As we were driving, John spotted these lovely roseate spoonbill and ibises. It is always a treat to see them, so he pulled over for me to snap some pics.
About a mile past the toll bridge we came upon the Kelly Hamby Nature Trail. We pulled over to check it out.
It is a 5.6-acre day use area and is a natural habitat for local as well as migrant birds. The salt cedars were planted by ranchers to provide some protection for cattle. They also provide shelter for migrating birds after non-stop flights across the Gulf.
This coastal dune landscape helps hold back high seas during storms (that can push water across the island).
A boardwalk across the dunes provides access to the beach. Our doggie, Sadie, was thrilled to go for a run on the beach. She always makes a bee-line for the water.
Even though it was a cloudy day, the beach was beautiful.
We went for a long walk along the deserted beach. Sadie really enjoyed digging holes and sticking her nose in to sniff around...not sure what was in there!
These yellow flowers (camphor weed, a member of the aster family) were everywhere and thrive in harsh conditions. Ghost crabs could be seen hanging out around them on this cloudy day. And, there were jellies on the beach here like the ones we saw at Jamaica Beach.
And it's always fun to see some impromptu beach art!
Several houses on the nearby point were undergoing renovations due to recent hurricane damage.
We retraced our steps on the trail to our car and continued west to Surfside. We drove through the small coastal town and ended up at the Surfside Jetty Park
It's a day-use, beach park that features the East Jetty (there is a duplicate West Jetty nearby), playground, picnic area, and restrooms.
We walked to the end of the jetty seeing many fishermen (and women) along the way. They were catching lots of trout. But one guy caught a couple of sea bass; and, another one caught this ray (that he threw back).
As we walked to the end of the jetty, we also saw lots of pelicans looking to snatch a fish from fishermen (who just shooed them away).
Below is a view of Surfside Beach from the jetty.
We made a couple more stops before leaving Surfside. We picked up a pair of water shows for John at Bingos. The store was crammed with beach gear and also had a restaurant inside.
We had a a great time learning more about the west end of Galveston Island. We all getting a little bit of cabin fever due to the rainy weather! There are so many beautiful beach homes along the coast here. It made the drive fun and interesting to see them.
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