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