Growing up in Houston , Texas meant that you spent a lot of fun times all year around on Galveston Island , but especially in the summer time . Galveston was about 1 hours ride from almost anywhere in Houston , no matter where you lived ... back then ,lol . Houston was a little bit smaller in the 50's and 60's , than now .
I can remember camping out on the wild beaches when I was small . That was soo cool .There were sand dunes to explore , waves to jump over in the surf as they rolled in from the Gulf of Mexico .Walked miles looking for sand dollars , sea shells , bird feathers ; drift wood washed up on the beaches , weathered grey and smooth .Building sand castles with moats that filled with water from waves that flooded into them .Fishing for speckled trout , red snapper ,shark ( well , not me ,lol ) catching crabs , shrimp , and getting fresh oysters to eat . OMG !!! If you didn't want to go to all that trouble just pick a restaurant , they were all good .Still are , lol !
A special treat would be to drive through the historical district and gaze at Victorian mansions that survived the 1900 hurricane that almost wiped Galveston Island off the map.They have a genuine palace that I would daydream about living in , no matter that it belonged to the Bishop of Galveston-Houston Catholic Archdiocese , lol . Small matter to a little girl .
No trip to the Island would be complete without a ride on the Bolivar ferry . Dolphins racing along side the ferry as the sea gulls made foraging attacks on any unsuspecting person having the audacity to try to eat while out side the protection of their car ! What an adventure it was to watch sea going ships making their way to Houston up the ship channel .
As I grew older , a teenager , if you weren't at the POOL( where ever that might be in Houston ) then you were at the beach in Galveston as soon as it was warm enough to go in the water .Then later, as a older person , ah hum, a group of us would drive down to the Island to swim in the full moon light , have breakfast as we watched the sun rise over the Island , and count it a great end to a fabulous night ! That of course was pre-Jaws ! No way would you get me back in the water after that movie came out .
Moe and I had a few adventures with our friends there when we dated .When the kids came a long they were introduced to all that the Island had to offer, also .We had nighttime picnics on the beach , rode the ferry , feed the sea gulls , watched the ships. We had the beach all to ourselves once as a storm moved in to shore off the Gulf of Mexico .The other people left the beach thinking it would rain all day . It didn't,only a half hour, but what a sight that was to see as the clouds roiled above us , the waves pounded the shore line , the roar of the surf deafening to our ears . The rain slammed into our car so hard , we thought there might be dents in the roof when it was all over , but there wasn't any .How cool was that ?
All this was brought back to mind when a good friend sent me a email abut Galveston Island .It really made me home sick thinking of all the good times I had there in my life . I thought I would share the email with you too , so you might make this trip with me . Click here to see a little of Galveston .Enjoy !
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