WHAT IT'S LIKE VISITING GALVESTON IN FEBRUARY
For mine and Andrew’s 2 year anniversary we decided to stay closer to home and celebrate with a trip to Galveston! It’s only about a 45 minute drive from our apartment with minimal traffic. We wanted a relaxing trip that wasn’t super planned and just to spend time together. It ended up being perfect. We watched the sunrises on the balcony over the ocean, took walks on the beach, ate amazing food, learned about pirates and Galveston’s history, and more. I’m sharing our entire experience below and at the very bottom I’ve included a travel diary video so you can tag along on our adventure in Galveston.
Visiting Galveston in February
Galveston Beach Front Condo on Airbnb
A Stay Above The Rest were AMAZING hosts!! They seriously go above and beyond when it comes to decor and having everything you could possibly need when it comes to kitchen appliances and bathroom essentials. I mean look at that KitchenAid mixer!! Okay.. that may have been what drew me to the place.. I’m shameless okay?! haha!
The balcony was definitely our favorite place to chill. We got up early to watch the sunrise over the ocean and when we were back at the condo hanging out for a bit we always had the door open to feel the breeze!
This two piece set from Shein was one of my favorite outfits to wear during our vacay because it’s super flowy and comfortable! I’m wearing a size small and it was a little snug in the skirt. Be sure to use my code: 4TANNA15 to save 15% off anything on Shein’s site!
THINGS TO DO
The Beach
The beach across from our condo off 61st was nice. We spent time a decent amount of time over there just chilling. The water was freezing because hello February weather! Even thought the water was ice cold, it was nice to just sit on the sand and listen to the ocean waves roll in. There’s something about the sound of the ocean that will never get old. It just makes me so freaking happy and content. I’ve gotta live on a beach someday, y’all!
Pleasure Pier
Pleasure Pier is a staple in Galveston! If you’re not familiar it’s an awesome and historic theme park right on the pier. Learn all about the history of the pier here. It has a pretty cool history I didn’t even know about, but Pleasure Pier isn’t just a history lesson.. it’s WAY more! Ever imagine riding a roller coaster over the ocean?? Well, you can and MORE at Pleasure Pier. See the full list of rides here. There’s definitely something for everyone. Andrew and I even enjoyed our time sitting at the end of the pier on these beautiful rocking chairs that overlooked the ocean AND of course hit up the concession stand to grab ourselves some good ole fair food. Andrew had the churro bites with swirl ice cream and I had fried Oreos, my favorite!
We ended up staying for a while and had the opportunity to watch the gorgeous sunset over the ocean. It’s unquestionably the best place to watch the sun set. See the view in my video below!
The Strand
La King’s Confectionery
This place is a MUST! The King family opened the shop on The Strand in 1976 and recreated an old-fashioned confectionery, but the family has been making candy since the 1920’s. How cool is that?! La King’s Confectionery has every candy you could dream of, coffee, shakes, ice cream, malts, and more. Andrew and I ordered two chocolate malts and they gave us the giant silver cups they make them in and the old timey glasses to pour it into. Tip: get one malt and split it! We ended up with WAY too much! They make old school taffy in front of you and if you’re lucky they’ll throw ya some! Some of the machines they use to make it are over 100 years old, which is pretty freaking awesome if you think about it. Be sure to keep on scrolling for some footage of them making the taffy and throwing us some!
Ghost Tour
Andrew and I love to go on ghost tours and we had actually looked up the ones in Galveston one night while we were in Houston. We had decided we really wanted to go on one when we visit Galveston next, so that’s exactly what we did. Dash Beardsley, the founder of the Ghost Tours of Galveston is pretty epic! Andrew and I were dying looking at his website getting super excited to go on the tour but we didn’t know which one to choose. They have three different ones, one on the Strand, one in a cemetery, and one that’s the sequel to the original Strand tour. So…. we decided to give them a call and freaking Dash Beardsley answered the phone!! Andrew and I were definitely fan-girling a little bit. Unfortunately he broke his leg and wasn’t going to be giving the tour, but we decided to go on it anyway. The tour was about 2.5 hours long and full of history! Unfortunately, the tour guide who was replacing Dash was average. We stood for 45 minutes in the original meet up area just talking about the history of Galveston when typically you’re moving around a bit in the beginning of ghost tours. It didn’t help that it was super cold and windy, but overall, I give the experience a solid B. When Dash heals up, we’ll def be back to go on the tour with him though and I’ll update this post!
Haunted House
We were not planning on doing a haunted house while in Galveston but figured why not because the tickets ended up being cheaper to do it and the pirate adventure. I’m going to be honest, I was pretty nervous at first, then got over that pretty quickly. You start out watching a film that explains the history of Galveston and why the place you’re standing in is supposedly haunted. Once the films are completed you’re guided into a room where the haunted adventure starts. The individual performing is very theatric like the old style haunted houses and did a great job! The haunted house is short, like most haunted houses, but really fun!! Overall we had a wonderful time going through it. Don’t expect it to be some amazing haunted house because it ultimately isn’t but it’s definitely a good thrill and fun. The ticket for just the haunted house is $10 per person.
Pirates! Legends of the Gulf Coast
I’m going to be completely honest, Andrew and I thought this was going to be super cheesy and ridiculous but it was actually very informative. We learned A LOT about Jean Lafitte, the famous pirate who was known to spend time in Galveston and New Orleans. It was basically an entire museum on pirates. While you’re walking through the museum you’re given a sound wand that allows you to type in the numbers you find around the museum and listen and learn more about what’s in front of you and if you really pay attention you’ll find hidden letters that will help you spell out a saying! If you tell the pirates at the end what you spelled out, you’ll get some secret treasure! Tickets for this are $10 per person OR if you do the haunted house too the tickets for both are $13 per person. We were so happy we did these two experiences and are still talking about how much we loved it!
