Relaxing on the Bolivar Peninsula of TX

After spending just over two months in big city Austin, we were really looking forward to a quiet spot to relax and boy did we find it!  We headed southeast to the Bolivar Peninsula and after a non eventful trip through busy Houston on I-10, we arrived around 2pm.  The Bolivar Peninsula is across the Galveston Bay from touristy Galveston.  There are a handful of local restaurants, small RV parks, an all in one grocery, beach and hardware store, a small Family Dollar, Dollar General and a couple gas stations.  That is about it.  No huge t-shirt shops, no chain restaurants and certainly not alot of tourists.  There are some folks that come in for the weekend but that is about it.  Peace and quiet is the name of the game and just what we wanted!

We are staying at The Lazy Pelican RV Park and what a wonderful hidden gem it is!  The owner, Chris and his wife Bunny, live nearby and are always around to help you out but give you lots of space.  They are wonderful hosts who are always bettering the park in some way.  The park has 37 FHU sites with picnic tables and concrete pads, screaming free wifi and...wait for it...FREE LAUNDRY!  Who does that?  The laundry room is a little FEMA trailer that he has gutted out, but left the bathroom.  There are 3 washers and 3 dryers, a folding table, and a hanging rod and even a little library with books and videos.  There is also palm trees scattered throughout the park, grass at each site and a cute little tiki hut and pergola area to relax and watch the sun rise or set.  The park is on the beach side of 87, the only main road on the peninsula and is on a dead end road, so really only local traffic.  It is very quiet at night and peaceful during the day.  We have enjoyed sitting outside and reading at our site.  We really think we have one of the best sites since our sitting area borders the pergola area and is separated by 4 lovely palm trees.

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Sunrises and sunsets here are pretty nice and Rick has been getting shots of both.

In order to get to civilization, as the locals here call it, or Galveston, you need to take a car ferry which is operated by the TX DOT.  They operate 24/7, 365 days a year.  There is always one ferry in operation, with at second ferry coming online at 6:30am and others as needed.  Each ferry can hold up to 20 vehicles.  Semis and larger vehicles are also permitted as long as they are under 13'6" tall and weigh less than 80,000 pds.  We are actually going to take the RV on as we leave the peninsula.  We just need to call ahead to let them know a vehicle of our size is coming on so they can arrange vehicles appropriately.

Our first ride on the ferry was a rainy and very foggy day, which made it a bit nerve wracking with the big dually and not knowing the process.  We were fine though and enjoyed the ride.  Our next ferry ride was a better day and we were able to see the sights and the dolphins jumping around the ferry.   There always seems to be alot of large ships waiting in the gulf area to either be offloaded or led in with a tug.  And then there are the birds.  Lots of birds.  This area has alot of bird sanctuaries as well as your normal gull flocks.  They like to lead the ferry back and forth.

There is an interesting wreck left in the harbor area that you pass on the ferry.  The SS Selma was an experimental concrete ship from the WW1 era and had a short stint as a oil tanker until it hit a jetty and cracked.  It sits in that spot still today. 

There is also the Seawolf Park as you come into Galveston.  The museum features a WWII submarine, USS Cavalla, and one of only three destroyer escorts in the world, the USS Stewart.  Unfortunately they are currently under restoration so we can't tour them.

Just before you get onto the ferry on the peninsula side, there is a neat park called Fort Travis Seashore Park.  It dates back to 1819 when troops came to the area to liberate the Spanish Province.  The Fort was in service from that time, through the Civil War when federal troops took possession of the Fort and again through WW1 and WW11.  In 1949 the fort was closed and sold as surplus property.  The 60 acre park was developed in 1976 and you can still see most of the batteries and some of the buildings used.  Being situated right on the end of the peninsula, it is a great place to come and watch the big ships and enjoy the views of the water.

The peninsula also has a lighthouse that is privately owned and a cool jetty that runs out about 5 miles into the water.  You can walk out about 2 miles out and the first 200 yards is paved.  The day we visited, we saw alot of crabbers and fisherman out at this popular spot.

We have also spent our fair share of time on the beach searching for shells and shark teeth.  We have found some cool shells but the shark teeth have eluded us.  We will continue our quest to find at least one.  The other cool thing about the peninsula is that you can drive your vehicle or gulf cart out on the beach, so of course we had to get some beach truck porn!  We even saw a schoolie camping out, but on a very windy day!

We also continued our BBQ tour through Texas with the Texas BBQ Pit Stop in Galveston.  These folks used to travel the BBQ competition circuit and have now opened a couple restaurants.  Some good, moist brisket and pulled pork, but still Valentina's in Austin is our favorite!

Other than that, we have visited the Galveston Island State Park and expanded our RV'ing friend bank when we visited with  Rick and Vonceil Cook, fellow Grand Design Solitude owners who are staying at Stella Mare RV Resort over in Galveston.  We also spent a day in Houston while Rick renewed his ServSafe certification.

We have enjoyed just chillin, our daily beach walks and getting ready for our little side cruise excursion while we are here.  Yep,  we splurged and gave ourselves a cruise for Christmas.  Well, if you call $188 each for a 5 day/4 night cruise on Royal Carribean a splurge.  I call it a steal we couldn't pass up!  More on that adventure in our next update!  Stay tuned!