Vacation Day Four - Wednesday June 6, 2007

We ate lunch at the Trail Dust Steakhouse, which was only a block or so away from our hotel. It was o.k., but not really worth the price, especially since we were eating lunch. The boys really enjoyed the slide, though!


Joe had the steak kids meal. David had the macaroni and cheese kids meal, and Matt and I split a half slab of ribs plate. They have ties hung up on the walls. Supposedly, if you wear a tie into the place they cut it off and attach it, along with your name, to the wall. It was pretty quiet while we were there nut they have a place for karaoke and a band along with a dance floor. I tried to get Matt to show us some moves on the dance floor but he refused!


After lunch we took a long ride out to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, northwest of Fort Worth. The trip was a lot farther than I expected. The Dallas, Arlington, and Fort Worth area is really spread out.


We were all fascinated by our visit to the Bureau. We learned a lot about how bills (a.k.a. notes) are made these days. The Western Currency Facility, as it is called conducts free 45 minute tours which are very interesting and educational. Besides learning how notes are made, we learned how they go to great lengths to help citizens redeem notes that were shredded or mutilated. They start the tour with an interesting tour and have an interactive museum. It was well worth the long drive!


After a brief stop at the hotel, we drove over to the ballpark for the Ranger-Tigers game.


One of the Rangers announcers was interviewing fans.


Matt and Joe


David


Joe


Matt


We hung around the Rangers dugout as long as we could before the game, just in case we had a chance to get an autograph.


Rangers dugout.


This was the view from our seats. David bought some cotton candy. It was also $1.00 hot dog night, so we ate supper at the park.


Joe bought lemonade. There was a group of fans in the left field bleachers that were singing "Sweet Home Alabama" late in the game (complete with the "Roll Tide Roll" you typically hear inserted at Bama games. That was so cool to us Bama guys. The Rangers stink and they lost 10-0, so I guess the fans had to find ways to entertain themselves. David really likes Gary Sheffield and he got to see him hit two home runs and get five RBI's.

Vacation Day Three - Tuesday 6/5/07

Before we left Galveston the boys really wanted to stop at a souvenir shop. Matt got a toy turtle, Joe and david got shark tooth necklaces, and they all got a few shells. We shopped at the Mermaid Souvenir Pier. This was a really cool place on the Gulf.


So many shells to choose from...


There were some great views of the Gulf at the back of the Mermaid Souvenir Pier.


Joe was just chillin' on the pier...


Before we left Galveston, I had to stop at Starbucks. No, not for the expensive coffee! June the 5th was the day of Paul McCartney's latest release and the Starbucks record label was carrying it.


David is checking out the new CD. After buying David and Matt root beer and a strawberry drink for Joe, we went over to Little Caesar's and ate pizza before leaving Galveston on our way to Arlington.


We're on our way...back on the road again...


Approaching Houston...good photo, Joe!


After checking into our hotel in Arlington, we didn't waste much time heading over to Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. Our room was less than a mile from the park.


We were there so we could get in when the gates opened; two hours before the first pitch. We hoped this would give the boys a chance to get some autographs. Matt has one of his new Ranger's jerseys on. I found four practically new (some still with tags) Rangers jerseys for the boys recently on Ebay.


Joe is ready, sporting his new Rangers jersey. The promotion for this game was Rangers tee shirts for two dollars. I bought us each one.


David is sporting his Cubs Sammy Sosa jersey.


Here we are in line near the first base on deck circle hoping to get an autograph. A nice lady from Tyler, TX offered to take our photograph. David was over behind the dugout at the time.


This is David, with the Rangers' dugout and the right field stands behind him.


Some guy standing over to our left seemed to know a lot of the players and coaches who periodically went over to greet him. This is Magglio Ordonez of the Detroit Tigers.


Tigers manager Jim Leland seemed to be in excellent shape as he was hitting ground balls to his infielders. He was also very nice. He came over and signed autographs for Joe and Matt.


David (of course) took this photo of Sammy's sign down the right field line.


David also took this photo of Sammy's sign as we walked to our seats.


The guy in front of us wore the bag over his head the entire game.


We had pretty good seats in section 215. I heard an advertisement on the Rangers broadcast selling tickets for half price in this section. The Rangers have the worst record in baseball, mainly because they have the worst pitching staff in baseball. The Rangers actually won this game, though, 7-4.

Vacation Day Two - Monday 6/4/07

The first thing on the agenda for day two in Galveston was to walk out to the beach. As any weather person knows, Galveston was the site of the worst natural disaster in American history. They now have a large seawall with a road (Seawall Blvd). David caught a fish while playing in the water.


He had to show it off! You can practically see through it!


There were lots of pretty birds on the beach. Here is one we saw. Does anyone know what kind it is?


Joe caught a shrimp, of all things, in the water. We kept it alive in a small beach pail. We even took it to the room with us. Unfortunately, it flipped out of the water while we took a nap. Oddly enough, I put it back in the water (it may have been out of water up to an hour) and it still was alive. It didn't last long, though. As soon as I woke up the next morning and inhaled the stench in the bathroom!


It was a perfect day for playing in the water or the sand. The skies were sunny, temperatures were warm, and there was a nice breeze. It wasn't unbearably hot or humid.


Joe Cool!


Matt's goggles didn't give him as much protection from the saltwater as he had hoped.


The boys found all kinds of interesting creatures, as they usually do.


A room with a view! This was taken with a bit of a zoom from our room. This is the area of the beach where we played.


Very interesting shrimp there, Joe!


Joe shows off his shrimp to David!


Joe shows off his shrimp catch to Matt! Yes, that is the Weather Channel in the background. We didn't really "watch" any TV on the trip, but I did keep TWC on to keep up with the weather.


Joe ready to jump!


A handstand in the pool...Dad was impressed!


Matt enjoyed the party atmosphere around the pool!


David enjoyed carrying Matt around the pool!


Joe was cool after all that diving!


The boys enjoyed the atmosphere at the pool.


Headed up to the room on the elevator. The hotel Galvez was wonderful. Here is the "lobby cam" showing you what you see before boarding the elevator.


Not a bad view from our hotel room on the 4th floor of the Hotel Galvez. Here is the hotel's official website. Thanks to Priceline we got an amazing deal on the room!


After cruising down Seawall Boulevard, we decided to eat at Joe's late in the evening.


The crawfish etouffee was tremendous. Matt tried it and loved it!


David is getting into his corn on the cob!


After a fun day at the beach, pool, and plenty of food, we were more than satisfied.


Joe finished eating the corn and was trying hard to figure out how to get more...