A Little More Wisconsin Stuff

I just wanted to share a few more things with you all from our trip.

As you may or may not recall, I mentioned buying souvenirs at some of our stops. I have always been a fan of high-quality-knick-knackery, and clothing in particular. A lot of other people are, too, obviously, since the souvenir business is always a money maker.

I am also a fan of YouTube rabbit holes, but more on that in a minute.

Anyway, if you are one of those people who likes t-shirts and whatnot, here’s the stuff I bought.

First up is my t shirt from Bay Beach Park. It’s a little more green than grey in real life, but that’s okay. It’s a nice shirt. My wife likes this one a lot. Good thing she was around. Left to my own devices, I’d have bought something cheesey.

Speaking of cheesey, or…um…sausage-y, I got this spiffy trucker hat from the Johnsonville store.

Now. Sheboygan. I titled a section of the last blog, “Sheboygan, Who Knew?” but I can’t take credit for that line. Neither can the guy who sold me this shirt. It actually comes from Gabe Leistekow, who made a slightly snarky little video about his hometown that is both funny and a loving tribute. Both the shirt and the video follow:

Yup. Gabe.

Oh, and we also got a magnet.

Welp. I hope you enjoyed that. Maybe I’ll show you more of my collections sometime.

Have a great week Mon-Davers. See you next time.

Brink Family Vacation 2024-Part Two

If you’ll recall, part one of this story saw us experiencing car trouble, losing a full day of our vacation due to said troubles, and finally arriving at our destination.

What you didn’t find out about was that youngest daughter Melody got car sick. Once in the van, and then again inside the lobby at Wally’s gas station when we stopped shortly after. I thought I was saving her some embarrassment by not sharing these details, but she insisted they be included for the sake of accuracy. Honestly though, I think she just likes to see her name come up in the blog.

So,

Melody, Melody, Melody, Melody, Melody, Melody, Melody.

Melody.

There, that should make her happy. Now, on with the blog.

DAY 1: De PERE
We spent the first day of our suddenly three day vacation tooling around De Pere WI, where our Vrbo was located. We picked up a few provisions for the house (snacks, drinks, and what-not) at Festival Foods. This is a local chain store that is not only impressively huge, but has arguably better selections than any store I can think of locally. No real story to share here, just giving a plug.

We also went to Scray Cheese, which is a small cheese shop/factory (Cheesery?) just outside of town. Not only do they sell their own wares, but you can also watch through the display window as the cheese is being made. There are plenty of choices to be made and samples to be tasted. This is where I tasted my first, official, fresh cheese curd. Not the fried kind from Culver’s, but an honest-to-goodness, made fresh that morning cheese curd, the state snack of Wisconsin! They are super chewy, and squeak when you bite them. So that’s a no from me. However, the various cheeses we bought and snacked on back home were all excellent.

De Pere is a nice, quiet suburban community with the kind of small “downtown” area one would expect. Except that this town has the Fox River running through the middle of it, separating East from West. There is a really cool section with a park where you can walk along the river and see the locks. Lots of people can be found fishing in this area, and during the Summer, pelicans gather on the river as well, giving some pretty neat photo ops. It’s a gorgeous little area, but it was quite a windy, chilly, and rainy day when we went, so our exploration of downtown De Pere was a bit more brief than it could have been. See, we are used to hot Summers here in St. Louis. While we knew it would be a little cooler than we were used to, it wound up being more than we expected. I brought along a hoodie just in case, and Tessa wore it all day long. Dad gets a W on that one.

We went out to dinner that night at The Village Grill, which is a nice, but reasonable restaurant featuring American fare. Recommended if you’re ever in the area. The rain got heavier as we ate, and continued poring down, so we went back to the house and had a nice quiet evening, resting up for Day Two.

DAY 2: SHEBOYGAN! WHO KNEW?

Okay, so this requires a little backstory. Early in the school year, many teachers will play “getting to know you” games with their classes. Melody (there’s that name again) can’t stand these. She is a very guarded person, and isn’t much of a sharer. So when her teacher asked the class where their dream vacation destination would be, she came up with Sheboygan. Because a.) it was funny, and b.) she figured there wouldn’t be too many follow up questions. She did, however, have to stick with the bit at school, and it became sort of an “in joke” with her friends and with the family too.

