Rosewood to Smith Oaks Sanctuary to Galveston, 3 June 2022
We drove down the day before the cruise with a stop on Bolivar's Peninsula (High Island) to do a little birding. My cousin Nancy had suggested these 4 Audubon Sanctuaries. First was the Louis Smith Boy Scout Woods. It was a bust. It was dried up, so no water....no birds! Saw a couple of Grackles and that's it.
But then we drove the short distance to Smith Oaks - https://houstonaudubon.org/sanctuaries/high-island/smith-oaks.html & it was awesome!!! It is 177 acres of wetlands, ponds, fields & woods. It has wonderful raised walkways & viewing platforms for the rookery. Definitely a must see place. We wandered around a little, but it was just too hot to stay very long & had lots of mosquitos. Would love to come back during migration!!!
We continued the drive west across the Bolivar peninsula & took the free ferry across to Galveston Island. My cousin had advised us to keep an eye out for dolphins & sure enough we saw several as we took the short ferry across. Got a kick out of the Grackle that found a spot to nap on the vehicle next to us. Never seen a bird literally lay down! It was funny.
We got checked in at the DoubleTree Inn and headed down the beach to eat dinner at The Spot. It was really hot, but we didn't want to mess with trying to find a parking spot on a Friday night at the beach on Galveston Island!!! The Spot was a very large restaurant with 5 separate venues - all with covered air conditioned seating open to the beach. It was just burgers & stuff, but it was good & the service was good. Enjoyed our beer & the view.
I had booked this particular hotel room because of it's location near the cruise terminal & because it was supposed to have a nice balcony. Turned out to be mostly obscured due to the entry way below us & it was too hot to use anyway, but otherwise the room was okay & we could see the water! Tomorrow we board the Carnival Dream for our 8 night cruise! Yea Yea Yea!!!
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