After the Saga of the Missing Birth Certificate was resolved, it was time to begin our journey to Galveston, TX and ultimately the cruise ship!
Read: Saga of the Missing Birth Certificate
The plan was that Miss G and Little Man would stay with my in-laws. My in-laws are two awesome people who are full of energy, God-fearing, and willing to keep two little people entertained for 10 days. When we asked if they would be willing to keep 2/3 of our children while we went on our anniversary trip, they didn’t hesitate to say yes. That’s something I love about those two. They never hesitate. They are always up for some fun….especially with our kids.
On departure day, after probably an hour of making sure the stove wasn’t on, the microwave wasn’t plugged up, all the doors were locked, the water was shut off to the house, the stove wasn’t on, the kitchen was clean, nothing was left to spoil in the refrigerator, the stove wasn’t on, all the windows were closed, the curtains were pulled shut, the trash was taken out, the stove wasn’t on….we all piled into the truck and headed South to meet up with my in-laws.
We drove for about an hour and a half then we arrived at the planned meeting place where my in-laws were waiting. We visited for a while then handed over Miss G, Little Man, and their clothes. We also reiterated for the tenth time our fears about leaving the kids.
The truth is, we don’t like to leave our kids. Ever. We are one happy family that likes to stick together. We love our kids. We school our kids. We spend all the time we can with our kids. And we are happy with that. We are MORE than happy with that. We are over the moon about that! So, leaving two of them behind for 10 days was a BIG DEAL. That’s just not what we normally do. I’m getting sad and teary eyed just writing about it and it’s already over!
However, this cruise was going to be our 10th anniversary trip and we wanted to spend some quiet time together. We took Tiny with us because she was almost one year old and definitely not old enough to leave behind. Plus, we were going to celebrate her first birthday in Jamaica! But we would still have a quiet trip because Tiny doesn’t talk yet, ask a billion questions, say, “Hey Mama” or “Watch this Mama” every 5 seconds.
After we dropped off the kids, we headed further South to our hotel in Texarkana, TX. From there, we would catch a train to Longview, Texas then finally a bus that would take us the rest of the way to Galveston.
We were pretty tired when we got to our hotel that night. So, we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. We should have learned our lesson years ago when we had a terrible experience at a hotel restaurant but we didn’t. We gave it a try again.
Us and a Bad Hotel
Maybe it’s a bad sign when there are only about 6 people (including the three of us) in the restaurant and the manager’s friends are volunteering to wait tables because they have no staff. We should have walked out then but we didn’t.
Maybe it’s a bad sign when the chicken strips you want come with two sides of vegetables but the only vegetables to choose from are fried onion rings and french fries.
Maybe it’s a bad sign when it takes 20 minutes to place your order even though the place is basically empty.
It was very late and we were too tired to leave. They had a captive audience which, I guess, is the whole point of a hotel restaurant.
The food turned out to be ok and we had a decent time. We paid our bill and headed up to our room to get some sleep. It was around midnight before we finally got settled in and ready for bed. We needed to get to sleep fast because we had to be up by 4:00 a.m. to catch the shuttle and get to the train station.
That’s when the fun started. Tiny has grown accustomed to her own room with her own bed and her own sound machine. She can cry a little before she falls asleep and she bothers no one. However, that all changes when she is sharing a hotel room with us. I know it’s difficult for babies to get used to sleeping in new places so I took that into consideration while we were laying as still as a mummies in the bed and using the rolling office chair as a shield so she couldn’t see us while she was crying herself to sleep.
I thought if I turned out all the lights, made no noise, put her in bed, and acted like everything was normal, I might trick her and she would go to sleep just like she does at home. Nope.
After The Man and I hid in the bed behind the rolling office chair for about ten minutes, I realized she just wasn’t going to go to sleep. She knew we were there. That little Tiny is a smart one.
By that time, it was about 1:00 a.m. and we had to be up in 3 hours. So, I picked her up and patted her to sleep as I walked around the room in the dark. Once I got her to sleep, I knew there was no way I could put her down again or she would wake up. We all really needed some sleep so the only sensible thing to do was prop myself up in bed and try to sleep while holding her. Sounds like a good idea, right? I was going to take one for the team.
It was at that time that I thought this whole trip might have been a really bad idea. Here we were in a hotel room with a baby that hasn’t ever been far from home. We had many more nights ahead of us in hotels and on a cruise ship and there was no turning back. If she decided she just couldn’t sleep away from home, we were in for a really looooong trip.
After I managed to prop myself up in the bed (against a wood headboard) while still holding the baby, I fell asleep too. About an hour later, she started squirming because she was getting uncomfortable and hot. So, I carefully got up and managed to gently slip her into her own bed without even waking her up. I held my breath and quietly snuck back to my bed.
Success.
She didn’t wake up. I had 2 hours to catch some quick sleep before we had to be up and ready to get board the train.