So, when we decided we wanted to travel to the Lake Michigan area, and we realized that Sheboygan was right on the lake and not far from where we’d be staying, a visit was an absolute must. We figured we’d probably spend an hour or two wandering around and then move on to another adventure. I mean, how great could Sheboygan be?

Well, “pretty darn” is the answer to that question. Situated right on the lake, there’s a really cool marina, and a lighthouse you can walk out to. It’s a really beautiful area, that feels a little bit like you’re on the ocean (just don’t let the locals hear you say that. I mean, they probably wouldn’t laugh right at your face, but you never know). There’s also a city park with a white sand beach for sunbathing and water activities, though when we were there, although it was Sunny with temps in the 80’s, the lake water was still freezing. No swimming for us but a few brave souls waded in up to their ankles. My soul and ankles are not that brave.

Next stop was the river walk, where the river and lake meet. There are some nice houses, a few shops, and restaurants to explore here. We ate at a barbecue restaurant called Parker John’s, which I misread as “Porker John’s” due to the cute little pig in the logo, and which is a way better name. This was a pretty standard place with lots of wood and tin décor, lots of signs and crazy crap on the walls, and a staff wearing T-shirts that read “We have the best smelling butts in Sheboygan”. BBQ Humor at its…finest? anyway, it was a big, satisfying meal, though honestly, Wisconsin is just a little too far North to get GREAT barbecue, but it was good and we all enjoyed it. Except for Patterson, who ordered Pizza, but he gave that a thumbs up too.

We spent the remainder of our time in Sheboygan exploring 8th street and the area right around it. 8th is one of those main streets you often see in vacation towns with lots of fun shops, cafés, and boutiques all up and down. One of our favorite stops was Freaktoyz, which is one of the coolest toy stores I’ve ever been in. They had lots of retro figures from Star Wars to He-Man, Strawberry Shortcake to the Smurfs, Funko Pops, horror icons, superheroes, and just about anything else you can imagine, both in and out of the box. Freaktoyz also carries video games-also often in the original box, going back as far as the Atari 2600, all the way up to the Nintendo Switch. Definitely a fun time!

While we were on 8th, we also went to a fancy boutique for Tessa, got some candy at an old time candy store, and a T-shirt for me. While walking around, we stopped in to the Kohler Art Center, just to cool down for a bit and use the free bathroom. Valerie and I both wished we could have stayed longer and explored the museum, because their bathrooms were amazing! There was art everywhere on every surface (I kind of felt bad using the facilities, to be honest), and we both took pictures to prove it. Of the art, I mean, not anything else. Don’t make this weird. Anyway, if that much attention was paid just to the bathrooms, how cool must the rest be?

That’s the question we were left with about Sheboygan itself: how cool must the rest be? There are still quite a few things we didn’t see. Obviously more shops and restaurants are waiting to be discovered. There is also a state park we’d like to explore, and a botanical garden with displays based on children’s literature, which for a family of readers sounds like a delight. We didn’t get to see one of the popular boat parades, or hang out for the live music and food trucks in the green space either. Who knew that this town would be so charming and have so much to do? I think a return visit will be happening some time in the future.

Sheboygan feels like it’s on the cusp of becoming well known as a vacation destination-not just to Wisconsinites and Illinoisans, but to everybody else too. We were there on July 3rd, and it wasn’t overcrowded or overly touristy at all. It’s a great little destination to spend a day or two, and I’m glad we discovered it.

Before we left Sheboygan county, we had one more stop to make. Johnsonville. Home of, you guessed it, Johnsonville Brats! It’s actually kind of funny, as you are driving to the factory/store, all you see around you is farmland. Then, suddenly, there’s this giant, gleaming, steel and glass office mecca that is the world headquarters-and it’s HUGE!!! The factory is right next to it, and the factory store right across the street. It was far too late in the day for a tour (if they even give them), but the factory store was open. Apart from being able to buy all sorts of bratwurst-with flavors I have not seen anywhere else- and Summer Sausage, there is just, like, a TON of merch. From useful stuff like coolers and grilling supplies (all branded with the Johnsonville logo of course), to hoodies, jackets, sweatshirts, t shirts, and more, the Johnsonville store is a slightly tacky, though undeniably delicious, sight to behold. I bought some sausage. And a baseball cap.

