Adventures in Galveston Island & The Countryside III: Japanese Amiibos, River Otters, & Habanero Peppers

*Blog entry is separated into parts. This is 2 of 3.

September 12, 2015

Saturday morning finally came around, and I was still sleeping. I didn't notice that Roy had woken up to make coffee and breakfast. The smell of coffee (I remember it was a Starbucks House Blend flavor…it was very nutty) woke me up. Roy came into the room and brought me a cup. I knew since last night that I was going to be treated like a princess.

It was 10 am, we stayed up really late last night watching Game Grumps videos and playing some Splatoon. The Island was only 15 miles away, so it wouldn't take *too* long in driving there.

I took a shower and got pretty for the day out on the Island. I kinda wished I had my sundress, it would have been appropriate to go to the island with it…but I had shorts and my Marvel t-shirt instead…so I wore that. When I came out of the shower all dressed up and pretty, Roy was standing in front with a special gift box. And…what's inside of that gift box?


It was hard to find an amiibo like Toon Link these days, and the prices are outrageous! Best of all, this is an exclusive Japanese amiibo, which I never owned one ever! Now I've added another amiibo to my collection, and quite honestly…I don't think I'll be taking it out of the box…like I've done to my Splatoon 3-pack and my Pikachu amiibos.

Sooo…my day started off amazing I guess! We left the Countryside at around 11 am, and got to the Island at 15 minutes after. I have no idea what we're going to be doing. The last time I went to the Island with Roy (and his mom), we went to check out the beach, as well as we drove around the Island. We didn't stop by any popular destinations. All of the sudden, I ended up forgetting my wallet at the house. Anxiety began to engulf me, with thoughts such as "omg, he's gonna think I did this on PURPOSE" and "I can't believe I did this!". Roy was actually able to calm me down after that 5 minutes of freaking out. He told me that he doesn't have to worry about my wallet, or even spending any money. When we arrived at our first destination at the Island, he got out of the car and walked up to my side just to hug me. I felt okay after that.

Our first destination? The Galveston Train Museum. It was like visiting a piece of Roy's childhood, because he used to come to the museum a lot when he was a kid. He also has a keen interest in trains. It was actually nice to learn about the history of trains, the various types of trains, as well as riding a diesel train that was restored from history. Unfortunately, the place was still undergoing renovations due to Hurricane Ike back in 2008, so most of the train exhibits were closed. One of Roy's wishes was to own a train set for himself. (Hmm, potential Christmas gift maybe?). Some train exhibits were open, and they were difficult to climb into. I was able to face my fear of heights thanks to Roy helping me climb up some of the trains.

Next, we headed up north to the Port of Galveston. Cruise ships and fishermen reside at the Port, as well as food shippers and some oil rigs. Roy decided to take me there to go on a boat ride throughout the bay area watching dolphins. I was excited once more when he mentioned that there would be WILD DOLPHINS at the Galveston bay area. I didn't even know at all! And considering that one of our favorite animals is the dolphin, this would be perfect! The last time I saw real-life dolphins, was at Sea World in San Diego. However, these dolphins are wild, and they aren't trained by animal trainers or anything like that! If you have me on Facebook, I posted a video of the dolphins swimming in action.



So far my day has been amazing! Next destination? Moody Gardens. I didn't know what that was until Roy and I got there. Moody Gardens is basically a small nature park where it has an aquarium, a rainforest, and a discovery zone all located within three pyramids. Unfortunately we came at a very bad time, because the Aquarium pyramid was closed until November due to construction. It was no wonder that there was no one around the park. We weren't there very long. We explored the Butterfly Garden, as well as the River Otter exhibit. I mentioned to Roy that river otters were my all-time favorite water animals, aside the dolphin, and all my life I always wanted a river otter plushie. I wanted to get one when I was at Sea World, but I never got the chance to (plus they were expensive anyways). A little after that, we visited the gift shop where Roy was looking for a gift for his nephew, which was a sea turtle towel. I looked around at the plushie area, checking out the many plushies from small to large and by surprise I ended up finding a small river otter plushie right in front of me! It was super adorable and very soft. When Roy found what he wanted to buy, he also offered to buy the river otter plushie for me, because he knew I always wanted one for YEARS. Finally, I have a cute river otter plushie of my own, and since I left the Moody Gardens gift shop, I could not stop petting it.



The sun was beginning to set and we were getting pretty hungry. Roy was craving Mexican food, but unfortunately Galveston was lacking a Taco Cabana, so we had to rely on Google Maps on a good Mexican Food restaurant. We resorted to one right next to the ocean with a spectacular view of the beach. The servers only spoke very little English, so I had to order our food in Spanish. Right next to me was a bottle of green habanero pepper sauce, so I decided to look at it for a little bit. "What was that?" Roy asked me. I explained that the habanero pepper is the spiciest and the most hottest pepper in the world, hotter than the jalapeno pepper. My mom once told me that she will gain more respect of Roy if he eats a habanero pepper. Immediately, Roy grabbed a tortilla chip from the bowl, and said "Pour me some. If I can eat a whole jalapeno pepper, I can tackle this."

I…had no idea he was actually gonna go for it. I added one, probably two drops of the green habanero sauce for Roy to taste, plus if I added more drops I would probably kill him. Without hesitating, he ate the whole chip filled with dripping habanero sauce. Within seconds, his face turned red, and his hazel eyes were boiling with water coming out. "Oh my GOD ROY PLEASE DRINK SOME OF MY WATER." I begged him. But he kept saying no. He may want to act it out as a tough guy, but I do worry about him…a lot. As I write this today, every time I think about it, I still can't believe he actually DID THAT.

After that…crazy dare, our day ended at 6:30 pm. Even though there were more things to do, we were both tired from walking, laughing, running, and all around having fun. Plus the burning sun really got us down. I actually loved today. I learned so much too…the history of trains, the weather history in Galveston (Hurricane Ike's anniversary was actually this week), dolphin biology, the differences between each of the island strands, and most of all, Roy's spice tolerance (lol). It was amazing, and I wish there was more time during the day to spend more time at the Island (as well as more energy. Lol). I told Roy that when we get back to the Countryside, I would be heading to HEB to buy a few groceries for him and his mom. I planned a surprise breakfast for him! Also, Blue Bell ice cream is also on the menu for tonight. :)