BITE by BITE
Conquering My Culinary
Bucket List One Dish at a Time
Enjoying a fun, Fourth of July adventure at Crystal Beach
We made a spur of the moment decision and got up ridiculously early (for a holiday) Thursday to travel to the Bolivar Peninsula to spend the Fourth of July at Crystal Beach. It’s what Daughter wanted to do and as she’ll be heading off to college in approximately six weeks, we’re generally granting her requests as long as they’re within reason. The beach – specifically, water – has always been her happy place. She was three years old the first time we took her to a beach. There’s no telling how many photographs I’ve taken over the years of her and her Daddy joyfully playing in the surf.
The ferry ride from Galveston to Bolivar is always part of the charm and anticipation. We’ve accumulated a passel of family ferry stories over the years. There was the time years ago we were traveling in a caravan with a group of people and everyone’s vehicle made it onboard the ferry except for mine. In more recent years, there was the time we were stuck sitting in the car on the Galveston side waiting to return to our Airbnb and the ferries were unable to run due to a power outage on the peninsula. We sang a lot of songs and whiled away nearly two hours with Daughter posing trivia questions from her phone before the electricity was restored and we were able to cross over.
On Thursday, we drove as far out as we could in an attempt to get away from the crowds. We set up the EZ-up and anchored it, pulled out chairs and coolers, played some music on the wireless speaker and then took turns applying sunscreen to each other. Those two immediately headed for the surf as I sat for a while in the shade, listening to the sound of the waves and watching the seagulls.
We spent the better part of the day just relaxing, taking turns both playing in the water and sitting in the shade enjoying some snacks, as well as each other’s company. I’d packed some cheese and crackers, granola, strawberries, blackberries and chunks of fresh pineapple.
The people-watching was entertaining as usual. A couple of people were trying their best to get upright on a paddleboard. After numerous attempts, one of them gave up, but the other persisted and finally got up. A man a little way down was chest deep in the water wearing a cowboy hat as he continued to cast his fishing line. I don’t know if he got any nibbles, but I do know we never saw him pull anything in. A boy who looked to be 12 or 13 spent an inordinate amount of time driving a four-wheeler and hauling sand piled high on a boogie board that was tied by rope to the back of his fourwheeler. We were never clear why he was doing it, but it held our attention for a while, with Daughter even commenting on his work ethic.
We watched five or six grown men dig a hole in the beach and then put a plastic kiddie pool in it – flush with the ground – for a toddler to sit in. After all their work, however, the toddler was not the least bit interested in sitting in that little pool.
One of the more entertaining things was watching several women attempt to build a balloon arch, something Hubby said was probably futile due to the strong coastal winds. It started off a bunch of blue balloons and we assumed it was a birthday party for a little boy. As time passed, the finished effort ended up being half blue and half pink. As we saw an extremely pregnant woman round the corner, we realized the group was preparing for a gender reveal.
Curiously enough, the same woman large with child later re-appeared in what appeared to be a full-length, cream-colored wedding dress. We looked on as she, her fellow and the aforementioned toddler stood in the rolling surf as two additional ladies took photographs of them.
Shortly thereafter, some type of modified mode of transportation that strongly resembled a pirate ship replete with jolly roger flags rolled past with approximately two dozen young men in varying states of attire – some even sporting eyepatches – hanging on it. They were having an especially good time and from their exuberant boisterousness, we deduced that they had been partaking of cold refreshing beverages all day long. As they rolled past the balloon arch, they hollered out, “Is it a boy or a girl?” To which, the folks that had just been the subject of the surfside photography session hollered back, “We don’t know!”
Before we ever left town that morning, I predicted our trip would be an adventure and Daughter gave me the same side-eyed look to which I’ve grown accustomed. We’d had a fun and relaxing day but as we realized we’d all gotten a little pink in spite of the sunscreen, we knew it was time to pack it up, change clothes and enjoy a good seafood supper before heading home. We’d planned to go to Miller’s Seawall Grill, a place Hubby first took me to during our courtship. However, because the seawall was blocked to through traffic – why, we never figured out – we couldn’t access the restaurant and ended up instead at Fisherman’s Wharf, which ended up being a good call. Daughter selected char-grilled shrimp with steamed veggies and a side of mac and cheese. Hubby selected tuna tacos that came topped with pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, red cabbage, sliced avocado, cilantro, ranch and spicy mayo. I opted for the crab-stuffed tilapia in a lobster cream sauce with spinach and topped with a couple of shrimps.
It was truly an adventure – and like most of our adventures – it was a day we’ll talk about forever.
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