DAY 3- BAY BEACH

Okay, so now it’s July 4th, and we haven’t been to Green Bay yet. We were hoping to get into the downtown area, but first stop was to be Bay Beach Amusement Park. This is the only city run amusement park that I know of, and it is a city park. There are plenty of picnic tables and pavilions, a playground, lots of green space, and an amusement park that sits right on the bay. The park consists of carnival rides that were purchased by the city, rebuilt and refurbished on the park grounds. A lot of the classics are there, from the Tilt-A-Whirl to The Scrambler, a giant Ferris Wheel, a giant pirate ship ride, kiddie rides, and more. It is also the proud home of the Zippin’ Pippin’ rollercoaster, which according to lore, was Elvis Presley’s favorite ride. We rode it twice, and the air time you get in that thing is unreal! A classic wooden coaster to be sure.

Here’s the other cool part. Since it’s a city park, parking at Bay Beach is free and so is admission. You do have to pay for the rides individually by buying tickets, in true carnival fashion. The tickets are only .25 per! The most any ride takes per rider is six tickets, so do the math, and find me a better deal out there for families who want to spend a day at an amusement park. We spent $40.00 on tickets and rode everything we wanted to. We also had hot food in the cafeteria, which was also reasonable and tasted a bit better than you’d expect. So we got out of the whole day with food and rides for under $75.00, which is about what we’d pay for one ticket anywhere else. Sure, it’s all carnival rides like you’d see pull up in your neighborhood shopping mall-no state of the art stuff here-but they are a lot of fun. These rides are classics and make the rounds every year for a reason! For a family day out, you really can’t beat it. It was a really cool way to spend the 4th of July for us.

Remember that rain we had on Day 1? Well, it came back late afternoon. This prevented us from going to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, and kind of put me off trying to find my way around an unfamiliar downtown. So back to the house we go, with smiles on our faces, and yes, another t-shirt for Dad.

The rain did clear up in the evening, but we heard very few fireworks, outside of the faint noise of an official display somewhere in the distance. This is a far cry from where we live-every neighborhood sounds like a war zone on the 4th. I’m not against people having their fun, but it goes on and on into the wee hours of the night every year, to the point where the dogs are frightened and anyone who has to work the next day is going in with bags under their eyes for sure. This was a nice change.

A few more observations:

Wisconsin is super into roundabouts. I mean, we have them here too, but there were A LOT of them in WI. It’s almost as if the entire state decided that traffic lights were pure witchcraft and put in roundabouts instead. They mostly go smoothly, but some people are a little more bold than others in the roundabouts-so you have to keep your guard up.
In St. Louis we have, and love, our Quik Trip convenience store/filling stations. In Wisconsin, they have and love Kwik Trip. they are largely the same, only misspelled with a K, and still missing the “c”. Turns out it’s the same company owns both, so whoever named these things must think we all learned our “A, B, D’s.”
Anyway, the differences are notable. Better selection of fountain drinks? QT. Better donut selection? KT. More variety of premade food? KT. Food made to order? QT. Quality of hot food? Kind of a tie. So it all evens out, but, not gonna lie, it did kind of feel like Bizarro World in there.

In the end, we had a good vacation. It started off pretty rocky, but we made some nice memories and had a good time. Since we wound up having to “wing it” a little due to missing the first day, there were quite a few things we didn’t get to do or see, but sometimes that happens. Besides, this is a trip that can be driven in a day (providing your car doesn’t freak the heck out in Milwaukee) and we could easily do it all again. Only next time we stay in Sheboygan!

Thanks for reading, Mon-Davers. If you’re doing any traveling of your own this Summer, I hope you stay safe, keep yourself open to finding a new, unplanned adventure, and make some great memories along the way.

See you next time.

Brink Family Vacation 2024-Hello Wisconsin!

I’m back y’all! Not only am I back from the vacation I took with my family, but also from the hiatus I took from blogging. I do owe my regular readers a bit of an apology for that. I drafted an announcement about my leave of blogging absence but failed to actually publish the dang thing. Whoops. I guess that says it all about my need for a break!

Anyhoo, I’m back to it now. I’ve got some ideas for changing things up a bit around here, but for now let’s talk about the recent adventures on vacation in Wisconsin. Ready to travel with me? Great. Let’s roll.

PART ONE: CHANNELING THE GRISWOLDS

Every vacation brings with it some risk of having at least a few things go wrong. Most of the time things go pretty well, with only a few small hiccups along the way, if any. Sometimes, though, you get a big ol’ monkey wrench thrown into the works. Fortunately, it happened on our first day, but this was not the start that anyone would want to their trip.

