Day 7 - Space Center Houston

We planned to meet the kids at 8:30 am with bags packed so we could grab breakfast and get on the road. We have about a 35 minute drive toward Houston to visit the Space Center Houston where we had a private tour arranged for 10:15 am.  

We pulled in just as the doors were opening and followed the signs to our tour guide Dave.  Dave has worked for the Space Center for three years and gave a great tour... including personal stories of watching the lunar landings as a child.  He had a shadow named Robert who quietly followed behind us to make sure we didn't get separated.  Plus we had another man who drove our tour van.  

Our first stop was Mission Control.  This was the original mission control and the room that controlled all of the Apollo Missions all the way through the Challenger mission.  It has now been refurbished back to the layout that was seen during the moon landing.  We were able to sit in the viewing room where families would often come to watch and get updates on their astronaut.

Next we went to the astronaut training facility.  This was fascinating.  They had a full mock up of the International Space Station as well as the various pods and vehicles that will be used in the upcoming Artemis missions.  (Artemis II is scheduled for April 1, 2026). All of these are available for astronauts to become familar with and practice tasks in ahead of their missions.  

We were also able to see the new space suits.  Fun fact. The suits are used multiple times and typically come in basic sizes like S, M, L; however, there are 70 sizes of gloves available since a perfect fit is so critical when in space.

We got to see Valkyrie the robot that has been designed by NASA to handle much of the work in space and will likely be used in later Artemis missions.

We were able to walk a catwalk along the side of the length of the building.  Typically our tour would also take us down on the floor but because of the pending mission and geo-political climate, we were not able to on this visit. 

Next we went to Rocket Park and were able to see the rocket that was used in the Mercury mission.

And then compare it to the more modern Saturn V rockets used for the Apollo.  This one was supposed to go to the moon in one of the last three missions that were subsequently cancelled. So it is almost 50 years old but still amazing.  I had no idea of the size!  

A big shout out to Tyler who finds a way to make anything interesting to Sammy. She was getting a little bored with some of our questions and he immediately found a few things to piek her interest.

Next, we took a tour through one of the space shuttles and one of the 747 transports that were designed to move it across the country.

Finally we wrapped up the tour back at the museum building where Dave walked us through the exhibits.

Both kids got to touch a piece of moon rock.

Once the tour was over, we visited the cafeteria for a late lunch and a few games of Battleship (yes, Sammy still won).  At this point, we decided to part ways.  Scott and Sammy headed to BJs for a favorite dessert while Tyler and I stuck around for a documentary called Moonwalkers and then did some shopping in the gift store.

I had a hotel reserved only about 15 minutes away close to the shoreline again.  Well, I thought I did.  But when we arrived for check in there wasn't any reservation for tonight.  (Apparently I booked it for last night by mistake). So we decided, to take advantage of the mistake and start our trip north toward Dallas.  We have a tour scheduled tomorrow around lunchtime but we are at least four hours away so we figured driving a bit tonight will set us up well for a more relaxing morning.

We drove til around 6:30 pm since Tyler had to work at 7:00 pm.  That will take 2 hours off our drive tomorrow.  We ran through the Whataburger drive through for Tyler and got him settled in.  Then Sammy, Scott and I went out to Olive Garden for supper and then hit Walmart to do some shopping.  We got back to our rooms around 9:00 pm - the first time all day that we could sit down. 

Sammy was shot.  I was too.  We all settled in and just relaxed after a very long day.

The hotel we are staying in is nothing special but it cost me just $19 for two rooms with some points that I had aquired. It was a Holiday Inn close to the highway but check out the size of the kids room - it is the largest, spacious double room I've ever seen!  

OK. Great day in Houston.  So glad we could do the tour and definitely something I will be remembering as we watch the Artemis missions in the years to come.  

Day 6 - Lots of Museums

I had an early morning zoom call so I got up early and headed to the lobby to get my work done.  Once the Zoom call was finished, I went back to the room but ended up on our balcony to finish my quiet time.  It was a great view. 

We grabbed breakfast from the buffet in the hotel lobby and then headed out for the day.  We have selected three museums to visit.  The first, at Tyler's request, is a railroad museum.  The tour started in the lobby / gift shop, set up to look like an old time train depot with white statues on display wearing clothes from the 20s-30s. Then we headed into a building of train displays and models and watched a documentary on the Freedom Train that toured the US for the bicentennial.  Then it was outdoors to check out the real trains with various cars - sleeper, mail, kitchen, dining, etc.  Tyler was so excited!

 

Next, we headed to the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum.  When we arrived, they were closed for a private event, so we headed to lunch at Chick-Fil-A to kill some time.

When we returned, we toured three levels including the outdoor platform to learn more about the oil industry and drilling itself.  It was very interesting.

A funny note, on the final floor and end of the tour, is a safety zone and one exhibit highlights the different alarms and what they mean on an oil rig.  My sweet girl thought it hilarious to pretend to curse and then use the sirens to BLEEP out the words.  We could hear her all over the exhibit floor (luckily we were alone). She had such a good time at that one simple exhibit - literally made her day!

