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Traveling


Bon Voyage: A Winter Abroad: London Trip Heathrow Arrival to Borough Market
Our family yearned for a London/Paris trip as long as I can remember, but there’s something about being outside, sitting in quiet, listening to waves, stargazing, and dreaming that made it happen. We were home, planning, gathered round a roaring fire with crisp winter evening’s faint bite of cold brushing our cheeks. Voices carried our dreams across our back yard, across the water to London Bridge, The Eiffel Tower and beyond as tides moved gently under fading sky to make mag

Karen Hand Allen
2 hours ago8 min read


New Year’s Eve Traditions: How Celebrations and Meaning Have Changed
It seems like New Year’s Eve has always been with us, and it kind of has, at least since the 1800’s, where Americans gathered and celebrated, often influenced by European traditions of partying and merrymaking. By 1907, Americans welcomed and anticipated fireworks and feasts on the eve of the new year, and the resulting New York Times Square Waterford crystal LED ball drop in Manhattan has become a mainstay that we enjoy to this day. By the late 19 th century, drinking cham

Karen Hand Allen
Dec 30, 20255 min read


Galveston Thrills: Lone Star Rally Roars Across the Island
Tricked out custom motorcycles sent a thrum and raw energy ricocheting across the gulf and beyond as my family and I attended this one of a kind motorcycle event. The cool November afternoon had us all humming with various live bands and music that throbbed from decked out motorbikes costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The biggest motorcycle rally in Texas is the Lone Star Rally in Galveston, Texas, which occurs over four days, November 6 th through November 9 th, 2025

Karen Hand Allen
Nov 9, 20254 min read


A Taste of Tradition: Gaido’s Galveston Seafood Legacy Since 1911
It was a near perfect lazy October day in Galveston, Texas; we’d traveled there to celebrate a very special family birthday dinner. Motoring along the seawall, as always, we were entertained by amusing laughing seagulls, willet and sandpipers diving and running as water ebbed and flowed, supping on shrimp and crabs. The beach’s roiling waves and sand whipped into a blustery huff as we unrolled our windows, gulping briny sea air. We couldn’t wait, watching for the humongous cr

Karen Hand Allen
Nov 3, 20257 min read


Our Family’s Annual Costume Contest: Fall Fun with Food from The Original Mexican Café in Galveston
Every year, we have a Fall Costume Contest & Pumpkin Carving Halloween Party. Here, please come to ours with us. It's informal, fun and everybody gets creative about what they want to come dressed as and what their carved pumpkin at the end of the night should look like. We ordered from The Original Mexican Café in Galveston and made some dishes of our own. We often do this combo for parties, cook some and order food delivered to the house, that way it’s not overwhelming.

Karen Hand Allen
Oct 29, 20254 min read


The Best Stovetop Pot Roast Recipe That Tastes Like Childhood Memories
The drive to Aunt Ruby’s wasn’t far, just about forty-five minutes or so to Baytown Texas, from our home In Alta Loma, Texas, but it seemed like forever. Just along the highway of the rugged coastline, salt air filled my nose as I dreamed of crabs, juicy oysters, crawfish, and shrimp. Aunt Ruby was the only sister of my Daddy. He had two other brothers that we didn’t see much, she was quite a prize. A smile started that I could not contain. Aunt Ruby really was like a queen,

Karen Hand Allen
Oct 8, 20256 min read
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