We chose to stay in the Midwest this year, visiting one of the Great Lakes, instead of going South like we often do. We booked our first Vrbo (which was quite easy and an excellent experience overall), and planned to bring our dog Zoey with us, partially to avoid kennel boarding fees, and also so she wasn’t alone over the July 4th holiday. The area we live in has so many fireworks it sounds like a warzone and scares the heck out of poor Zoe, so we wanted to make sure she felt safe and comfortable with us.

So we loaded up on Sunday morning and hit the road. We had a pleasant drive with a few stops at rest areas for Zoey to potty and the rest of us to stretch. We also got to stop at the original Wally’s for lunch. Everything was going along great…until it wasn’t.

While passing through downtown Milwaukee, the van made that horrible “ding!” noise that tells you something’s wrong. My info screen read “low tire”. Our tire are usually inflated to 35 lbs., but there was one in back reading 29. Okay, no big deal, I’ll get some air in it next chance I get. But then the reading went rapidly down to 27. Then 14. Then 10. All in the matter of under a minute.

Yup. Blow out- in the downtown area of a city I’ve never been in. Not great. So I found a gas station to pull into, unpacked the luggage, and got out the spare tire. Our minivan has an inflatable spare tire, so it needed to be inflated and put on. This was not an errand I wanted to try in a strange place with a vehicle I haven’t worked on before. The two people working inside the Mobil were not willing (or possibly not allowed, but I got the feeling that it was the former) to lend a hand. Well, insurance exists for situations just like this one. Roadside assistance is covered in our policy, so we made a call to State Farm and within about twenty minutes or so a guy came out, inflated the spare, and also checked to see if he could give the tire a quick mend. No such luck. Oh, well. Woulda been cool though.

Anyway, one tire change later we packed up the van and were on our way. Except we weren’t.

When I went to start the car, the electric parking break would not disengage and it also wouldn’t start, and since the tire guy was gone there was no one to give us a jump. Once again, we called the insurance company, and they sent out a tow truck. Miraculously we got the van on the truck and it went on its way.

It is now after 6pm, on a Sunday, and there is no one open to fix our vehicle. The insurance company randomly picked a repair shop to take the van to and drop it off for work the next day. Meanwhile we are left in the middle of downtown with all of our luggage, our dog, and no vehicle or accommodations for the night. We were able to find a downtown hotel that would accept our dog (not an easy task) and all five of us into one room. The only one available was a *really expensive* Hilton, which ate into our vacation budget, but what could we do?

We made a reservation and called a Lyft (which is also included with our insurance) to take us to the hotel. The driver they sent out was super nice, but his vehicle couldn’t fit us and all of our stuff. This was going to require two trips, when he only signed up for one. Fortunately he sympathized with our plight, and made the second trip. We offered to pay him for his time, and he accepted but only asked for $6.00. We gave him ten. I honestly expected the man to ask for more, but his kindness prevailed.

That’s one thing I will say about our brief layover in Milwaukee, we didn’t encounter a single person who wasn’t very nice. I mean, except the guys at the Mobil. More than a few people asked if we needed help, but State Farm had us covered so we declined. One person even asked if we needed any “financial blessings.” While our expenses were building up quick, my conscience wouldn’t allow me to take any money from a stranger. We have a credit card set aside for emergencies and that would surely get us through, so again I declined, but how great was that offer? It pains me to say that I’m not sure this level of kindness would happen in downtown St. Louis. In the suburbs, sure, but downtown? Maybe. I wouldn’t count on it though.

Everyone in Milwaukee treated us well. Even the homeless people asking for money were super polite about it. The hotel staff were able to squeeze us in last minute, the Domino’s pizza staff made our order quickly when we told them our story (that was all we could find open by the time we were in the hotel and ready for dinner that wasn’t a sit down restaurant.) So five stars to the citizens of Milwaukee.

From the small part of Milwaukee we experienced, it looks like a beautiful city. It’s very clean, and has interesting architecture. I’d like to explore it more under different circumstances. I did find a nice green square to walk the dog too, so that’s a plus. Speaking of the dog, Zoey was a trooper through this whole experience. Not a fan of elevators though.

