Welcome to Saturday in Galveston, Texas.  It may be October 1st, but the hotel is busy, and we are of the opinion that the “season” doesn’t stop for this Gulf Coast Beach town on Labor Day!

Had to take a picture of this morning’s breakfast at the Comfort Inn we are staying at.  Now, we have told you a little bit about the “free” breakfasts we have “enjoyed” at most of our overnight stops, and many of them have been good.  We think the best so far was at the San Antonio Homewood Suites, where the breakfast choices changed daily, and the view from the glass walled breakfast room overlooking the Riverwalk didn’t.  Several of the Best Western’s we’ve stayed at have been close seconds, with nice choices and a nice breakfast area (like the 11th floor overlooking the water at the Corpus Christi Best Western).  A lot have some kind of egg dish, some kind of breakfast meat, and perhaps a waffle station, along with cold cereal, toast and muffins, juice, coffee, and tea.  Some of the Best Westerns even have a “pancake machine”!  Hit a button and in about a minute, 2 freshly cooked pancakes come out on a conveyor belt and dump on your plate!  We’ve experienced breakfasts from so so (an Econolodge early on the trip, where everything was hermetically sealed) to great, but this morning we got something we’d never seen before.  Eggs and Pigs in Blankets!

After breakfast, we came back to the room, and I got busy on the computer and paid all our bills that are due through the 3rd week in October.  Then it was time to get out and about, and to take care of last minute tasks before leaving on the cruise tomorrow morning.  Traffic was so heavy on Seawall Blvd. in front of the hotel, that even though we wanted to make a left, we had to make a right!  Yes, the season isn’t over here by a long shot!

Our first task was to find a Wells Fargo Bank to make our last land based ATM withdrawal. We used Wells Fargo for this trip because they have branches in more states that any other bank, and generally we have driven by one at least once a day.  Wouldn’t you know that Galveston was one place that didn’t have one, so we had to get back on the Interstate and off the island, to get that done.  The rest of our tasks were accomplished on the island.  They ranged from hitting the Target to buy a couple of things for us, but mostly things that Kenny sent us a list of yesterday, and find a self service car wash so the bugs don’t bake on the Sonata as she sits for 2 weeks in the Texas sun.  Because of where we were on the island, we then decided to check out the port, so we had an idea where we were going tomorrow and how to get there.  That done, we headed back towards the beach, looking for a liquor store.  We needed a bottle of Titos Vodka (how come a vodka made in Texas is cheaper in New Jersey and New York than in Texas???) and the boys requested a handle of Fireball!  Well, we drove, and drove, and drove, and finally found one.  The sign on the door said, “see attendant at convenience store next door”.  I did, and the girl running the liquor store came and let me in.  Hey, when in Rome!  Since we’d already gassed up the Sonata, we were done with our outside list!

When we got back to the hotel we took the “Cruise Suitcase”  out of the Sonata’s trunk for the first time since we put it in there, back on August 20th on Long Island!  For the last 42 days, our “cruise clothes” have been patiently waiting for October 2nd and their time to shine!  Of course, they may be a little wrinkled, but we can get that fixed on the ship!  A more important concern is how well some of them fit after OUR 42 days on the road!!  We shall see!

Once we got to the room, Susie got all our suitcases open so that she could separate the stuff going and the stuff staying with the car.  Honestly, having everything we own just sitting in the car in the parking lot has become a very normal thing for us over the last 6 weeks.   In some way,  I think Susie had some fear about repacking, but honestly she found that she had a clear idea of what was going and what was staying, and the job was a lot easier than she had anticipated!  As we are getting to that age, packing our prescriptions for the cruise took a little bit of time, but that too went smoothly, and in short order, we find we are packed and ready!

Some are going with us, some are spending 2 weeks in the trunk of the car

Susie decided to do a few last minute laundry items, and as I write this blog, they are turning in the hotel’s washer and dryer, she is relaxing on her iPad, and we are enjoying a Sailor Jerry and Coke Zero!  We contemplated going out tonight for a nice dinner, but seeing how busy the island is and the fact that it’s Saturday, we’ve decided to go low key!  There is a Jimmy Johns Sandwich Shop right next to the hotel on Seawall Blvd, and when the laundry is done, we’re just going to walk over there, and order a couple of sandwiches.  Never been, but I know Kenny has sung their praises in the past, when he was on the Annie National Tour, and a heavier version of the son we now have, so we’re going to give it a try.  Tonight we’re just going to relax in front of the TV as Susie does her nails, cuts my hair (my exclusive barber for 37 years), and take showers.  A low key night to prepare for 14 crazy, wonderful, relaxing, Sun & Fun-filled days on the Liberty of the Seas!!!

The ship docks back in Galveston tomorrow morning, and Chris’ Dad and Stepmom sign off after a week long cruise with the boys!  Our plan is to get to the dock about 9:30, hopefully get our bags dropped, and the car parked in time to meet up with them at 10 AM.  As Chris’ Family is from Reno, Nevada, we haven’t yet had the opportunity to meet them, and are looking forward to the greeting before they get picked up at 11AM to head to the airport!  Kenny and Chris have been together since they met in rehearsals for their first Liberty of the Seas cruise back in June of 2015, and we really got to know him when we cruised with them last September to Bermuda.  He’s a great guy, and they are very good together, and we are looking forward to spending two weeks with “our boys”.  Let’s see if THEY can handle the old folks for 2 weeks!!  Poor kids, family three weeks in a row!!!

“Our Boys” from our cruise to Bermuda last September of the LOS

So that’s it folks.  Susie and I bid you farewell for a couple of weeks as we head into a different kind of adventure for the next 14 nights!  The car and traveling just about every day, has become such a normal existence, it will probably take us a day or two to get use to it, but I’m sure we will!  14 nights in luxurious sheets in the same bed, in our own little home, with breakfasts on our balcony overlooking the Caribbean Sea or a tropical island port, having fun with the boys and their friends every day, great food, great entertainment, and the Unlimited Drink Package Kenny got us…yea, I think we can get used to it!!  Please be well, and know that when we get back to Texas on October 16th, I will do my best to update on the next 14 days!  Till then, Bon Voyage You All!