When you think of going on a beach vacation, Galveston may not be the first on your list, especially if you’re not from Texas. Our family had been making our way up the Eastern coast, then across the Gulf Coast, choosing a different beach town each year, in a different state: Seaside, FL, Orange Beach, AL, Gulfport, MS, New Orleans, LA. And this year we chose Galveston!

Everyone tried to tell us it was a different kind of beach, and it is. The water may not be emerald green like the Florida coast, and it’s not – it’s a bluish-brown depending on where you are. And you don’t see condos and homes all along the highway – you see a McDonalds, a Walgreens, dentist office, Kroger, and Academy Sports. And you don’t park and then walk across the highway, you can actually park right on the road, or in some cases further down the highway, you can pull right onto the beach.

What I want to share here, are things to do in and around Galveston that are sure to delight families who love good food, and time spent on beautiful beaches. What I will not be sharing are the popular tourist destinations like the Pleasure Pier, Moody pyramids, and Schlitterbahn waterpack (was closed while we were there due to off season). Our family is less interested in being tourists when we travel and tend to prefer traveling – immersing ourselves in the town and what it would be like to live there for a week.

We chose an Airbnb that was within five minutes of the Target, Mod Coffee Shop (the best coffee shop on the island in my opinion,) and a 5-10 minute drive from the beach. I woke up each morning and chose a different beach each day to see the sunrise. From there we would venture out and explore what Galveston and the surrounding areas had to offer.

On our first day we procured lunch and food since we had a fully stocked kitchen in our vacation home. For lunch we grabbed brisket sandwiches at Bucee’s in Texas City, just 15-20 minutes away from our house. The girls had asked to go to a Bucee’s while we were in Texas and this was the closest one to us. It was fun seeing the reaction of my husband and younger daughter who had never been to a Bucee’s before.

For groceries, there is a Walmart right along the Seawall and it was huge, much nicer, and a better selection than our Walmart back home. We also ventured to Katie’s Seafood Market, for what we had found in our research and experience, to be the best and freshest seafood on the island. We bought shrimp and flounder that were so good!

Then we made our way to the beach. We started with a beach close to our house, called East Beach. There are more centrally located beaches closer to town, like Stewart Beach, but we found it to be crowded and not as clean. I always recommend looking for where the crowd is NOT, and for us, that was East Beach. This surprisingly ended up being our best and warmest beach day. The water was clear, calm, and warm enough to swim in.

Our second day the girls asked to go to Target. They are always curious about how Targets vary when we travel and this one was surprising due to its HUGE toy department. It was at least twice as big as our toy section of our Target back home. You felt at times you were in a toy store due to the massive selection. It made me nostalgic for bricks and mortar toy stores like Toys R Us. Madeline got an epic slime set that helped entertain her the rest of the trip.

After leaving Target, we went to The Black Pearl, known for having the best fresh oysters. Pro tip, we didn’t realize it until it was explained to us, but oyster season actually starts in November on the Gulf coast. We visited in October, so oysters were harder to come by and priced higher. They were good oysters, but a little pricier than we had hoped. I love that the teenager will eat them with us. We promised Madeline she could have McDonalds for being a good sport and sitting through this – and it was a McDonalds right on the beach. But before heading to the “Golden Arches” we spotted the cutest bookstore next door so we had to go in.

Once everyone was fed, we were ready to enjoy some beach time. I talked the group into checking out Jamaica Beach. It is a much less crowded area. We were the only ones there with the exception of a few fisherman. It was also a drive-on beach. It feels so foreign to drive and park your car on the sand, just feet away from the crashing waves. Speaking of crashing waves, there was a front coming in with rain in the forecast the next day, so no one wanted to get in and swim here. The current was way too rough. I would recommend this beach to others because it isn’t crowded, and I was able to find quite a few pretty shells. The girls enjoyed running along the beach and writing their names in the sand. The sand is pretty packed due to it being driving on.