Okay, cut to the next morning. We are in our room making phone calls about the vehicle. If you’ve ever tried to have a vehicle repaired on a Monday, you know it’s not an easy thing to do. Even when making an appointment, I generally have to go two weeks out to get a Monday slot, and walk-ins are an even harder proposition. The shop that had the van told us it might be a repair that needed to be done at a dealership, but they’d see what they could do. We contacted a few dealers in the area, and none of them would even look at it for DAYS, even considering our situation. Typical dealer crap-never trust a dealer’s service department. That’s a free tip from your old pal Dave.

Eventually we had to check out of the hotel, but were still waiting for a call from the shop. So we camped out in the lounge area of the lobby with our stuff and dog, waiting for some news. Finally the shop called with quotes on fixing the van same day. We got permission from them to bring the dog inside their waiting room, so we got another Lyft, and proceeded to wait a few more hours while they worked on the electric and replaced our battery, which had somehow fried out during all of this. Eventually we were paid up and done with the electric.

As for the tire, we have a replacement plan with Discount Tire, who have always been good to us. Since they were right down the road from the shop, we figured we’d just drive over on the spare and replace it at the D.C. where the tire would cost $32.00 as opposed to $130.00. We called in the morning and spoke with a manager who assured us that they had the tire in stock, and as soon as we arrived he’d get us in the rotation quick.

Well, we arrived a little before 2:00 to learn that the person we spoke with had gone home, and no-one else knew a thing about the situation. So we were put on the walk-in list, and of course they were slammed. Because Monday.

So we waited again. The tire place is located in a strip mall/shopping area so we were able to grab some lunch, take Zoey to a Petco for a while to give her something to do, and wait outside in a mostly shaded picnic area. It could have been worse, but by now we were all more than a little tired of waiting around and we were watching our whole first day of vacation disappear before our eyes.

Discount tire closes at 5:00. We picked up the van at 4:45. This still left us a two hour drive to the Green Bay area where we were staying, with at least one stop for the doggo to be factored in. Day one of the vacation was pretty much officially shot-and we all had plans for Saturday, so our four day trip became a three day pretty quickly. Sure, we were determined to make the best of it, but the overall mood wasn’t the best. Still, we were all safe and had functional transport so it could have been much worse.

All this time we had been in contact with our Vrbo hosts. They were very understanding. They’d even offered to extend our visit by a day for no charge since we missed Sunday night but we couldn’t make that happen, since we absolutely had to leave Friday. Still, once again, Mid-West nice comes out to shine.

The house itself was a duplex with three bedrooms and two separate living rooms on two floors, and included pretty much anything you’d need as far as cooking, laundry, and toiletries are concerned. It was a lovely space, and thoughtfully furnished. This vacation was beginning to turn around.

By nine o clock we were finally settled in and ready for dinner. After the day we’d had, we just needed some comfort food and to relax. So, being in Wisconsin we ate at Culver’s. Seemed appropriate. It wasn’t any different than the Culver’s back home, but it hit the spot.

Okay, end of part one. Did the vacation turn around? Were we able to make some fun memories? How did we work around the missed day? Did we get some cheese? Were there fireworks on the 4th to scare the dog? Did we get souvenirs?

All of these questions ( and maybe more) will be answered in part two-next time right here on Mon-DAVEs!

Summer Review From The In-Between

We are now entering what I like to call The In-Between Time.

This is that time of year that’s a bit hard to define. For most Americans, Labor Day marks the unofficial end of Summer. Sure, we all know that there are technically a few more weeks on the calendar until the seasons change, and depending on where you live, a few more weeks of Summer weather as well.

It is beginning to wind down though. “Fall People” are breaking out their scarves, hats, and boots preparing for the change in the weather that isn’t coming along nearly fast enough for them, while us “Summer People” are holding on to every last bit of warmth and late sunsets we can get. Soon enough there will be leaves on the ground and pumpkin spiced everything. For now though, the kids are all back in school, the pools and snow cone stands are beginning to close, and we’re all in a holding pattern until the changes actually come. Thus, the In-Between Time.

So, even though Summer is not technically over (just practically), I’m going to take a few moments to reflect on this past Summer. Regular readers will recall that I made a list of goals back in May to accomplish this Summer. Nothing earth shaking mind you, but just a guideline as to how I wanted to spend Summer of 2023. Let’s go back and see how successful I was at reaching said goals.

Goal #1– I wanted to go walking more.
Started out well on this one, but I kind of petered out in late July/early August. Of course, this year we had both near record highs and flood level rains, but that only excuses so much. I have been doing better in the last week or two. Fortunately, going for a nice walk is just as much a Fall activity as it is a Spring or Summer one, so this can be a continuous goal.

