TEXAS, GALVESTON, PART 2 -- A SEGWAY TOUR, GOOD FOOD, AND WINDOW SHOPPING

 November 27-28, 2021

One thing I should mention is that Galveston is an island of about 212 square miles and with a population of around 355,000. It's a popular tourist destination and had about 7 million visitors last year. I can understand why. I had a lot of fun there! And while it didn't have any bird sanctuaries, I think Bob enjoyed it as well.

1. SEGWAY TOUR

We had scheduled a Segway tour for the 27th, but a storm had moved in and we had to reschedule for the next day. We met our guide at 9:00 AM and discovered that we were the only people on the tour!  We chose our helmets, had a quick training session on how to operate our Segways, and were off! We spent the next 2 1/2 hours rolling around Galveston and learning all about the city. It was a blast.

We learned that before the 1900 hurricane, Galveston was the financial center of the United States. It was the main entry/trade port in the United States, and it had the most millionaires of any city in America. After the city was wiped out by the hurricane, however, the financial center moved north (and far away from hurricanes) to New York City.

The last vestiges of those days are the incredible number of well-preserved or restored elaborate Victorian homes. We live in a town full of similar Victorian homes of the same era, so it was really fun to roll around and look at dozens of them. I wonder how many of them were built or rebuilt post-hurricane and how many actually survived the hurricane? I'm sure our guide told us, but I can't remember.

I love the tower on top of this house. It would be perfect for star-gazing.

This home has a cement block on the sidewalk so that ladies can exit their carriages without soiling their skirts.

It's all about gingerbread and turrets.

I love seeing this style of house--a Little Free Library.

The houses are great, but an even bigger appeal is what we found in many of the yards: tree sculptures! Hurricane Ike, a Category 4 storm, swept through Galveston in September 2008, taking a path similar to the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. The powerful wind and waves uprooted many of the trees in Galveston, and many more of those that didn't die in the storm died later because of the inundation of salty storm waters. Many of the majestic oaks that once lined the neighborhood streets and provided shade lost their canopies, leaving a sad stump in place of a once beautiful tree.

This wasn't Galveston's first rodeo tropical storm. The residents fought back! Artists have turned those stumps into whimsical wood carvings--tree sculptures--throughout the city. We rolled past dozens on our Segway tour.

An angel, a peace symbol, and a mermaid diving into the sea:

I'm not sure what the first one is--a quilting circle? Then a geisha and a ship figurehead:

One of my favorites--Toto and the Tin Man. 

A tree full of birds:

A dolphin and a ruined ancient column with the inscription, "In Memorium of Galveston's Lost Oaks, September 13th, 2008":

Another of my favorites--a grandmother reading to her grandchildren. Storybook characters are balanced on the top of her chair, including the Cheshire Cat and Humpty Dumpty:

This one looks like some kind of Hawaiian totem with plumeria blooms and seashells:

Two alligators and a buzzard, and two graceful herons:

Why is this dog barking up the tree? There is a cat on the other side!

How can you not love a city that makes art out of destruction?

Or how about this gorgeous building that is part of University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB)--the oldest medical school in Texas? It looks like it belongs in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Well, if the city is this interesting, there must be good food, right?

2. FOOD

On our first night in Galveston, we passed up the tempting (not) Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on "Pleasure Pier" (that's really its name) . . .

. . . and we headed for something a little more classy [cue Jaws music] . . . 

. . . a restaurant we had heard about early in our trip from the cashier at the Port Arthur Museum of the Gulf Coast.

We had a half-dozen Galveston Bay oysters that were good, but not as large or buttery as Atlantic oysters we've had. However, Bob thought the onions rings were top-notch. Bob had moist red snapper with crab topping, and I had large shrimp stuffed with crab cakes cooked in white wine sauce.  Very good.

On our second day in Galveston, our Segway guide recommended we try Gypsy Joynt. 

It turned out to be a pretty funky place.

Wow, I'm so glad we went there so that I didn't miss out on seeing a mermaid skeleton and a unicorn skeleton! I'm not sure I'll ever have THAT opportunity again!

Are you a little worried about what we ate? Yeah, I was a little worried about ordering.

However, the food turned out to be fantastic. Bob had roasted veggies and a pesto pizza.

I had a pizza with apples, caramelized dates, avocado, and goat cheese. Everything was delicious.

We also found one of these on the waterfront. You know you can't go wrong with a surfing cow theme.

3. WINDOW SHOPPING

It is always fun to walk around in the shopping district of a town like Galveston. You never know what treasures you'll stumble across. It seems like every town has a theme these days, and Galveston's is sea turtles.

Galveston has a very charming, walkable downtown.

I was tempted by (but resisted) these dish towels in a gift shop:

There is lots of quirky merchandise in Galveston. I was happy to see Frida, but really, what would I do with something adorned with turquoise pompoms?

Who knew Juneteenth originated in Galveston? Not I! (Up until a few years ago, I hadn't even heard of Juneteenth.) "Juneteenth" is the name given to June 19th, 1865, the day federal troops rode into Galveston to take control of the state and ensure that all slaves were freed, officially ending the practice of slavery in the United States. Even though Robert E. Lee had surrendered two months earlier at Appomattox Courthouse, Texans had generally ignored the ramifications of that act until a U.S. General stood on Texas soil and read these words: "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free." There is a huge mural in downtown Galveston memorializing the event.

 

Just in case you are wondering (I was), this giant cornet (NOT a trumpet, although it is called "The Great Stone Trumpet") was created by David Adickes for the 1984 Louisiana World's Fair Exposition in New Orleans. It was relocated to this spot in front of a jazz restaurant in 1986. The sculpture is 14 feet tall by 26 feet long.

I really enjoyed Galveston. Just about everything about it was a huge, very pleasant surprise.