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The first week of April we headed to Galveston for our annual family vacation. This year, we stayed on Galveston’s West End. We didn’t realize that the island extended that far until we arrived at our destination, the Holiday Inn Club Vacation Galveston Seaside Resort. Our stay was incredible and there’s no going back to a one room hotel for us!
There were a few factors that made this trip our best one yet the first being that we were able to pay for part of it with points. I’ll occasionally search the IHG website as we are IHG One Rewards Members to see when we can travel for free or as close to free as possible.
I’ve never before seen any of the Holiday Inn Club Vacation options available to book with points and was ecstatic to see that the Galveston Seaside Resort was available. While we didn’t have enough points accrued to cover our stay completely, we were able to combine points and cash which made our stay considerably cheap. We stayed April 1st-April 4th and since Derek and I are both IHG One Rewards Members, we used both of our points to book parts of the trip.
The first night of the trip was free with Derek’s points and then we purchased additional points for $144 and applied them to our trip making that the total we spent on lodging! I was especially excited because we’ve received email offers to stay for the same amount of time for $249 plus tax if one of us listened to a time share presentation. I’m so grateful we didn’t have to sacrifice some of our vacation to do that.
The resort was about 20 minutes away from the hotel we’ve stayed at in the past. As we drove down the island we passed the Kettle House made famous by Magnolia Network’s Restoring Galveston. Upon entering our suite, we we astonished to discover that the rooms didn’t look anything like the photos on the resort website. They were actually better! The suites on the website looked nice and bright with a coastal theme. The suite we stayed in was updated and had a modern farmhouse vibe. It was beautiful and the natural light that filled it made me so happy.
Our suite contained 2 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, a living room with a convertible couch, a galley kitchen with full size appliances, and a balcony from which we could see the ocean in the distance. After bringing our bags in, we decided to drive across the street to the other side of the resort which has an infinity pool overlooking the ocean, a snack bar, a fitness center, and a boardwalk to the beach. Since the weather was overcast, the beach was pretty empty making it easy to enjoy. We spent a bit of time at the beach and then headed back to our suite for dinner and sleep.
On our second day on the island, we headed to Rosenberg Library. It had rained that morning so I was hoping our kids could enjoy the children’s section and I would have a chance to peruse the Friends of the Rosenberg Library Bookstore. While I didn’t find anything I wanted to purchase in the bookstore, exploring the library was fascinating. There were some enchanting spaces that bookworm dreams are made of and had I not had my children with me, I could see myself spending a few hours in one of them curled up with a good book.
The library is neat to explore as it contains a museum with exhibits on the second and fourth floors. We visited the one on the fourth floor and it was really neat. The ceiling is made of stained glass and we enjoyed viewing and learning about the artifacts and artwork on display. In searching for the library on Google Maps, I noticed a place called Trube Castle nearby, and my curiosity was piqued.
We drove by it on the way back to the resort and Derek stayed in the van with our kids while I walked around to take a few pictures. The castle was built in 1890 and its black and white pavers surrounding it make it stand out in its neighborhood. It was a bit mindblowing to be so up close to something so rich with history. After taking pictures of the castle, I did a bit of research to learn more about it and found a tour of the interior on YouTube.
That afternoon, the sun came out so we headed over to the beach for a bit. The next day, we decided to explore a part of the island we hadn’t visited before. Searching for the coffee shop nearest our resort led me to find Sugar Bean Coffee and Cream in the Evia community. I did a bit of research about the community and seeing that it was beautiful and had a playscape, we decided to check it out. We had already had coffee that morning so we passed on the coffee shop and headed to the Curiousity Cove playscape on Curiousity Lane.
Our kids enjoyed playing on the playscape for a while and we enjoyed being in the sunshine surrounded by the beauty of the landscaping. Evia is a million dollar home community so it is very nice and we hope to check out the coffee shop on our next visit. After visiting Evia, we headed to Galveston’s Strand Historic District to visit Galveston Bookshop, the island’s bookstore containing both new and used books.
It was fun to explore the shop and I ended up purchasing a used vintage copy of My Utmost for His Highest and A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament from 1955. Once we left the bookshop, we headed back to our suite and then spent the afternoon at the beach.
On our final morning of the trip, we grabbed breakfast at Bronco Burritos. We love their breakfast options and I firmly believe that their fresh tortillas are worth stopping for. We also love that they have Scripture displayed all over the restaurant. We then concluded our trip the same way we typically do — with a stop at Menard Park. We usually end our trips by giving our kids an opportunity to play before having to sit in the car for the 3-4 hour ride back home.
They enjoyed the playscape for a few minutes before it was inundated with students on a field trip. We then moved over to the community garden where our kids found and enjoyed some carrots left behind by a community member. They also played on the gym equipment prior to our departure. Overall, this was our best Galveston trip yet!
The weather was perfect, the island uncrowded, and our older kids were able to do quite a few things for themselves this time including packing and making some of their own meals and snacks. We purchased paper plates to have a break from doing the dishes and while the resort has a laundry facility, I decided against doing laundry while we were there to make it feel more restful. It was sweet, too, to not allow our kids to be on their tablets for the drive there.
I purchased a few road trip games and then allowed them to watch a movie on my tablet about halfway through the trip. We also had the joy of discovering Fireman’s Park in Brenham where we stopped to use the restroom and let our kids play for a while. We enjoyed our time there so much that we stopped on the way home too! I was sad to leave the island this time and we can’t wait to visit again!
