You know me–I’m ready and willing to head to the beach (any beach) whenever! I am a “beach person” through and through. Since we got married, we’ve tossed around the idea of going to Galveston for a weekend getaway, but other priorities pushed our trip off. After this past February, when Riley lost his maternal grandmother, we decided that a relaxing beach weekend was in order. We invited my mother-in-law because we knew she needed a vacation, too. We left last Thursday morning and stayed in Galveston through Sunday afternoon–four days, three nights.
I filmed a vlog documenting our trip; it’s here on YouTube and embedded below if you’d rather watch than read! (The vlog is more detailed than this post as well.)
We stayed in this quirky little beach house right on the water through VRBO. All three of us loved keeping the doors and windows open whenever we were inside so that we could hear the waves crashing on the shore, and there was a whole lot of light pouring in all throughout the day. It suited us well! I filmed a little tour of the house in the vlog below if you’re interested!
We toured historic homes, walked around downtown Galveston, tried new coffee shops, and spent a lot of time with our toes in the sand. The weather was mild and breezy but warm–it was lovely. We had just a few hours of rain and enjoyed watching the storm roll in up the coast.
My favorite thing about beach vacations is that they require nothing. All the “extras,” like eating out, touring, etc. are great but wholly unnecessary if you ask me. Being seaside is enough. The waves and sand and salty air are so healing and relaxing on their own. We spent hours and hours sitting around reading, chatting, eating, and laughing by the ocean.
Riley and his family are “mountain people,” so it was fun to sort-of bridge our family cultures and share my love for the sea with my husband and mother-in-law. They’ve been to Galveston before, but it’s been about a decade. Having never been myself, I admired and enjoyed the old victorian architecture and rich culture. I don’t know that I’ve ever visited a beach town so rich in history and thought it was a neat collision of two worlds.
I could listen to the sound of water forever. It soothes my soul in a way that few things do. That in addition to the warm sunshine on my skin and salty breeze making my hair dance, I feel like I’m home. I just love it.
Our trip was lovely and greatly enjoyed by all. If you’d like to see more of what we did each day, check out my vlog!
You can watch our Galveston travel vlog below or on YouTube here!
// Where do you find solace?
Thank you for reading/watching! You can find me online on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube. If you’d like to be alerted whenever I publish a new post, you can follow me on Bloglovin’ or subscribe via email. Take a look at my Etsy shop where I sell tees, totes, sweatshirts, and pillow covers! Are you a blogger too? Check out my Blogger Mentorship Program.
I could say I’m a mountain person too. But honestly… it’s so relaxing to listen the sound of the waves hitting shore. Specially at night!!
xx, Melissa
https://elephantontheroad.com
That sound is SO relaxing! 🙂
Hi Blair,
I haven’t watched the video yet, so not sure if you talk about it there, but I wanted to ask you- how were the family dynamics of doing a trip like that? Was it intended to be an all 3 together, all the time type trip? Or did you have time set aside for just you and your husband? I’d love to be the kind of person who would include another family like you have, but with vacation time being so hard to come by, I feel like I wouldn’t want to invite anyone else and have to compete for my husband’s attention. And did you initiate inviting your MIL or was it your husband’s idea?
Hey Jennifer! I briefly addressed this in my vlog, but not at length. Riley and his family lost his dad over a decade ago; with my MIL being widowed, she rarely gets out of town. (She hates traveling alone, and understandably so!) With that in mind, and the very difficult death of her mother this past February, we were more than willing to sacrifice “just us” time away in order to make sure she had space for breath and healing too, knowing she wouldn’t pursue that on her own. It’s not the kind of trip we’ll take all the time, but also something that will likely happen again in an effort to love and care for her as a valued family member and widow.
The trip (and inviting my MIL) was my idea, as are all trips around here! 😉 I’m definitely the one with the travel bug. I am very secure in my relationship with both my husband and MIL, so I don’t feel any sense of competition or competing for Riley’s attention. My MIL is very introverted and loves to spend hours alone reading, which is how she spent much of the trip when we were at the beach house. If she had a more overbearing or helicopter-mom type personality, things would be very different. (That would drive me totally nuts!) We spent lots of time all together and lots of time broken up into groups of two–and it went very well. Also, our time away was quite short with only two full days, which makes the dynamic easy and light.
Does that answer your questions? In the beginning of my vlog I note that inviting my MIL on a weekend trip is unconventional, so I realize this isn’t the norm. But I also think there’s something to be said for caring for family, especially in the wake of death, even if it requires a little sacrifice. xo
Thanks so much for your answer! Would love to hear more going forward about your in-law relationships both emotionally and logistically if you are interested in sharing that.
That’s a great idea! I’ll add it to my list of brainstorming post ideas!
The last picture of the ocean is absolutely beautiful! I have always wanted to visit Galveston but I just can’t bring myself to. Due to my having been to Hawaii I just feel like I would be disappointed by what the beach is like .
You should totally visit Galveston! I’ve been to Siesta Key, the Bahamas, Greece, and a few other places with breathtaking beaches but still loved Galveston. Obviously, the beaches and water are nothing like Hawaii or other places, but if you go expecting a new experience and a fun city with lots of history, you’re in for a treat! 🙂 Just my two cents! I bet you’d love it!
So excited you finally went to Galveston!! It’s been years since I went… Thanks for reliving memories through your beautiful photos!