Galveston, Texas

At the end of our quick trip to Texas, we spent a weekend in Galveston exploring this part of Texas that we had never been to before. Our hotel was right across from the seawall which was conveniently located for walks on the beach. We also quickly learned that at night Seawall Boulevard is a hotspot for cruising - it made for some interesting people watching from our hotel balcony. 

The view from our hotel balcony

Looking to the north from our hotel was Paradise Pier

On our first full day in Galveston, we drove to the Historic Seaport area where we toured the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum. This is a retired oil rig that has been turned into a museum and tells the story of the Gulf Coast's oil and gas industry. It has three levels of very interesting exhibits.

In front of the oil rig museum

After the museum, we wandered around the historic Strand area browsing through a few shops before finding a yummy spot for lunch - Mama Teresa's Flying Pizza.

One of several murals in The Strand

After lunch, we went back to the historic seaport to tour the Tall Ship, Elissa. The Elissa was first launched in 1877 as a merchant vessel and sailed under Scottish, Norwegian, and Swedish flags, before being purchased by the Galveston Historical Foundation in 1975. She underwent extensive refurbishment and remains one of the oldest sailing hulls still in operation.

The Elissa

On our final day in Galveston, we thought it would be fun to see if we could locate several of the Galveston Tree Sculptures. In reading up on the sculptures, we learned that Galveston experienced a hurricane tidal surge in 2008 that killed many of the island's trees. The stumps of several of these trees were resurrected by sculpture artists who have created whimsical statues.

"Peace"

"Tall Ship Elissa Figurehead"

"The Tin Man and Toto"

"Angel Carrying Bunny"

This sculpture was dressed in support of the Houston Astros

Our Last stop before leaving Galveston to head toward the airport in Houston was the Moody Mansion.  The Moody Mansion is a 28,000 square foot, four-story historic home that was purchased by W.L. Moody in 1900 and was lived in by members of the Moody family until 1986. It is a beautiful home and was lots of fun tour. 

The Moody Mansion

The grand front porch

Houston, Texas

The day after Brooke's track meet in College Station, we were up early and on the road headed to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. We spent most of the day touring the facility including the tram tour which took us to the astronaut training facility. Here we were able to see where the NASA astronauts train for current missions and where scientists/engineers are developing the next generation of vehicles for space exploration. 

Jim standing in front of the space shuttle replica Independence

 

The astronaut training facility

The NASA Valkyrie robot currently being worked on

Rocket Park at Johnson Space Center

The Saturn V Rocket completed 9 trips into space

Another view of the Saturn V

After a full day of the Space Center, we got back on the road to get to our final destination for the day -Galveston!

College Station, Texas

Brooke qualified for the NCAA Western Regional Track Meet in College Station, Texas, so naturally Jim and I jumped at the chance to attend the meet and then tack on a few days of sightseeing in southeast Texas. On the day of Brooke's event, we had some free time in the morning so we drove around the Texas A&M campus, stopping at the Bonfire Memorial. We learned that a bonfire was built every year starting in 1907 as a way to promote school spirit prior for the annual rivalry football game versus University of Texas. Apparently, attendance at the yearly bonfire burning ranged from 30,000-70,000 students and community members. Sadly, on November 18, 1999, the bonfire collapsed during construction - killing 12 students and injuring 27 others. The Bonfire Memorial sits on the site of the collapsed bonfire structure and contains 12 sixteen foot tall portals each dedicated to one of the students who died. The portals are positioned to face in the direction of the student's hometown and have a bronze plaque engraved with the student's portrait, their signature, and remembrances of the deceased written by family and friends. This memorial is a beautiful, yet somber place on the Texas A&M campus.

The Bonfire Memorial

The portals representing each of the students who died in the collapse

The inside wall of the portals contain bronze plaques

The bronze inscription memorializing one of the Aggies who died

While at the campus we would have liked to visit the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, but it was closed due to Covid-19. We'll just have to come back another time.