Sometimes you just need to get away. Get away from the grind of work and your every day mundane life that, after time, seems to suck all the energy right out of you. Maybe it’s just me, but I doubt it. Taking the kids to and from school, after school activities, the office, sitting at a desk in front of one or more computer monitors day in and day out – adulting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and sometimes on the weekend when you just can’t seem to catch up. Sound familiar?

“In any profession it gets to be a grind.” – Denzel Washington

I like what I do, but there comes a time in between traveling the world that I just need a short weekend getaway. Galveston, Texas is a 7 hour 43 minute drive from our home, so I looked up some discounted hotels through Groupon that were near the sandy beach and I ran with it. We hopped in the car Saturday morning and got back home Monday afternoon. It was a quick trip, and with Dallas and Houston traffic, the commute there and back lasted more than 8 hours each way, but it was worth it.

We hit Dallas, Texas and checked out the Kennedy assassination site and Dealey Plaza (didn’t pay for the tour, just looked around), then when getting to Galveston finally, stayed at the Super 8; not the most fancy of places, but it was right next to the beach. That’s what I was looking for!

We went to the beach the evening of our arrival and also all the next day. The shore piled high with seaweed and the water was pretty murky, but the sun was shining and having never been there before I really didn’t have any expectations anyway. I was glad to be getting away.

There were a lot of activities and things to do on that long strip near us aside from the beach itself. We went on a free Galveston transportation ferry ride; a ferry transport for people and vehicles who work on the nearby island, but visitors go on it to see dolphins and sightsee a bit – we visited local shops, took pictures in front of the famous and expensive Rain Forest Café, and had a great time at a small amusement park called Pleasure Pier that was right on the ocean. We stayed 3 or 4 hours at Pleasure Pier until it was dark and closed for the day. So much fun! I was loving that it was right on the water.

On our way home we stopped off in Houston, TX to visit one of Chung Tai Chan’s branch monasteries, Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston. Our home monastery is back in Oklahoma, Buddha Mind Monastery. You can read more about Chung Tai Chan Monastery in my other blog post, Pilgrimage to Taiwan. Some members and teachers (Shifu) from the Houston branch attended that pilgrimage as well. After paying our respects we continued on our journey back to Oklahoma.

It was a fun and relaxing weekend, Galveston hit the spot. It’s just want I needed to be able to get back to the daily grind and be productive. A little re-coop/recharge time with the family away from the familiar.