Valentine's Day Romantic Trips to the Beach!

I get to plan our anniversary trips! This year is kind of special. I never thought I would be married for 20 years to the same guy. And just where did those 20 years go anyway? I blinked my eyes and here I am.

This year I've picked Galveston Island in Texas. We've made a few trips there and though it's nowhere near as wonderful as Maui is (where we met), it's still an island and it's affordable. We've got that recession thing going on, you know.

We have stayed at the San Luis Resort before and they have a fabulous pool! It's right across the street from one of the best beaches in Texas.

I have chosen the Romance Package which includes:

• Luxurious accommodations
• $100 Gift card for the spa or Landry's restaurants
  
• Gourmet breakfast buffet for two
• Chocolate dipped strawberries and chilled champagne
• Rose petals on the bed
• Valet parking

But this is what sold me on this particular romantic package...

• A moonlight Seawall drive in the resort Bentley!
  

The San Luis Resort is rated "excellent" by over 60 reviews at Trip Advisor.com and recipient of the AAA Four Diamond Award® since 2000. There are a couple of other equivalent hotels on Galveston Island, but the San Luis has a year round heated pool and an ocean view in every room! Each room also has its own balcony and room service is fantastic!

The 16-floor San Luis Resort Spa and Conference Center features a 4,000 square-foot glass promenade that towers over lobby seating clusters featuring a baby grand piano. Hotel indulgences include the Spa San Luis offering body scrubs and mineral wraps. A fitness center offers cardiovascular equipment, a boutique and a beauty salon. The hotel showcases a 50-ton rock waterfall cascading over ... 12 feet into a heated grotto spa tub, and a 45-foot customer waterslide that sends swimmers into a separate heated pool. On-site dining includes a swim-up bar open summer months, and indoor cocktails served in the private lounge, The Bar. The Steakhouse restaurant includes formal dinner selections and The Café provides a casual dining experience offering selects for breakfast, lunch and diner. Flexible meeting and event space are complemented by a business center and Internet access.

From Hotels.com

And something I did not know - With its eight-foot thick walls, Fort Crockett forms the foundation upon which the hotel is built. The fort was a mobilization center during Mexican Border troubles in 1912 and it was used to train coast artillery and served as a prison camp in World War II. So I would imagine that the hotel is also haunted :-)

Galveston Island is a Texas wonderland. When I was growing up in Houston, and I got my first car, I would head to Galveston on a weekly basis. It was my second home. I spent many nights on the beach, sleeping in my car, sometimes alone. I felt safe then. Now, not so much. As with every community in Texas, it has become very much crowded and commercialized. But there are still great things about the island.

Don't foget to take your binoculars! Dolphins are spotted from the beach. They are my favorite animals, out there cavorting free and easy in the waves. So pretty. I hope the Gulf Oil Spill hasn't affected them or their habitat and feeding grounds. I would really be bummed about that.

There is a very cool pyramid called Moody Gardens on Galveston Island. It houses the rain forest and a great aquarium. There is an IMAX theater on the premises and a short walk to the paddle wheel boat excursions in Galveston marina.

Galveston beaches can be dirty and full of mosquitoes. There are some beaches where it is quite permissible to drive on the sand! This is a fun 4 wheeler activity. Some of the beaches are nice and well maintained. Visit the beaches recommended by your hotel concierge.Swimming in the Gulf is just as dangerous as swimming in the open ocean. Galveston island has many rip tides and unusual currents, so be careful. One of the interesting things is that it's quite shallow! You can walk out into the Gulf for a long ways in some places.

The Grand Opera House and even regular houses have interesting architecture. It's like going back in time. The cemeteries are everywhere (hurricanes have killed many Galvestonians) and there are even walking cemetery tours to take. History lessons included.

Two small yet well done museums are the Lone Star Flight Museum and the Model Train Museum, although the latter was practically destroyed during hurricane Ike. I hope they have found the funds to restore it.

The Strand area is a must visit with great restaurants and coffee shops. At Christmas time, the city of Galveston sponsors Dickens on the Strand and it's hard to get a viewing spot unless you go very early.

Just off the Strand is the Tall Schooner Elissa. I took the tour of this ship once and loved it. There is something about a yacht that makes me swoon. My lottery winnings would be spent on a yacht and I would live happily ever after. One of these days, I'm going to buy a lottery ticket - note to self!

Galveston has a sea wall. Not too many sea shore settlements went to the trouble to build one of these wonderful "side walks" on the ocean. Just renting some roller blades or pedal carts will occupy your entire day at the beach. Lots of shopping and beach girl or guy watching.

Almost every restaurant on the island serves good food. I don't know why food tastes better when you're near the ocean, but it does. It's a fairly good place to get shrimp and other seafood, but I don't know about the safety of Gulf shrimp anymore because of the big oil spill and "clean up". Maybe we'll stick to iHop next to the San Luis.