Much to our disappointment, the Rainforest Pyramid is closed for renovations until next April. We purchased tickets for a "Dolphins and Whales" IMAX and the aquarium. Unfortunately, neither one of them measured up.
The film featured beautiful cinematography and soothing music, but just wasn't very interesting. And the aquarium was much smaller than either one of us expected. I guess after having experienced the Baltimore National Aquarium and the one in New Orleans, it's tough for anything else to meet the standard.
Next we headed out to Bolivar Peninsula. I spent many summers there, and I wanted to see how it was faring after the storm. We found more houses that we expected, but poor Gilchrist had just about been wiped out. Lots of blank slabs and stilts holding up nothing. We discovered a bit of rebuilding, but also several families living in trailers on their slabs. A little sad. But I do always enjoy the ferry ride. Took some cool photos, which will be posted to my Facebook page soon.
Next destination: The Strand, Galveston's historic shopping district. I had heard that 80% of businesses had returned, and on previous passes through the area, things seemed pretty much back to normal. But I must say we were disappointed in the shops we found. Mostly touristy t-shirts and sunglasses, and more empty storefronts than we expected.
We did find a lovely wine bar...Bacchus. Bruce had a white wine flight, I a red wine flight, and we discovered a marvelous new sauvignon blanc. Go look for Warwick from South Africa. Delicious!
Dropped back by the hotel to change and check out restaurants. After getting in late Friday night and a sub-par meal last night, we were really hoping to find something delicious. And we did!
Olympia Grill on Pier 21 serves terrific Greek food and wines. We started out with an appetizer dip combination. They brought out an enormous platter of tzatziki, hummus, feta, Kalamata olives, skordayia, and melitzano salata....a delicious eggplant dish. (Yes, eggplant. Those who know and love me are presently shocked into insensibility.) WAY more than we could eat....now sitting in take-out containers in our hotel room. A lovely light lentil soup followed. Bruce had a perfectly grilled red snapper. Tender and flaky and not in the least fishy. I had souvlaki with tzatziki; again, perfectly cooked. Our excellent server Nicole talked us into a baklava to take home. YUM!
We head home tomorrow after a fun trip.
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