Goal #2– I wanted to cook out more.
Again, kind of petered out in August, but I did manage to make a new recipe or two, and I got the grill back up and running this Labor Day weekend, so I’ll call this a success. Besides, there’s still time to do a few more cookouts before it gets cold. Who’s up for a brat?

Goal #3– More Family Fun Days.
Sadly, kind of a fail on this one. I had grand ideas about going to different spots around town once a week and really taking in all St. Louis has to offer. Unfortunately, life had other plans. I was still able to spend time with my kids both individually and together, so this was not a total fail, but things didn’t play out quite how I thought they would.

Goal #4-More SPORTSBALL
Okay, so I didn’t make it out to a St. Louis CITY FC soccer game like I wanted to. However, I did manage to take my son back to a Cardinals game earlier this month. They lost, but we still had fun, and great seats thanks to some last minute freebies coming in to my day job. This one’s a W.

Goal #5-Family Vacation
Check. It wasn’t as relaxing a vacation as I thought it would be, since there was way more driving involved than we originally planned, and more work and preparation than playtime. Still, I did learn that I am not a beach person so that’s something. I mean, I enjoyed the beach, but it’s not going to become my go-to vacation destination. I also got to spend some time with my cousin Terry and his family which was lovely. All in all, we managed to make some nice memories all around. Another W.

Goal #6-I wanted to just be.
The idea here was that I would slow down and just take in my surroundings this Summer, and try to feel some peace within my favorite season. Well, not so much. This Summer I lost a dog (RIP ELVIS) but gained a kitten. I ran myself ragged to the point of exhaustion more than a few times. I had a tooth pulled. I had a few doctor’s appointments that weren’t great news (nothing too serious-just getting older and more to deal with along those lines). There have been some emotional highs and lows, and a few false starts with some projects I’m working on. I’ve crashed out more than I’ve rested. In short, I’ve been too busy living the moment to be present in it. That’s something I really need to work on.

So, kind of a mixed bag in places, but I think the good has mostly outnumbered the bad this season, which just about all you can ask for. I hope you can say the same.

Okay, that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading. I’ll be back to the goofy stuff next week. Until then, take care of yourself and of one another, and I’ll see you back here next time for more MonDAVES.

Summer Vacation Round Up 2023: Galveston Texas

This past week the Brink family went on our Summer vacation to Galveston, Texas. For those not in the know, Galveston is an island city on the Texas Gulf coast. It’s a big tourist spot for many Texans and other Southerners, though people come from all over to stay and play on the island. While we normally like to do a lot of the touristy things when we visit these types of areas, we kept it to a minimum this time out, spending most of our time on the beach and in our condo, venturing out mostly for food and only a few activities.

On the way down we built in an extra travel day so we could visit my cousin Terry and family who live a few hours outside of Galveston in McGregor, Texas (a suburb of Waco). While we do keep in touch through social media, I hadn’t actually seen my cousin in a while (barring a few family funerals) and I hadn’t seen his family for even longer. We had an enjoyable visit with some good home-smoked brisket, lots of laughs, and plenty of playtime with their dogs. It was great to see everyone, and I hope we can do it again sooner rather than later.

The next day it was off to Galveston for four days of fun and relaxing on the beach. Well, it would have been had I not goofed up the reservation at our resort. Instead of booking Sunday night-checking out on Friday, I booked us Sunday night, checking out Thursday. Which left us with a day long hole in our schedule. Not to be discouraged, we simply looked at the extra day as an opportunity to check off another state, so instead of heading back through Oklahoma to Missouri as we came, we decided to go through Louisiana and spend some time in Lake Charles on the way back. It made for a little more driving than I had anticipated, but wound up working out just fine. We ate dinner by the lake and had a nice evening. Besides, we decided to save the touristy stuff in town for Thursday anyway, so we still got a lot of Galveston in before we left.

While vacations are meant to be spent having fun and unwinding, they can also be times of learning. With that in mind, here are the big things that I learned on our trip.

