funny or noteworthy things from the trip…

The taco party was catered by District Taco 😋

Some other girls around Claire and Molly’s ages showed up too.  The older girl, who was 213 like Claire, was a little snarky and didn’t want to talk to anyone.  When leaving the party, her very polite mom said, “Remember to smile!” and the girl said, “I already did.” 😂

Claire and Molly got a little bored and headed upstairs to play Roblox for much of the party.

We spent most of one day at the National Museum of Natural History.  I kept talking to the kids about how fascinating the stuff about evolution was and the fact that dinosaurs were real.  I hope I didn’t overdo it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

We saw a movie there about evolution.  It started out with a monkey looking through a scrap book of his “relatives” (other mammals) and planning for a “family reunion” with them.  It made evolution look silly!  But the film got better from there.

When Molly talked to her mom on the phone, her summary of the trip was “I spent $6 on candy, and I liked eating it.” 😆

Tim, Claire, Molly, and I made a massive Jenga tower at a food court after dinner.  We just kept saying “this is the last move, you’re out of blocks!” and then someone made it work.  It was crazy.  See pic below.

We took Lyft all around town.

Claire had a running and completely made-up joke that our first Lyft driver was complaining that Molly fell asleep in the back set while he was driving.  “She shouldn’t be doing that.  That’s disrespectful.” Claire claims (falsely) that he said in a flat deadpan voice. 😂

I had a lot of fun conversations with the drivers, including an exceptionally nice and clean cut immigrant form Tajikistan.  I distinctly remember talking with another driver about history and us both noting that history was unfolding right now in DC (the Trump Russia scandal and possible impeachment).

Over and out.

dasd