There's no place like home for the holidays. And often the best travel destinations are closer to home that what would you think. Since we live around Galveston we decided to see it for ourselves and headed over to the island to ring in the New Year. The best things to do on the island in the winter don't actually have to do with the beach. The island hosts an annual Holidays at Moody Gardens through the month of December and the first week of January. And all in all, I cannot say enough about the good times we had there. Happy holidays from the absolute fans of the Holidays at Moody Gardens.
On the 31st we made it to the island around early afternoon, checked in the hotel nearby and headed over to the famous pyramids. The parking had plenty of free spots. The walk to the entrance was nicely lined up with the Chinese lantern trees installation that actually looked like the Lunar New Year celebration. The path to the ticket booth and the entrance to the first pyramid cut through cute pandas in a bamboo forest. That went well with the lantern trees and gave the atmosphere a completed oriental charm.
At the entrance all guests were provided with a complimentary parka, the smallest size could fit for ages 3 and up.
It was quite an adventure to encounter emperor penguins, polar bears, seals, reindeers (even though they are almost mythical creatures they are very real in the Arctic), muskoxen, arctic foxes and walruses with their signature tusks.
Also, it wasn't without famous Russian nesting dolls as a nod to the Russian Far North where it borders the Arctic.
The giant ice slide was topped off with a frosty sign and two polar bears that made a perfect backdrop for photos. Everybody's favorite though was a giant Santa's sleigh.
It's hard to believe that all these wonders were made using only chainsaws and ice picks. Oh, and you can cap off your visit to the Poles at the Shivers Ice Bar. Well, if your frozen fingers can manage to hold a drink.
We also practiced
On the 31st we made it to the island around early afternoon, checked in the hotel nearby and headed over to the famous pyramids. The parking had plenty of free spots. The walk to the entrance was nicely lined up with the Chinese lantern trees installation that actually looked like the Lunar New Year celebration. The path to the ticket booth and the entrance to the first pyramid cut through cute pandas in a bamboo forest. That went well with the lantern trees and gave the atmosphere a completed oriental charm.
Ice Land: Pole-to-Pole
First things first. The Ice Land was on top of our list to visit. Completely made out of 2 million pounds of ice, the Pole-to-Pole theme lived up to its chilly name. Inside a 28,000 square-foot insulated tent, it was freezing cold with the temperature reaching nine degrees, but the whole experience was magical and exceeded any expectations we have had.At the entrance all guests were provided with a complimentary parka, the smallest size could fit for ages 3 and up.
It was quite an adventure to encounter emperor penguins, polar bears, seals, reindeers (even though they are almost mythical creatures they are very real in the Arctic), muskoxen, arctic foxes and walruses with their signature tusks.
Also, it wasn't without famous Russian nesting dolls as a nod to the Russian Far North where it borders the Arctic.
The giant ice slide was topped off with a frosty sign and two polar bears that made a perfect backdrop for photos. Everybody's favorite though was a giant Santa's sleigh.
It's hard to believe that all these wonders were made using only chainsaws and ice picks. Oh, and you can cap off your visit to the Poles at the Shivers Ice Bar. Well, if your frozen fingers can manage to hold a drink.
Festival of Lights
A mile-long trail is full of great photo ops to make happy memories with the family. The trees wrapped in lights and light tunnels spiced up the walk for us and got the kids more cooperative to take photos.
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