Saturday, November 17th, 2012:  Slept in this morning - missed the waffle breakfast fixed by the owner (for $3.00) and of course the networking with other residents.  Oh well, I did mean to spend today driving around in the rental car, anyway - trying to just get a feel for the big picture, so I know where I can drive with my RV, where I can park, what I want to explore further, etc. The main drag seems to be Seawall Blvd., so named because it runs parallel to the 10 mile concrete seawall built to break the surge of hurricanes like Ike, which caused so much damage in 2008.   There's a parking lane on each side of this blvd., and I could definitely park my RV there.  At one point, I actually drove onto the beach - really just to prove that I could - wouldn't want to take my RV there - getting stuck in the sand would be humiliating.  I also walked out on the Fisherman's Pier - where, yes, tons of Galvestonians do fish - it was awesome!  I'm still amazed by the pastel colours of the buildings everywhere - really interesting.  I drove out to the northern most tip of the island, and then took a ferry ride across to Port Bolivar and back - it's free.  Saw lots of dolphins swimming around the ferry - nobody else seemed even interested, so I guess this is a common sight - and of course, "seawinds blowin'" and "seabirds flying" (a reference to the Glenn Campbell song, for those of you too young or uneducated to get that one).  Actually, the birds were fascinating - I think I saw sandpipers and maybe even cormorants - take a look at the picture and tell me if you think that's a cormorant!
I drove around aimlessly for awhile, just checking out the town, stopped at Popeye's chicken place for late lunch (yes, their chicken is really, really good - and they served corn on the cob and a homemade biscuit with it, too), and then went to the local movie theatre, put my tired feet up and watched Breaking Dawn Pt. 2  :)
Back home to do laundry and spend some time in the hot tub - my evening ritual here.  Ahhhh!

Proof that I actually did drive on the beach!

Fisherman's Pier - extends out quite a ways.

The seventeen foot high seawall which extends for ten miles.

Fishing off the pier.

Notice all the cars parked on the side of the road.

Again - pastel buildings!

And more pastel . . .  The main drag is four lanes wide - well , six if you count the parking lanes on either side.

From the second level of the ferry, headed towards the mainland across from the northern part of Galveston Island

Headed back to the Galveston side.

Just a random shot from the ferry.

And pulling in to the Galveston port.

Cool bird - looks like a cormorant, doesn't it?

I love ocean spray!