Lunch Across the Bay
This fall, don't drive to lunch. Make the journey part of the day.
There are easier ways to get to lunch.
That’s rather the point.
This fall, when the worst of the Gulf Coast summer begins to loosen its grip, we’re proposing something different.
Start in Kemah or Seabrook.
Bring the family. Bring a couple of friends. Check the boat, check the weather and give yourself the day rather than the afternoon.
Then cast off.
The destination is Pier 6 in San Leon.
But the reason for going is everything in between
Let the bay become the road
Most of us experience Galveston Bay from its edges.
We cross bridges over it. Eat beside it. Drive Highway 146 alongside it. Occasionally stop and look at it.
A boat changes the geography completely.
Suddenly Kemah, Seabrook and San Leon aren’t separate places connected by roads.
They’re points along the water.
And once you begin thinking that way, an ordinary Saturday lunch becomes an excuse to explore.
There’s no prize for getting there quickly.
Look around.
Let the children follow the route. Talk about the markers. Notice the commercial traffic. Watch the sailboats. Learn where Clear Lake ends and the bay begins.
The journey is the activity.
Lunch at the other end
Pier 6 sits on the San Leon waterfront overlooking Galveston Bay.
It was created by second-generation oysterman Raz Halili of Prestige Oysters, with a menu built around Gulf seafood, freshly shucked oysters and a tide-to-table philosophy.
We haven’t yet done the Water & Shore review.
That’s important.
We’ll come back, eat properly, experience the service, spend some time there and tell you what we genuinely think.
But as a destination for a day on Galveston Bay, the idea already has our attention.
Arrive from the water. Tie up. Find a table outside.
And give lunch some time.
Not because lunch needs to be extravagant.
Because you’ve made getting there part of the experience.
Don't be in a hurry to come home
After lunch, there’s no requirement to immediately point the bow back toward Clear Lake.
Explore a little.
See San Leon from the water.
Take the long way back if conditions and daylight allow.
Stop somewhere appropriate, turn the engine off and let the boat sit for a while.
Talk.
Watch the water.
The strange thing about a good day on a boat is how little needs to happen for it to become memorable.
Or don't go home at all
This is where the idea becomes particularly appealing.
Pier 6 also has waterfront bungalows nearby.
So perhaps the better version occasionally is not to make this an afternoon at all.
Make it a night away.
Or use Clear Lake as your base and stay at South Shore Harbour, with its marina, waterfront rooms, resort pool, restaurants and spa.
For families wanting more activity, stay around Kemah.
Suddenly you’re not simply having lunch at Pier 6.
You’re having a weekend on Galveston Bay.
And you’re doing it without boarding an aircraft or traveling hundreds of miles from Houston.
A little seamanship belongs in the experience
This is Galveston Bay rather than a controlled theme-park attraction.
Treat it accordingly.
Check the marine forecast.
Understand the route.
Check tides and conditions.
Make sure the boat and its safety equipment are ready.
Know where you’re going before leaving the dock and have a plan if the weather changes.
That’s not the boring part before the adventure.
It’s part of becoming the kind of person who is comfortable and capable on the water.
And there is something rather satisfying about that.
The luxury of taking the long way
We spend a remarkable amount of our lives trying to make journeys shorter.
Faster route.
Earlier flight.
Less traffic.
Quicker lunch.
Perhaps occasionally we should do exactly the opposite.
Take the boat.
Travel twelve miles when the car would have been easier.
Let lunch consume most of the afternoon.
Stay somewhere overnight when home isn’t particularly far away.
Watch the sun begin to fall across Galveston Bay.
And arrive home feeling as though you’ve actually been somewhere.
Water & Shore suggests
Make lunch the excuse, not the objective.
Start around Clear Lake, Kemah or Seabrook. Give yourself the day. Cross the bay. Have lunch at Pier 6. Explore a little. Come back slowly.
Or stay the night and make a weekend of it.
Best for: Couples · Families · Friends · Fall weekends · Boaters · Gulf Coast staycations
Why we like it: The destination is good. The journey may be better.
The Water & Shore thought: Sometimes the most sophisticated way to get somewhere is the least efficient.