Eddie and I went on a great trip this weekend. We had some friends getting married (the ones we made this quilt for) in Lake Jackson – on the coast near Houston. We got there early on Saturday, so decided to go to the nearby Quintana Beach. We had a great time strolling along the shore and picking up some shells. Unfortunately, I decided that because we’d only be outside 20-30 minutes, I wouldn’t bother putting sunblock on. Poor choice! I don’t know why I forget so easily how pale I am and how easily I burn – my back ended up getting quite burned. And, of course, the dress I brought for the wedding showed enough of my back that I got asked about it all night. Live and Learn.
The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. Everything ran smoothly and everything was set up and decorated beautifully. Here are a few of the highlights: centerpieces, the kiss, and a green alligator grooms cake. There were a million other gorgeous details, but I’m still working on my photography skills 🙂
The next morning, we tried going to the beach again. There were two beaches separated by a small water way, so we decided to try out Surfside beach this time. Even though it is only about half a mile away from Quintana beach where we’d been yesterday, there were almost no shells. After walking along a ways and not having any improvement, we went back over to Quintana beach. It again had tons of pretty shells for us to collect. Nothing huge or the kinds of things you’d find in stores, but several inches wide and beautiful colors. I already have several crafty plans for these guys, and I’ll be sure to post them here if they work out 🙂 I’m not sure why there was such a difference – maybe because Surfside beach was also more crowded? At any rate, if you’re in the area, we’d suggest going to Quintana beach – it was lovely 🙂 Here are a few of the shells we brought home that I’ve already cleaned.
After the beach, we stopped at Hermann Park in Houston on our way back home. There was a Japan Festival going on this weekend, which was a great time. There were booths selling japanese goods and delicious japanese food along with demonstrations of japanese calligraphy, martial arts, dancing, and music. And, of course, the festival was right next to the lovely Japanese Garden in Hermann Park.
We also stopped by the adjacent Houston Museum of Natural Science. We ended up deciding we didn’t have enough time to make the entrance fee worthwhile, but looked around the gift shop which had a great display of gems/minerals and other fun sciencey gizmos and toys to browse. There was also a fun solar system display outside with the planets proportionally sized and spaced.
Lovely shells and that amethyst geode is huge! Biggest one I’ve ever seen! I felt on vacation too! Thanks for the armchair travel! And I think your pics look great btw!
What a wonderful time it looks like you had! That wedding table is so pretty!
Gorgeous shells! Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing at Shine on Fridays!