-Beaches Are Messy
I know that there are “beach people” out there, and if you love beaches, that’s awesome, you do you. My kids loved it, especially the boy, and I found it pleasant enough while we were on the beach and in the water, though I can’t call myself a “beach” person. The thing is, I wasn’t a big fan of the sand getting absolutely everywhere, along with the mud and sticky seaweed. I have heard it said that “the beach never leaves you” and that’s true, because you can’t get rid of it. They don’t show you that part in the movies, do they? Nope. Also, the seagull poop is whole other level gross-once that stuff is on any object you own, it’s basically time to get rid of that object, because it’s not coming off. Someone should figure out how to turn seagull stuff into an adhesive-they’d be rich.

Also, you have to do a lot before you do the beach. You have to set up your chairs, towels, tents, umbrellas, cooler, and what have you as soon as you are able find a spot, after lugging all of that stuff to the beach in the first place. Then you drag it all back. That’s a lot of work, man. Too much working, not enough playing for my tastes. However…

-Hermit crabs are pretty neat
One thing I did enjoy more than I thought I would was walking along the beach collecting seashells. I didn’t have a shovel or anything so I was basically just picking up small shells I thought were pretty. Sometimes, though, there’d be a little guy (or gal) in there and I got to play with a tiny crab for a while. A little girl in the tent next to us was digging up some bigger ones with her sand toys, and noticing me and my little bitty shells, brought me over a bigger crab to look at which was one of the most adorable things I’d ever seen. The gesture, not the crab. Although it was cool too.

-Dolphins in the Gulf appear more black than gray
Usually, when you think dolphin, you think gray. At least I do. However, we rode the Bolivar Ferry out of town on our last day in Galveston, and you can see dolphins from the ship as you make the run. I was surprised by how dark they were in color, appearing almost black. Maybe that’s just how they look from a distance, or maybe there are different kinds of dolphins in different parts of the ocean. I don’t know, I didn’t research this or anything, but it struck me as interesting anyway.

-Seafood really is better by the ocean, but prep is everything
Okay, so this one is kind of common knowledge, but you never truly know how anything tastes until you experience it yourself. I had seafood in two restaurants on back-to-back days. The first was at Jimmy’s On The Pier which was located, well, on a pier. It had a cool, vacation-y vibe to it, as we ate with gulls flying overhead and the ocean underneath us. It was a fun experience and the food was good, but maybe not great. The next night we went to Miller’s Seawall Grill, located on the Seawall (kind of the main strip in Galveston), and was an all purpose American restaurant. The fish there was phenomenal, and I had basically the same stuff as I did at Jimmy’s. Both featured quality ingredients, both are recommended by me, but Miller’s was just a little better.

-Moody Gardens is a must
All right, let’s talk tourist stuff. Quality tourist stuff. Moody Gardens is a little bit hard to describe. They call themselves a “public, non-profit, education destination”, but that sounds boring, and from our experience, the place is anything but. In fairness we didn’t do everything there is to do at Moody, but what we did experience is top-notch.

Moody Gardens consists of three pyramids. Just go with it. One is called the Discovery Museum, which we were not able to do, the other two pyramids include a rainforest, and an aquarium, which we did do.

The rain forest zoo pyramid was absolutely incredible. It begins with a few caged exhibits and informational features, but then you make your way up to the top of the pyramid and step out into a rain forest! Many of the animals roam free, so birds are constantly flying overhead, and walking next to you along the paths. I hear tell that monkeys also live in the pyramid, with staff keeping a close eye on them, but we didn’t see any. A new exhibit featured a kamado dragon as well, which was actually quite beautiful. The floor of the pyramid has river beds where some big ol’ fish and turtles stay, along with parrots, and the Roul Roul birds who for some reason loved to swoop out of the trees and land right next to me, scaring the crap out of me every chance they got.

We also saw a sloth in the trees from the ground, but he was difficult to spot. The only animals caged in exhibits were the bees, ants, some lizards, snakes, and the spiders. Oh, and the fruit bats too, but their cage was right in the middle of everything where you could see them plainly. This is a truly immersive experience that deserves to be seen by all-and when you buy your ticket money goes to conservation efforts so no guilt, y’all. Just be forewarned-it’s humid as all get out.

The aquarium was a lot of fun, too. I have been to others aquariums, and they are all similar to some extent. This one had an interesting set up, as you spiraled through the pyramid to get to each new exhibit. There were tons of interesting sea creatures (and one mammoth sea lion) and since I love that stuff it was a real treat for me. It was also a treat to be in the air conditioning after the humidity of the rain forest!