At this point, we decided to head back to the room for a quick rest.  The next museum is the Galveston Naval Museum, which includes touring a battleship and submarine.  Sammy decided she could sit this one out, so she and I stayed at the hotel while the guys headed out.

Sammy and I relaxed in our room a while.  She worked on a LEGO set while I finished my Bible study.  Then we put on our suits and headed out to by the ocean.  We walked the beach, and sat on the piers watching one particularly skilled bird dive for fish.  We had a great conversation and it was just what we needed to wrap up the day.

The boys thoroughly enjoyed their time at the Naval Museum and appreciated the uncrowded access and lowkey atmosphere.

Speaking of battleships, one of our past times on this trip has been to play board games together on our phones, primarily Battleship.  Ironically, Sammy has honed in her skills and now consistantly spanks all the rest of us every time she plays.  Its equal parts infuriating and laughable to us 80s kids who grew up playing the game thinking we were pretty good.

On their way back to the hotel, they picked up Papa's Pizza, rated best pizza on the island for 8 years straight!  Tyler had to work at 6:00 pm tonight so the kids enjoyed a meal in the hotel while Scott and I headed out on a date night.  We ate at Landry's Steak and Seafood, just 0.3 miles down the road from the hotel.  It was a great meal.  Afterwards we took a drive to check out the southern end of the island and then grabbed a coffee on the way home.  

Sammy was awaiting our return and met us at the door with her swimsuit on!  We quick got changed and headed down to the hottub.  It was a great and relaxing end to the night.

After showers, Sammy joined us in our room to snuggle up and read me more of her latest novel.  By the time we finished, Scott was done in the shower and Tyler wrapped up work and came over as well.

Then we all hung out on our bed and talked, teased and laughed together.  It'll probably last as my best memory of the entire trip.  It was getting late and I was starting to drift off so we made a plan for morning and sent the kids back to their rooms.  Good night Galveston, its been fun!

Day 5 - Alamo, Legos and the Ocean

I had a meeting this morning so the kids and Scott were up and out of the room by 8:00 am.  They hit the breakfast buffet in the lobby and were ready to go when I wrapped up at 8:30.  They were already packed up so I just finished a few things and we checked out and loaded up the rental car.

We had a few more things to do in San Antonio before we left the area, so we grabbed some rental scooters parked on the curb and headed to the Alamo.  The tour was a full two hours, so we opted to move through at our own pace.  We spent time in the long barracks, the church, saw an incredibly large tree, watched a demonstration on artillery, visited several memorials and watched the video of a reenactment of the last stand.  It was very interesting to be in the spaces that we've heard stories of.  

From there, we walked over to a nearby mall and took a look at the Lego store as promised.  We made our purchases and decided to wrap up our time in San Antonio.  We got lucky and found four available scooters right outside the mall so rather than sitting in the back of an Uber, we chose the scooters once again.  Its honestly a ton of fun!

The weather was overcast to start our morning but quickly turned to sun.  The high temps stayed in the 80s today and it was quite pleasant as we moved around town.

We were leaving San Antonio around 11:00 am.  We wanted to get on the road and out of town before looking for a lunch stop.  We ended up stopping at Whataburger in Seguin, TX.  It was our first time and we were all surprised by the sheer size of the sandwiches.  Great meal for us all even if I couldn't finish it!

We made it about another half hour up the road before I needed to use the bathroom so we stopped at Buccee's to fill up the fuel as well.  

From here, the details get a little fuzzy for me as I took a little siesta.  But I woke up around 3:00 pm as Scott was pulling off to find a Starbucks, which is just the jump I needed for the afternoon.

We pulled into our hotel on Galveston Island, around 3:50pm. Its so wonderful to see the ocean again - just beautiful!  We have two oceanfront rooms here for the next two nights.

We took about an hour to settle in and take a rest.  Then headed down the sea wall to check out the restaurants and shops.  We stopped for dinner at Brick House Tavern + Tap.  It was what you'd expect for a bar with burgers, wings, nachos, etc.  It was a good meal but we decided to sit outside to enjoy the ocean views.  Unfortunately, we aren't used to the cooler temps and Sammy and I were quite cold while waiting for our meals to arrive.  Tyler ordered an appetizer for his meal... but when it arrived it was way more than we expected. Hehe.

After dinner, we drove to the northern tip of the island and enjoyed watching some large freighters moving through the bay and several anchored for the night.

Then it was back to our hotel.  Scott and Sammy hit the pool and hot tub while Tyler worked on some homework and I wrapped up some computer work.

Everyone was back in their rooms by 8:30 pm to settle in for some down time.  I'm looking forward to an early night...  we have another big day planned for tomorrow.

Today's weather in San Antonio: 
High - 88*  Low - 66*

Today's weather in Galveston Island:
High - 75*  Low - 68*