PLACES TO EAT
While we were visiting, Galveston was doing this thing called Restaurant Week. A couple of restaurants have special dishes for lunch or dinner for great prices, so that's what we ended up getting at almost all the restaurants we visited.
Fish Tales
We went to Fish Tales for lunch on a Friday and were seated immediately. The service was good, but not great. A little slow for it being a not so busy time with tons of empty tables. The location is prime as it's right across from Pleasure Pier. FYI you do park in the same lot for Pleasure Pier but Fish Tales validates tickets at the hostess stand. For restaurant week, Fish Tales had a three course meal! The first course was a fresh garden salad that was really good, especially with the special vinaigrette dressing. The second course was flounder roulades with beer battered shrimp served with rice pilaf and veggies. It was delicious but A LOT of food for lunch. Finally we finished with the bread pudding a la mode. Honestly it was meh. It definitely tasted like it had been sitting out on a counter for a while. Overall, I would say that our experience there was pretty average for that day.
The Spot
We ended up at The Spot on Thursday night for a burger and man was it good, but let’s talk about the really cool part about this place. It’s actually 5 different places all rolled up in one. There is a restaurant, an ice cream shop, and 3 different bars: Squeeze Ritas & Tequilas, RumShack and SideYard. The entire place looks like a cool tiki bar too, which really got us into the island mood right away. We ate our burgers then headed upstairs to the RumShack for piña coladas. I had the strawberry one that basically tasted like a Miami vice, which was delicious and Andrew had the original piña colada. Be warned, they are HELLA sweet and next time I go I will definitely be getting something else haha. The Spot is a wonderful place for a get together with friends or family to sit and stay a while.
Rudy & Paco’s
Andrew and I wanted to celebrate at a nice restaurant and a friend recommended Rudy & Paco’s and y’all… it didn’t disappoint. It was SO good. The menu was huge so decided what to order was a task but we ended up with the Pollo Carmelo, grilled chicken breast in a white wine lemon butter with capers and basil, topped with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, and the Bone-In Ribeye. Both dishes were served with scalloped potatoes and brussel sprouts. We ended the evening with a slice of key lime pie and coffee. Overall our experience was FABULOUS. We made reservations and I’m glad we did! The place is very small and was packed. We even had to wait a bit for our table. I believe a couple of people behind us were able to get tables eventually without reservations but honestly, I wouldn’t risk it. It’s so easy to make reservations these days, like why not?! While we were waiting we were looking at all the photos on the walls by the host stand and of Paco and celebrities when all of a sudden Paco is telling us to follow him to our table! He sat us and was extremely sweet. I thought it was so cool we were able to see THE Paco!
The BLVD
Brunch is basically my middle name so we checked out the different places around the island that had great reviews online for brunch and ended up at The BLVD because of it’s insane amount of great reviews. The aesthetic was on point. It was like a chic diner feel right when we walked in. Andrew and I started with mimosas and the strawberry, feta & spiced pecan salad with fig sugarcane vinaigrette and a cup of the shrimp, crab & andouille sausage gumbo. This salad was basically the salad of my dreams and I was all but licking the plate clean when it was gone. Andrew had the gumbo and just said “it was good.” haha! For our main course, I had the Caribbean tacos which included: jerk shrimp, Caribbean salsa, red bell pepper sauce, and greens and Andrew had the peanut butter jalapeño sliders, which included: 100% angus beef, Monterrey jack cheese + applewood smoke bacon + jalapeños + peanut butter… Yes. I said peanut butter. Before you make the ick face… it was actually DELICIOUS. Overall the food was great and the service was amazing!
Mario’s Pizza
For our last dinner in Galveston, we decided to have a picnic on the beach with some pizza. We weren’t sure where to go but as we were driving around the island looking at houses, we drove by a places called Mario’s Pizza. Their slogan had as dying laughing, “We speak very little English, but… we make the best pizza!”I immediately looked up the history of the restaurant, which you can read here, and fell in love with the place. We placed an order online and headed to the beach to wait for our pizza to be made. It was SO windy while we were walking along the beach that no way in hell we would be able to enjoy our pizza on the beach so we decided to eat our pizza on the couch of our cute Airbnb and watch Netflix! Andrew’s half of the pizza was pepperoni and Jalapeño and my half was the Bella Franca which is Aritchoke Hearts, Bell Pepper, Black Olives, Garlic, Mozzarella Cheese, Mushrooms, Olive Oil and Onions. The pizza was freaking delicious!! I highly recommend Mario’s!
Hearsay on the Strand
Hearsay is a very cute little spot for brunch right on The Strand. Andrew and I read about them online and knew we wanted to go there for Sunday brunch and mimosas, of course! They were having the special Galveston Restaurant week dishes as well and they did not disappoint. We started with the sweet and spicy candied bacon served with blue cheese and a maple bourbon dipping sauce and the deviled eggs with chives and bacon. For our main dish we had the bananas foster waffle and the quiche lorraine. I’m already a huge fan of quiche and this one was delightful. It was filled with Prosciutto, Gruyère, spinach, and shallots and seriously has me drooling just thinking about it again. The was basically a freaking dessert. It was a candied pecan waffle, with caramelized bananas, & a bourbon syrup. I can’t wait to go back for brunch when we visit next.
We wanted to eat at a couple other places we read reviews on so we’ll have to hit them up when we visit next.
We’ll definitely be back!
Overall, we had a wonderful time in Galveston celebrating our 2 year anniversary! I highly recommend going during the off season when it’s not extremely hot and crowded. We didn’t have to wait at any of the restaurants we tried nor did the beaches or strand feel overly crowded with people. Have you been to Galveston before?? Where are some of your favorite places there? I’d love to know!
Love always,
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