Day 3 in Kemah, Texas

We had horrible weather yesterday.  The storm sounded like 18 wheelers crashing into each other.  The ground and our walls shook for hours.   Many work places and schools were closed due to flooding.  As for me, a person who is not a fan of bad weather, it was scary.

We haven’t figured it out yet, but across from our apartment looks like a farm of some sort.

This is a lake beside the lake in our apartment’s property that belongs to a trailer park, and they have a sign posted that reads; “Beware of alligator that has been seen in this lake, take caution when walking around lake”.

When the sun came out we took a ride, and as we went over a few bridges I was able take a few snaps of the homes in the beach town.

We have a few plans for this weekend but, staying close to home and explore what is around us.   Luis picked his schedule for work and he will be working 9 hour days so he can have every other Friday off to have long weekends with me to venture around, super sweet!

Day 1 in Kemah, Texas

Our place is called Summerbrooke in Kemah, Texas, about 30 miles from Houston and 40 miles from Galveston.

My first thought of the area while driving in was, “it’s very industrial, and so ugly, will I have trouble breathing here”.

(picture found on google)

Thankfully his new employer set us up in an area outside of the industrial and refinery park.

Kemah is a beach town, which kind of reminds me of Naples or Key West.

The best part, our apartment is fully furnished.  We feel like we are living in a hotel!

So, without further ado here is our place for the next four months.

First look into our place.  I tired to get a picture without the boxes, but Luis was quicker than I was.

The items that were left for us as welcoming gifts were very thoughtful.  Like a few rolls of paper towels, toilet paper, hotel size shampoo and conditioner, coffee, snacks, dish soap, dishwasher soap, detergent, and even two bottles of water in the refrigerator for us.

See that little owl pillow sitting on our bed?  Luis got it for me on our last night in Atlanta, just a little gift to make me smile since I was feeling a little overwhelmed.

There is Luis trying to set up my new office, haha.

I love how they had the towels on display.  As I mentioned, the welcoming details were adorable.

The bowl with the dove soaps was a Christmas gift from my boss, and they smell delicious.

My first walk-in closet, ever.

Luis had the idea to add these little owl ornaments to the orchid on the dining room table.  The ornaments were another Christmas gift from my other boss, who I adore completely, along with a owl salt and pepper shakers, and owl coffee mugs.  I received a lot of bird themed gifts for Christmas, that has too be a good thing, birds are positive, right!?

We had to bring our Taco octopus pillow that we bought in Osaka, Japan as well.

Our view from the third floor, outside of our apartment, looking towards the lake.

Our first sunset in Texas.

After the sun went down, we headed towards the boardwalk for dinner.

Crab dip.

Lobster Daddy Feast.

I was little hesitant eating at Joe’s Crab Shack.  I thought it would be a little too commercial, or not good quality seafood.  I loved it.  I loved the drinks, the dips, the seafood pots, and most of all, I loved the price.  My lobster and crab boil was about $25.00.  You can’t beat that, and it was good!  I even got to keep my drink cup which was a mason jar with a crab on it (yay to cancer signs).  I think Luis is in trouble.  I could see me requesting to eat at this place often.

Surrounding the Kemah Boardwalk are a bunch of fun carnival games.  Even with all the rides, the boardwalk is very relaxing, and it’s very clean.

The moon was so bright!

There are lots of restaurants and shops on the boardwalk, and it’s only a few minutes from our place.  Close enough to bike ride so, I think Luis and I will be going to the boardwalk often.

We both agree, it’s nice to be close to the water again.

Another Long Drive

It probably wasn’t our best idea to drive from Atlanta to Miami a few days prior to driving to Texas from Atlanta.  The Miami drive was about 663 miles, and the Texas drive was about 790 miles.  When we drive to Miami we have always driven straight through, but with this Texas trip we decided to take our time and have an overnight stay somewhere in Louisiana.

I have never been to or driven through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, or Texas.  For some reason I was really excited for Louisiana.  Something about swamps, creepy trees with moss, alligators, and bayou music (cajun music ?).  We took I-10, which was a really neat highway that seemed to have hundreds of miles of us driving on a low bridge above the swamp, as well as lots of bridges with great views.  While we were driving on the swamp freeway we made sure to have a cajun radio station on for the full experience, and they played “when the saints go marching in”, the Creole version.  Perfect, for getting us in the mood for the Saints vs. Lions game last night.  We decided to stop about 30 miles outside of Baton Rouge, in Slidell.  We stayed at La Quinta Inn, our new favorite chain, and ate at an Olive Garden since it was that or Taco Bell.

The next morning we woke up to fog and saw lots of cattle farms and rice fields while heading towards Kemah, Texas.

I wish I had taken pictures along our drive, as I intended, but I didn’t.  We plan to take a weekend trip to New Orleans in the next few weeks, and at that time I will be sure to make a few stops and snap a picture or two. In the meantime, here are some pictures Luis was nice enough to snap while we were driving.

Somewhere in Alabama. We loved seeing all the pines trees.

A gift Luis gave to me while we were in Miami.  It’s a cow that dances when light hits it.  I named him Baile, which means to dance or lead someone in a dance in Spanish.  I love my cow, and he does get me to dance in my seat when I see him shake side to side.

According to our GPS, you can see we only have 673 more miles!

Blouxi, Mississippi.

And, that’s the end of our road trip pictures.  I told you it wasn’t much.  Please, don’t be upset.  I have many more picture to come!