We’re winding down now; the trip home and to cooler climes has begun.

Today was supposed to be sunny in Galveston, and we were looking forward to watching the sun rise over the Gulf of Mexico from the balcony in our hotel room.  Unfortunately, our “view” of the gulf was about two blocks away, over an empty lot, a lot of wires, and a road.  Besides that, it was cloudy.

We were glad we’d walked the beach to pick up shells in Louisiana, because it was even colder in Galveston this morning.  We drove around the island and did stop once to walk a bit of the beach, but there was no dipping of toes.  No one complained about staying out of the water on the chilly, windy morning.

Galveston is still showing a lot of damage from Hurricane Ike in September of 2008.  While some businesses have been repaired and reopened, others remain in their damaged state.  In the clouds of the morning, it wasn’t a very impressive place.

Our next stop, though, made up for it.  We arrived at Space Center Houston just before it opened at 10 and didn’t leave until after 4 p.m.  Interestingly, admission cost less than Underwater Adventures at the Mall of America (which takes up about 45 minutes of our time). I think we saved the best for last.

Space Center Houston’s visitor center is well-done, with lots of hands-on activities, films, talks by NASA personnel, and the kids’ favorite, a big climbing/ball structure.  But our favorite part was taking the tram tours, where we got to peek in on the real Mission Control room and see the astronaut training center with its mock-ups of the various spacecraft modules.  Then we went into Rocket Park, where a building holds a huge rocket.  Huge.  Really big.  Taller than the Statue of Liberty.  I believe they said this was to be the rocket for Apollo 18, which never came to fruition.

I’ll write more about Space Center Houston another day, but for now I’ll say that it’s definitely on my recommended list of things to do in Houston (especially for kids 3 and up).

From Space Center Houston on the southeast corner of the city, we headed up I-45 a ways, and tomorrow we’ll collect a few new states on our way home.  It looks to be really cold there.  I wonder if anyone would mind if we stayed in the south for a few more weeks?

Related:  Notes from the Road:  Texas Day 9 Notes from the Road: Texas, Day 11

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