As mentioned, there is more to do at Moody, with the Schlitterbahn Water Park right next door, a golf course, and a hotel, it can be a multi-day vacation in and of itself. Moody Gardens is quite pricey-so look for some discount packages if you go- but it is well worth the trip if you ever find yourself in Galveston.

-On a long car ride, there’s only so much Yacht Rock you can take
I’ll admit it, I love Yacht Rock. Yacht Rock in Summer to me is like Christmas Carols in Winter. It’s part of the charm. However, I usually listen to it in small bursts of 30 or 40 minutes tops as I run around town. On the open highway though, it got a little too relaxed. Fortunately, we were listening to satellite radio all trip and we listened to everything from early ’60s classic rock to ’80s hits, ’70s and 80s hard rock, 90s alternative, and even some modern pop music. Normally, as driver, I rule the music selections with an iron fist, but this time I loosened it up and gave everybody a little something they enjoyed. Just with a little yacht-y smoothness mixed in.

-Holiday Inn Express And Suites have pancake machines
For some reason, daughter Melody was fascinated by this machine and its workings. She even recorded a video of the machine doing its thing on her phone. Odd kid. The wife blames me. She’s probably right. Anyway, these machines are much less messy than the do it yourself waffle iron you often see at hotel breakfast set ups, and are less likely to burn the guests. Plus I love pancakes more than waffles, so I’m all for them. During travel days we stayed at these hotels and while they aren’t super fancy they are quite nice for the price. Some are newer than others, but all of them we stayed at were good, and free breakfast is always a win.

-Louisiana rest stops are intense, man
Some rest stops are really nice. Some not. It’s always good when you find a pretty, spacious one with a travel information center inside, as they are generally cleaner and more well maintained than the standard ones. Sometimes these rest stops are at the shore of a lake or pond. The one we stopped at in Louisiana had a lake, some nature walking trails, a small dock, and two signs. One sign said “Feeding Wildlife Prohibited”, and the other very specifically stated “DO NOT FEED ALLIGATORS”. Okay, Louisiana…

-Blue Bell Ice Cream lives up to the hype…mostly
Texans are big proud of Blue Bell. Like, almost irritatingly so. In fact, when there is a shortage of Blue Bell, it gets downright dangerous out there. My wife is an ice cream super fan, so she was very interested in trying Blue Bell, and since I am always up for trying new foods we bought some pints to have at the condo. I can say that when it comes to flavored ice cream (cookies and cream, mint chocolate chop, etc.) Blue Bell is top-notch and delicious. But their regular vanilla was weird. It had an unidentifiable aftertaste I did not care for, and a slight grainy texture. Maybe they didn’t mash up the beans all the way? I’m not sure. Anyway, if you get Blue Bell, skip the plain and get some kind of weird flavor concoction, you’ll have a good time.

And finally, what my regular readers have surely been waiting for:

-Buc-ee’s vs. Wally’s: I still love Wally Bear
So, as mentioned before on this blog, Buc-ee’s is kind of famous as the biggest gas stations/convenience stores in the country-mostly located in the South. Wally’s is the Midwest version. Both feature not only gas and snacks, but souvenir items, freshly made sandwiches, jerky, ice creams, barbecue, camping gear, and more. Both have passionate fan bases, though Wally’s is a relative newcomer with only a few locations.

Now, because I’m me and it’s fun to stir the pot from time to time, I walked into Buc-ee’s wearing my Wally’s hat. I then came face to face with the beaver himself for an awkward photo op. Being a Midwesterner my politeness kicked in and I happily took the picture while quietly repping my home-bear. It was funny to me, but I’m sure nobody there had any clue what I was giggling about.

Okay then, all that said, Buc-ee’s is bigger (at least twice as big with about three times the stuff for sale crammed in), there’s more selection, it’s brasher, bolder, louder, very crowded, and yes, more impressive overall. Yet, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a crowded department store during the Christmas rush. It was fun and nice, but it felt like the Corporate Overlords were in control. Wally’s on the other hand is small by comparison, but still has an independent feel to it, like they are still experimenting with the model and figuring out what works. Wally’s has heart-and it has my heart.

Also, after (quite happily) devouring like five packs of Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets, I still don’t know what the hell those things are. I mean, they’re tasty, but…what are they???

Well, there’s your snapshot of the vacation this year. If you ever get to Galveston, check out some of this stuff. Wherever your adventures may take you: safe journeys. See you back here next week for more MonDAVEs.