I could tell my father was going nuts with boredom, so I suggested we take a little road trip to Galveston, to the beach. We three headed off in the truck for the hour long trip down. About halfway there my Dad began to complain in an adult version of "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
As we headed further southeast to the coast, you could see more and more hurricane damage from Ike, like blown out store signs and the like. When we actually got to Galveston, there was still damage from the hurricane evident by closed stores and rubble piles along the thoroughfares we were on - 61st Street and then Sea Wall Blvd. But for the most part it looked like the recovery is coming along more and more. This was the first time I have been to Galveston since the storm.
We were driving along Sea Wall Blvd with the beach to our right, and there were (pasty white!) people out on the beach, more than I had expected, which made me happy for Galveston. I asked my folks if they wanted to get out and go for a walk along the beach or sea wall, and nobody wanted to get out of the car! I drove an hour for this?
We drove down to the point where Sea Wall Blvd hits another big street (I forget the name) and turned around. I asked if anybody wanted to try to get some seafood. This at least elicited a positive response. We stopped at Fish Tales. The meal was disappointing and the table sticky. It was 3 PM and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. When they brought my mother her lobster tails she threw a fit because they had put some cayenne pepper or paprika on them. She finally settled down and just ate the baked potato. I ate some of her lobster tails, which were tough. Overall a disappointing meal and a waste of money. Oh well.
The drive back was peaceful and uneventful except for the rush hour traffic around 610 and downtown. We got home and I collapsed for a much needed mental and physical rest.
