Friday afternoon as we were all leaving our various jobs, my friends and I decided to take a spontaneous road-trip to a Gulf Coast beach.
We managed to find a last minute condo so we grabbed a few things and met up.
We began to drive. And we drove, and drove, and drove. It was almost 10 pm but the roads leading to the shores were fairly busy—others had the same idea we had.

After a few hours, we could smell the tang of the saltwater—we were getting closer and closer.
Finally, we arrived.

By the time we arrived, it was too late to do much of anything so we took a stroll around the property.

The views were great and we were right on the beach. It was pretty windy and hearing the waves crash on the beach and against the seawall sounded awesome.

It was almost midnight and we scouted a few restaurants we wanted to try but at the moment, we just wanted something fast and good, no frills necessary. The guys went looking for food and found a few food trucks parked along the beach. They came back with Peking duck wings, turkey legs, tacos, and ribs for everyone. We munched and made plans.

Daylight came, bringing a great view and rough water.

We got dressed and took a walk to a breakfast cafe. After we ate, we walked a little further to this beachfront shop that sold swimsuits, towels, and souvenirs since we all left our homes without packing much.
The beach store was selling little hermit crabs as souvenirs in cute cages for $25. I thought it would be an easy pet to have so I bought one and my friend bought me another so it could have company.
Guess what? This was my baby cousin’s first real road-trip since she arrived from Naija and just like the cunning Naija girl she is, she found herself a free hermit crab on the beach to keep as a pet!

I’ll stop talking now and just share a few beach pictures, including Oyinbo out searching for treasure with his metal detector. I’ll be back to share more pictures as the weekend continued on. Thank you for visiting my thread, hope you enjoy. 😃

Next stop—Moody Gardens. Hopefully, it’s not too late for us to get aquarium tickets!

More sights from around the Island.

⛱️Oh no, here comes the rain!
⛱️Pleasure Pier
⛱️The Grand Galvez, a hotel that is still standing after over a century and countless hurricanes.
⛱️Clearing beach goers before the rain and really big waves start.

The 3 Pyramids of Moody Gardens
🔺Clear Pyramid houses an indoor rainforest and botanical garden. Temperatures are kept warm
and conditions humid so that the many species of trees that thrive in rainforests and jungles in other countries can thrive indoors.
🔺Bluish Pyramid houses an aquarium and imax theater
🔺Pinkish Pyramid has everything you can imagine under one roof

-Schlitterbahn Waterpark
-more Schlitterbahn
- a Cockatoo just chilling in his mini-habitat

More of Moody Gardens

I have so many more pictures to load but Nairaland won’t let me be great.
😡
Stay tuned for more.

Nice pics and briefings. Seems like you live wayyy away from the sea .... to drive soooo damn far to see the sea ... and instead of plunging in the bed you be out roaming at midnight. [s]In Naija you be labeled witch and then.......[/s]. I never thought you were an eater.... one whole hog leg .... turkey wings and whatever.... then jumping up early to rush the lo al eateries. Really?
Glad you showed the sea wall... was trying to see it in the other photos. That oldddd hotel .... still standing I'm sure because it's made of stone.... those buildings don't shift for nothing.

Keep on posting ..... bring back the thread! Following!

Nice

1stGenAmerican:
I have so many more pictures to load but Nairaland won’t let me be great.
😡
Stay tuned for more.

Finally you out on a flexing mood... Oya upload today Grove.. no keep us hanging

Sorry what device do you use? Is it nairaland quality or yours??

1stGenAmerican:
I have so many more pictures to load but Nairaland won’t let me be great.
😡
Stay tuned for more.

...we are waiting for the remaining pictures....Nice thread.

⛱️

Originalsly:
Nice pics and briefings. Seems like you live wayyy away from the sea .... to drive soooo damn far to see the sea ... and instead of plunging in the bed you be out roaming at midnight. [s]In Naija you be labeled witch and then.......[/s]. I never thought you were an eater.... one whole hog leg .... turkey wings and whatever.... then jumping up early to rush the lo al eateries. Really?
Glad you showed the sea wall... was trying to see it in the other photos. That oldddd hotel .... still standing I'm sure because it's made of stone.... those buildings don't shift for nothing.

Keep on posting ..... bring back the thread! Following!

Haha 😂 I sure would definitely be called a witch.
I’m just a few hours from the sea but we made a detour to pickup someone that was in the opposite direction.
Bro, I’m not as bad as you think. 😇 The legs and other foods you saw were divided up amongst six people. None of us had eaten anything since lunch but it was too late to eat heavy which is why we split things up.
I’m going to see if I can find a better pic of the seawall for you. Compared to the levees in the south, the Seawall was cheaper and more effective.

Martinsmine:



Finally you out on a flexing mood... Oya upload today Grove.. no keep us hanging

I’m trying. I have at least 30 more to share from this trip alone but this site makes uploading so hard. Let me try again.

Butterfly 🦋 Sanctuary surrounded by plants that attract different varieties.

More of the 🦋 sanctuary

Yeah, hope the whole experience is not "pricey".

1stGenAmerican:
Butterfly 🦋 Sanctuary surrounded by plants that attract different varieties.

Abeg more pics...

How long was the drive? seems like fun! I am usually lazy with long distance drives.

Galveston I guess?

Skyview01:
How long was the drive? seems like fun! I am usually lazy with long distance drives.

after
It would’ve been between four and five hours had we left earlier and not detoured to pick up everyone. The drive seems much shorter during the day because there are more places to stop (stopping at Buckee’s is a must) and more to see.

sonnie10:
Galveston I guess?

You guessed correctly. We’re going to checkout South Padre Island next then Gulf Shores, Al. If you have any other suggestions, please lmk.

1stGenAmerican:

after
It would’ve been between four and five hours had we left earlier and not detoured to pick up everyone. The drive seems much shorter during the day because there are more places to stop (stopping at Buckee’s is a must) and more to see.

That seems an awesome experience. I would like to try it someday but rest of my family are usually carsick after a 3-drive.