Day Five of Vacation

So, the plan was for all of us to sleep in late and not have a schedule today.

Okay…Dirk and I got up at 7:45 and the girls got up at 8:30. Yes, this was sleeping late for Dirk and I. However, we were surprised that the girls got out of bed so early. Morgan had already asked if they could sleep until noon. Apparently, they couldn’t sleep any longer either.

We ate an early lunch and decided that we would go down to the Strand. This is a historical district in the heart of Galveston where there’s lots of old buildings and lots of restaurants and kitchey places to shop. The weather was perfect (not too hot) and it was a lot of fun just walking and shopping for a few hours. There was an old ice cream parlour and candy shop where they still serve ice cream in a tall glass. I forget the name of it though. In any case, we plan on taking the girls back to it for a special treat on our last day here. Okay, I must admit something here. I normally do not like spending money on over-priced ice cream places. In fact, I usually don’t. Morgan is at an age where she earns her own money and is allowed to spend it on over-priced ice cream and Starbucks coffee if she wants. For some reason, every time I take her to a place like this, I can’t get the thought out of my mind that I can buy a whole thing of Blue Bell (1/2 gallon) for the price she’s paying for a couple of scoops. I know that most of you are probably thinking that the over-priced ice cream is better than Blue Bell. Not to worry, Morgan has already made this very clear to me, but I can’t change my way of thinking in this area. Soooooooo, treating them to this ice cream parlour on our last day here will be a stretch for me. I am already trying to prepare myself for it, though. Don’t worry…I’ll make sure to post how it went.

So, after our visit from the Strand, we went to eat at this seafood place called Gaido’s. This restaurant has been in Galveston for 94 years! Many of you know that I don’t like seafood at all, but I wanted Dirk and the girls to have the experience of dining at Gaido’s. Since this place is very popular and seems to always be crowded when we’ve passed by, we made a point of arriving there early to beat the crowd. It was a treat! It was a very nice environment. Our waiter was an excellent server, which is always a plus for me!

And guess what??!?!?!?!? Instead of ordering a chicken pasta entrée …I ordered a seafood platter. Can you believe it? Okay…I must also admit that it wasn’t the typical seafood platter that Dirk orders. It was just a catfish platter. This place is really pricy, but you definitely get your dollar’s worth. With each platter that we ordered, we got; a salad, choice of soup, lots of buttered bread, an entrée and DESSERT! It was great! I actually ate so much that I felt a little sick as we were leaving. I know…I should feel ashamed. Dirk and Morgan were really thrilled that I ordered a seafood platter and actually liked it. I think that they think that we may get to try Red Lobster more often than once a year now. Hmmm…we’ll see!