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How to spend a beach-free day in Galveston

Who goes to the beach in winter?

My question is who goes to hot and humid beaches of Galveston in the summer.

After the holidays – when all the lights and seasonal flavors are gone – cooler temperatures are perfect for doing things in Galveston, and Galveston is so much more than brown sand and grayish waters.

Many in the Houston and surrounding area plan their spring and summer breaks around Galveston, but I prefer visiting the island when the weather is cooler, and I can't be the only one.

There's something almost refreshing about experiencing the island in the fall and winter – when the weather is just right, as in hat and sweater weather, nothing too extreme – because it doesn't feel like typical Texas weather.

Here are several good reasons to visit Galveston right now that don't involve the beach.

Yvette Orozco, Suburban reporter producer

yvette.orozco@houstonchronicle.com

Need to Know

Photo by: Google Maps

League City to hold runoff following results of special election.

League City will hold a Feb. 17 runoff election with the two top candidates in a crowded field facing off after Saturday's special election failed to declare a winner.

NASA announces that Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman of NASA, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency are the four astronauts who will fly around the moon in late 2024 as part of NASA's Artemis II mission on Monday April 3, 2023 at the NASA Johnson Space Center's Ellington Field in Houston.

Photo by: Raquel Natalicchio, Staff Photographer

NASA pushes back dates for returning humans to the moon.

NASA announced that the Artemis II moon mission will be delayed until late 2025, citing the ongoing development of hardware.

Education

In this April 11, 2018, file photo, a high school student uses a vaping device near a school campus in Cambridge, Mass.

Photo by: Steven Senne/Associated Press

Hundreds disciplined for vaping in school under 'punitive' new Texas law.

Hundreds of students in Houston-area school districts have been sent to disciplinary alternative education programs due to a "punitive" Texas law meant to curb vaping.

Alexis Serrato photographs family Christmas photos with the help of her assistant, Tabitha Castillo, 17, on an esplanade on Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, in Pasadena.

Photo by: Karen Warren/Staff Photographer

No ACT/SAT scores? Most colleges now say that's OK

Will college admissions test be optional in the future? For some it would mean equal opportunity.

Openings and Closings

Eat Thai recently opened in Webster. The restaurant's menu celebrates the culinary heritage of Thailand.

Address: 565 W Bay Area Blvd, Webster.
Phone: (281) 525-4895

Shout out

In girls' Houston area high school soccer, three local standout players made the grade in the Chronicle's list of top performers of the past week. Read the complete list here.

Alex Davies, a senior at Clear Springs High School, had two scores and an assist in the Chargers' win over La Porte.

Maria Flores of Galveston Ball High School recorded a hat trick and an assist in the Tors 6-0 win over South Houston 6-0.

Lianna Garcia of Pasadena High School had a hat trick and two assists in the Eagles' 8-0 defeat of Chavez.