SPRING BREAK 2010 - GALVESTON ISLAND

     Tamie, Avery and I are sitting in a very nice beach house on the south end of Galveston Island.  We are maybe five miles from San Luis Pass.  It is 59F and drizzly this morning with a bit of a breeze, too.  I would be sitting here watching the waves and drinking my second cup of coffee.  (Starbucks House Blend)  BUT Alyssa is at work and not very happy.  Because she is at work and we are at the beach.  Having a real job can be such a pain sometimes!!
     We were supposed to leave Bryan around 4 pm.  Avery forgot a book and had to double back to Baylor, so she was running late.  I had a couple that needed to get wills signed before their trip next week and since I was going to be gone this week......ended up with a 3:30 pm appt. on Friday.  We did finally get out of town about 7 pm.  Missed the last turn to find the house on the first try, but blame that on the dark.  Got unloaded and that was the end of Friday.
     Saturday started off sunny and breezy, think it got up to 62F by lunch.  Which is the first part of the day that Avery actually saw.  I, of course, saw the beautiful sunrise at 6:15.  Once we were all up and moving, we decided to go into town.  Had to, actually.  Someone forgot to pack ANY underwear.  Won't name names, but it wasn't me and it wasn't Avery.  Combined that trip with lunch and grocery shopping.
     By the time we got out of Target (pronounced tar-zhay) we had three DVDs, new unmentionables for "she who must not be named" and Avery had a new dress!  Not bad for a "this will just take a second" dash into the store.
     By now it's 2 pm and we are more than ready for lunch.  I had checked out options and picked out The Mosquito Cafe on 14th St.  We ordered a pulled pork loin sandwich, a grilled shrimp sandwich and the turkey chili.  All were good, but the chili was not very hot.  (spicy or temp.)  We did the usual Erratt pass the plates every 2 minutes so we all got a taste of every dish.  We definitely advise you to check this place out if you ever get to Galveston.  Nice wine selection, but no dark beer.  Threw the lady when I asked about dark beers, found out Shiner Bock was it, and then ordered a diet Coke.  One must have standards.
    So, after getting lunch just in the nick of time to keep us from starvation, we headed to the grocery store.  Stocked up on a few things and headed back to the beach.  On the way we stopped at Alex's Seafood Shop in Jamaica Beach and picked up scallops, shrimp, clams and grouper for dinner.  The rest of the day was spent napping and reading, which my two vacation partners do a lot!!
     At Tamie's request, I made a white wine sauce and served it with the seafood.  We had rolls to soak up the juice and it was HEAVENLY!!  Outdid myself, I must admit.  The grouper turned out to work very well.  Saved a piece  to cook later.  Grill?  Foil boat?  Hhhhhmmmmm.  The movie for the evening was 2012.  And how stupid is it that the engines can't be started if one door isn't closed???  PLEASE!!!
     Sunday morning started out just like Saturday.  The weather was cool and breezy and Avery slept until lunch.  Lunch being my specially doctored clam chowder.  Saute a little onion in some real butter until tender.   Add store bought clam chowder, then add a can/pkg of additional clams.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Woohoo!  Way better than the original.  Trust me.  Have a little left over for lunch today, thinking about adding some white wine to the mix. 
     Before Avery awoke, Tamie and I took a tour down the coast.  Crossed the San Luis Pass bridge.  (Which has a $2.00 toll both ways.)  Went down on the beach and drove for quite a ways.  Found one nice medium sized whelk shell.  No hermit crab.  Added it to the collection.  Also found an intact pen shell which should be pretty when cleaned up.  Took pics of all the shorebirds we saw for identification  back home.
   Late that afternoon, we loaded up again.  This time we took the metal detector and went to find treasure on the tip of the Island, just north of San Luis Pass.  Found a bottle cap and a washer near the water.  Shifted to just seaward of the dunes and found a number of nails and wire.  Also found what appeared to be a belt buckle.  After cleaning, the buckle turned out to be the flat plate from a door lock.   Anyone know what that piece is called?  It's the part that goes on the door frame that the lock from the door goes into.  FREE SEAFOOD DINNER FOR THE FIRST CORRECT ANSWER!
     Got home about dark and tackled dinner.  Grilled ribeye steaks.  Seasoned with salt and pepper and then rubbed with Brownwood's cherry honey mustard.  Once again, I amaze myself with my culinary skills!!  The movie of the evening was The Italian Job, which I had never seen in its entirety.  Great movie, especially when enjoyed with Avery's fresh out of the oven brownies.
     So now it is 10 am on Monday morning.  I am blogging, Tamie is on her laptop and Avery is snoring.  Well asleep, anyhow.  Can't actually hear any snoring because of the wind and rain.  Expect today will consist mostly of napping and reading.  Good thing we all brought 18 books each.  (And if you don't know us, you probably think I'm exaggerating.  NOT.)
     Have to add pics later.  It is taking way too long to download from camera to laptop.  8 pics of 350 during the time I worked on blog.  Not good.