Spencer and I have been spending our summer traveling, one of our favorite things to do! There are so many trips that I need to write and update on. I will start with our most recent, spending last weekend in Texas for the 4th of July. We knew that we wanted to do something for the 4th of July. We just weren't quite sure what or where. Some ideas we had were Colorado Springs and Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. The week of the 4th we both decided we wanted to spontaneously go to the beach. To live in Kansas, that is quite the drive for a weekend trip. But, we were determined that we would make it happen.
If you know anything about traveling near the beach for the 4th, you know that hotels can get ridiculously expensive very quickly. Originally, we wanted to stay on Galveston Island. However, hotels were around $400 a night and for this to have been such a last minute trip idea, we wanted to keep it more budget friendly. We decided we would stay in Houston and make a day trip down to Galveston while we were there. We booked a hotel at Aloft at the Galleria, in uptown Houston right next to the huge mall. It was pet friendly which made it great to bring our dogs along. There was also a pool. We love staying at Aloft hotels because they are always affordable, modern, and clean. We managed to score 2 nights for under $200 total!
Our first day in Houston, we were exhausted. We ended up deciding to shop around at the mall next to the hotel and grabbed dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Going to a Hard Rock Cafe when we are visiting a new city has become a tradition of ours.
The next day was the 4th of July! We woke up early and packed a lunch in our cooler. We headed out for the beach and surprisingly did not run into any traffic at all! Galveston was amazing. They have parking off of the street right near the beach. It was nice to be able to see and walk to our car from our spot on the ocean when we needed to. The best part was that it was not hard to find a spot and only cost us $1 per hour. The water at Galveston was fairly brown but there were waves and it was the beach, so we were just thankful to be there. There was a pier with a lot of rides and plenty of cute seafood restaurants right by the water. If we were staying for longer, I would have loved to have tried those!
After going to the beach, we decided to get dinner at Jersey Mike's Subs. I have heard about this place before but I never tried it until in Texas. I got a Philly Cheesesteak and was not disappointed. We decided to picnic at the Waterwall Park in Houston. It was located at the Gerald D. Hines Park. It was so interesting to see kids playing on the grass and running around here. Spencer and I are both from North Carolina and did not grow up in a large city area. We are both very used to having a back yard. These kids obviously lived in the apartments and condos in the middle of the city and came to this park to play. It was interesting to see the mix of tourism and locals here.
To cap off the trip, we grabbed cookies from the mall and relaxed at our hotel pool. When it was time for fireworks that night, we went to the top level of our hotel and could see several firework shows in the distance. I have heard that Houston puts on an awesome show. If you are ever in the area, I would definitely recommend going to it! We were just too drained to face the crowds at that point. The next day we headed back to Kansas and the real world. We ended up spending a total of 30 hours in the car that weekend. But, to be at the beach and make new memories visiting a new state, I would say it was worth it!
If you know anything about traveling near the beach for the 4th, you know that hotels can get ridiculously expensive very quickly. Originally, we wanted to stay on Galveston Island. However, hotels were around $400 a night and for this to have been such a last minute trip idea, we wanted to keep it more budget friendly. We decided we would stay in Houston and make a day trip down to Galveston while we were there. We booked a hotel at Aloft at the Galleria, in uptown Houston right next to the huge mall. It was pet friendly which made it great to bring our dogs along. There was also a pool. We love staying at Aloft hotels because they are always affordable, modern, and clean. We managed to score 2 nights for under $200 total!
Our first day in Houston, we were exhausted. We ended up deciding to shop around at the mall next to the hotel and grabbed dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Going to a Hard Rock Cafe when we are visiting a new city has become a tradition of ours.
The next day was the 4th of July! We woke up early and packed a lunch in our cooler. We headed out for the beach and surprisingly did not run into any traffic at all! Galveston was amazing. They have parking off of the street right near the beach. It was nice to be able to see and walk to our car from our spot on the ocean when we needed to. The best part was that it was not hard to find a spot and only cost us $1 per hour. The water at Galveston was fairly brown but there were waves and it was the beach, so we were just thankful to be there. There was a pier with a lot of rides and plenty of cute seafood restaurants right by the water. If we were staying for longer, I would have loved to have tried those!
After going to the beach, we decided to get dinner at Jersey Mike's Subs. I have heard about this place before but I never tried it until in Texas. I got a Philly Cheesesteak and was not disappointed. We decided to picnic at the Waterwall Park in Houston. It was located at the Gerald D. Hines Park. It was so interesting to see kids playing on the grass and running around here. Spencer and I are both from North Carolina and did not grow up in a large city area. We are both very used to having a back yard. These kids obviously lived in the apartments and condos in the middle of the city and came to this park to play. It was interesting to see the mix of tourism and locals here.
To cap off the trip, we grabbed cookies from the mall and relaxed at our hotel pool. When it was time for fireworks that night, we went to the top level of our hotel and could see several firework shows in the distance. I have heard that Houston puts on an awesome show. If you are ever in the area, I would definitely recommend going to it! We were just too drained to face the crowds at that point. The next day we headed back to Kansas and the real world. We ended up spending a total of 30 hours in the car that weekend. But, to be at the beach and make new memories visiting a new state, I would say it was worth it!
