Jacob had been fascinated by a show he had seen on the Discovery Channel about the dangers of catching Alaskan crab and had been talking about eating some since we left. I figured we could find any kind of crab in Galveston. We drove along Seawall Boulevard eventually choosing a nice local restaurant. When we entered, Jacob asked the maitre d if they had crab legs. "Try Landry's," the host said. I thought what he meant was 'we don't serve your kind here' as we looked like bums. We found Landry's about a half mile up the road and were seated at a table that had a view of the Gulf. He satisfied his curiosity, ordered, and ate a pound and a half of meaty barnacled claws of some grandfather crustaceans whose scent stayed with us til at least Houston.


To get to Galveston, we got off I 10 at the Winnie exit as my Texan cousin Jim suggested. We took a scenic state road that parted the Gulf of Mexico on the left and cattle grazing land on the right. The road ended and we drove onto the ferry that took us across the bay and into Galveston.

Galveston was much prettier than I had imagined. I found that just driving the interstate through East Texas makes me think how I'll bet people love it here, especially if it is home for them. On the beach, the adults sat under aqua umbrellas in wooden chaises that were in a neat row along the curvy shore, and many children were playing in the water. Jacob had put on his swimsuit and fit in, but I conspicuously walked to the water in the traveling clothes - long pants, T shirt, checkered visor - I had worn all day, along with a royal blue towel over my shoulder and a camera around my neck. We didn't stay too long. Had to get on the road anyway.

I 10 took us around the extremely congested city of Houston, an adventure in itself. We eventually made it to this crummy Comfort Inn on the outskirts of San Antonio.