I love a train ride!
The next morning, A couple hours later, we were up, packed and ready to head to the train station.
Riding the train to the port is one of my favorite parts of the trip for several reasons:
1.It’s just fun to ride on a train.
2. It’s surprisingly inexpensive to get to Galveston from Arkansas on the train (about $150 for 2 people ROUND TRIP).
3. It’s just fun to ride on a train.
4. It’s nice to be able to catch a nap if you need to! And we needed to.
After we got on the train, we tried to rest a while. Then, by 7 a.m., we had breakfast in the dining car.
Before we knew it, we were in Galveston, TX! I just love Galveston. I love how it’s not full of high-rise buildings. It’s small, quaint, and lovely. The beach is pretty and the restaurants are tasty.
Where to stay in Galveston, Texas
We stayed at this cute place called the Kwik Kabana. The Man found it on VRBO.com. Jamie (the owner) graciously picked us up from the train station and delivered us to this lovely, 2-room, home away from home. She offered us the use of her beach chairs and boogie boards and pointed us toward the beach. As it turned out, the Kwik Kabana is within walking distance of the beach! It was also right around the corner from Mr. Taco, Nick’s, and lots of other cool places.
I’m going to give the Kwik Kabana a quick plug. Jamie doesn’t even know I’m doing this. I just REALLY think you should check it out if you’re down there.
It’s small and perfect. I expected it to be one room (like a hotel). At some point, The Man told me it wasn’t but I probably wasn’t listening forgot. It had a living room and a bedroom (and a bathroom (obviously) which turned out to be just perfect for traveling with a baby. Tiny could nap in the bedroom and we still had a living room to ourselves. Jamie has a “make yourself at home, please tell me if you need anything, here’s my WiFi password” kind of attitude.
Don’t miss this in Galveston!
We walked to Nick’s for dinner and Mr. Taco for an awesome dessert. We stayed out late enjoying the beach at night then we got an awesome night’s sleep.
The next morning, Jamie took us to the cruise ship and gave us a little history of Galveston on the way.
What’s next? A beautiful cruise ship, the Caribbean, beach, fun, sting rays, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Cozumel, fajitas on the beach, sunsets, on and on and on…..
Stay tuned!
Remember: I love comments! Thanks for reading! ❤️
What a cute and fun read! And glad you enjoyed my sister’s Kwik Kabana rental in Galveston. I don’t know if she told you, but the house is the one we grew up in (although it was located about 10 blocks further down Gaido Blvd/39th St and was only about 2.5 feet off the ground). I’m also glad you appreciate and enjoy our hometown! Galveston may not be Hawaii or have the clear blue waters of the Caribbean, but it also doesn’t require a plane to get there!
Happy anniversary and best wishes for next 50 years!
Deborah Lusby
(Jamie’s oldest sister)
Yes! She shared the history of the house with us. We found it to be fascinating!
We enjoy Galveston so much. We love how the beach is so accessible and we can walk to restaurants. It makes it so different than other Beach vacations. I love not having to drive a car around everywhere. We much prefer to walk! There’s nothing like walking to Nick’s for dinner then taking a quick walk to the beach to watch the sunset!
Thanks for your comment Deborah! It was good to hear from you!
I think you should take the old dad, I won’t cry and you wouldn’t have to hold me to go to sleep. Great vaca guys.
You crack me up!
This was one of the sweetest reviews my Kwik Kabana could ever receive. It was my pleasure to host this young couple here pre cruise with their beautiful baby girl. So friendly to chat with. I truly appreciate all the kind words. My door is open for all!
We have taken 3 cruises out of Galveston, with our h booked for March 2010. We have sailed both Princess and Royal Caribbean out of Galveston. We have not sailed Carnival as we are not looking for the party boat atmosphere. I am sure alot of people like that, which is fine, but we are looking for a fun and restful cruise. Our daughter went on the Carnival Conquest for her honeymoon last Oct and said she would not consider Carnival again. I have been on multiple cruises out of Galveston via Royal Caribbean, Princess and Carnival. Carnival is the only one that I would never do again. For me Carnival was the equivilant of a week long traffic jam. It was frustrating and I had a constant urge to flip people off and I m not one of those people.
We have sailed with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Norwegian. We have not noticed a big difference in any of the cruise lines. Princess seemed kind of calm and slow paced (which we liked) but other than that they are all basically the same. We are not the party boat type either and we always travel with our kids. Royal Caribbean did a few things that we thought were odd. For example, closing the buffet at the same time everyone was supposed to be on board after a port day. We thought Carnival ships also have more complimentary food options. They have Guy’s Burger Joint and the Blue Iguana Cantina which is awesome!
All cruise ships have the ability to make us frustrated. I think that’s just what happens when you get thousands of people on the same ship. But we have also had many excellent experiences where we meet wonderful people that we keep up with for years!