After leaving the beach, we headed to Kroger which is on the Seawall. It is a huge Kroger and very nice! We made the mistake of going after school was out and people had gotten off from work so it was pretty crowded. We recommend going earlier in the day. We did find a GREAT deal on crab legs. I had a coupon which got us even more off an already great deal. This ended up being one of our best meals we had there and allowed us to use the corn on the cob we had gotten the day before.

On our third day, it was a rainy day, so we drove into Houston. We started off exploring the downtown area a bit. I had pinned some murals, statues and other sites, which we checked out, but the traffic and confusing one-way traffic directions had me wanting out of that downtown area. So we made our way to In-N-Out Burger, of course! This was one of our non-negotiable stops – we were determined to have In-N-Out on this trip since we don’t have one back home. The one in Houston was closest to us, however we saw one being built close to Galveston but it was not open yet. In-N-Out did not disappoint. My husband and I were regulars back when we lived in San Francisco and miss having it as a nearby option. We so took for granted being so close to one.

After lunch, we headed to the HEB to find something for dinner that night – I told you we are all about food on vacation. HEB the local grocery store chain and is huge (everything is bigger in Texas). The best part about HEB is the low prices, especially on sea food! We found great prices on lobster tails! After leaving HEB I put in the GPS to go to the giant Barnes and Noble bookstore, but we stumbled on the most adorable Trader Joes that was formerly a movie theater! We of course went in and grabbed up some of our favorites, then killed an hour or more at the bookstore.

When we got home, Anna Claire asked to watch a scary movie, so we watched The Shining. Then we had our delicious lobster dinner! My tail was so big I couldn’t eat it all. We saved it, don’t worry.

On our fourth day, Anna Claire wanted to see the sunrise with me, but sadly when we go there, it was still so cloudy that there was not much to behold. She had wanted to get some Uggs at the outlet mall in Texas City, so we revisited Bucee’s for gas and snacks and then let her shop. She was able to find her shoes and we explored the Halloween store for a bit. It got the girls thinking about what they wanted to do for Halloween.

When we got back to our house, we finally were given the all clear to use our adorable garage space that they had fixed up for kids and teens. We weren’t able to use it before due to an issue with bees. Anna Claire and I played ping pong for quite a while! We realized we aren’t very good but got better as the day went on. Might be fun to get a ping pong table. Larry made us the most DELICIOUS lobster dip with my leftover lobster! It had corn and some of the gouda that AC had picked out at Kroger. I argue it was the best bite I had on the trip.

After lunch, we stopped at La Kings Confectionary. Please stop here if you visit Galveston! It is a legitimate candy shop! So charming. It is also a soda and ice cream shop. I got Madeline ice cream which I had promised her on the trip. Her cookie dough and mint chip ice cream were so good and enough for the family to share.

Next up was East Beach again. Larry and the girls love to get all in at the beach. They are getting in the ocean! This was their favorite beach so no surprise they wanted to go back there. I was able to find some shells and got in the water a little myself.

Our last day we made the ferry trip over to Crystal Beach. If you visit Galveston, you must do this! All four of us agree it was our favorite day of the whole trip. We were able to see so many dolphins on the ferry ride. Don’t stay in your car! Get out and stand on the observation deck. I personally saw twenty or more but there must have been hundreds. You don’t have to try to see them – they are everywhere. You will see one!

After arriving to Bolivar penisula, which is where Crystal Beach is located, we checked out the beach itself and liked the vibe! It is a drive-on beach as well and there were so many shells! The family didn’t get in the water as much due to lots of shell and particulate matter that was scratchy to your feel and legs. We still enjoyed our vitamin sea.

The highlight of our visit to Bolivar was Stingaree. It had the best food and was the best sit-down restaurant meal that any of us have had in recent memory. We had Boudain balls, crawfish tails. fried mushrooms, crab stuffed jalapenos and more. It is by the water and we enjoyed having such amazing food with beautiful surroundings. A local gem for the area for sure. Finally, I should mention The Big Store. It was a lifesaver for providing us with everything we needed to make dinner and a bathroom.

We loved Galveston, and like every beach vacation we’ve ever had, we would be happy to come back. Memories made!