G-Town Pics & Recap.

Okay, no one calls it G-Town. Well, one guy does. He called into a radio show a couple months back and was trying to convince the host that peeps call it G-Town. Can't say I've EVER heard anyone call it that...but I digress.

We got onto the island at about 8pm. At first glance, there wasn't really very much damage from Ike like I had expected. But as we went further down Broadway, it became apparent that there had been some pretty extreme devastation there. The McDonalds was demolished and what remained was a pile of rubble and a broken Micky Ds sign. Lots of businesses had either OPEN!!!! or Closed :( banners on their storefronts. I wasn't able to get any good pictures of the damage that we did see.

We made our way down the Seawall and found the hotel. We stayed at the Commodore on the Beach (Seawall & 37th). It was obvious it was an older (read: less fancy-pants) hotel. This was pretty apparent when I booked it because of the price. But we weren't looking for a honeymoon suite or anything. Just a bed and a shower really. But this particular hotel boasts that every one of its rooms has a beach view, which I was impressed with. View from our balcony:



We checked in and Patricia was very nice and helpful and sent us on our way to our room. The room itself was a typical hotel room, only it contained the smallest bathtub I've EVER seen! It was amusing, and I had to snap a pic.



I changed from my sun dress into some shorts and a tee (it was SOOO windy!) and we headed down to the beach for a little walk. I tried to get some pictures that depicted the eerie feeling I got standing out on a jetty as the waves crashed into the rocks, but my camera pretty much sucks so this is what you get. This picture was taken in night mode, and it was way darker outside than it shows.



We walked on the beach for a while (Google maps says it was .6 mi) and then went up the steps back up the Seawall and walked back to the hotel (another .6 mi). We decided that maybe we should go to a bar or something, but the closest one was Joe's Crab Shack. Not exactly a cool local bar, but it was in the parking lot of the hotel so we figured we'd at least give it a shot. When we got there, we wanted to sit on the patio, but the hostess lied to use and said it was closed. We found out from the bartender that it was indeed open. But we stayed at the bar anyways. I ordered a Category 5 Hurricane which tasted like fruit punch with 0 alcohol, even though the menu touted that it contained two kinds of rum. But I did get a little buzz off of it so I guess they put some in there. The hubs drank a few screwdrivers and we split a key lime pie. By split, I mean he had 1 bite and I ate about half of the giant piece. We were about to leave because it was lame and they had never even heard of Woodchuck. The husband decided to order us some Irish Car Bombs and the people at the bar acted like it was this momentous occasion. The bartender was even bragging that he "drinks 1 every week!". ONE. Ha. Amateur. We each had one and I swear people gathered around us to watch us drink them. I felt like I was in la-la land or something. Do people in Galveston not get out much?

We called it a night and went to bed. I fell asleep watching the waves out the balcony window. Woke up before 6 AM and went for a run! That's right ladies and gentlemen. I ran on vacation. I don't really even run on a normal day. I was pretty impressed with myself. I wanted to run on the beach, but it wasn't low tide and I would have been running in seaweed (there was TONS of it on the beach).



So I ran along the Seawall. I didn't run the whole time, but I went about a mile and a half (total - there and back). After the run we had breakfast at the Dutch Kettle. This is a "greasy spoon" kind of diner. And so delicious.

We walked around the beach + Seawall again for a little while to kill time until the shops on the Strand opened. I was a little sad that so many shops were still so damaged. This is a pic of the Ike Water Line that someone taped up on the wall of this building.



And for a little perspective...my husband is 6'4", and the sidewalk is about a foot above street level.



Most of the shops had fliers in the windows that said that Galveston's Re-Birth-Day would be May 30, 2009. I was disappointed to see that La King's Confectionery was still closed and pretty much gutted out, but I was reassured by the workers inside and a note from the owners in the window saying that they would be back.



We were looking for a seafood place but we didn't want Willie G's and most of the other places were closed. Fisherman's Wharf was open, but that place is pretty pricey, so we decided to pass on that. We ended up at Yaga's Cafe. This is a pretty fun little place and it's very inexpensive.



I had fish tacos (very yummy & yes, I'm aware that fish is not vegetarian...stop judging me!). They were only $5.95!



After lunch we went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and indulged in a few things: Peanut Butter Bucket (HUGE PB cup), Oreo bark (eh, tasted just like the Hershey Cookies n Cream bar but way more expensive), and a Rocky Road Cluster (best of them all, IMO). Then we set off for home.

It was a really nice trip. I'm glad we went, even though the water was a little too cold to get in (which is why we left kinda early). I can't wait to go back again when good ole G-Town (LOL) is back in tip-top shape!

More pics: