Look Out Mardi Gras and Super Bowl........Here We Come...!!!!

We made it to Galveston Texas.  This was our last stop in Texas before entering Louisiana.  We have heard from others, that it seems like an eternity to drive across Texas.  Well, we are here to agree with them.  Galveston has been a very cool place to visit, not to mention the 75-80 degree sunny weather.  We never really gave much thought about Galveston being an island, but back in 2008, hurricane Ike raise havoc here, with super high winds and water in the neighborhoods as high as 7 feet.  While walking through some of the historic residential areas, and talking with some of the people living there, this island was a total mess.  The tidal surge caused boats, ships, wave runners galore, and anything else that floated, to end up in these neighborhoods.  Also, almost all of the huge old oak trees were blown down.  The good news is, there is still a lot of work being done to put these homes, and neighborhoods, back together.

Galveston also has a Mardi Gras , beginning the 1st of February.  It appears that the people of Galveston really get into their Mardi Gras, by all of the homes we passed by that were all dec'd out.

In the top left picture, there is a white line painted on the dark blue foundation.  That was the water line during the hurricane.  The dog on the porch has a mask on.

We mentioned that most of the trees were blown down by the high winds.  Some of the home owners decided to carve sculptures out of the stumps.  Today there is a map of 17 of these sculptures, in the yards of homes, in this historic district, and there are more around town, growing mainly by three different artist. 

Remember, these were oak trees before the storm..!!

Galveston Island has a fun shoreline area, with miles of boardwalk along the sandy beach.  There is a pier, at the end of 25th street, they call "Pleasure Pier".  Much like one of the piers we visited in California, this pier has 2 roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, and many other attractions.  Very FUN area of downtown, with lots of eateries and scenery.

We walked down to pier 21 to see an old restored sailing ship that had just arrive that morning, and to look for someplace we could sit down, watch the harbor and quench our thirst.

We found a nice restaurant, with an outside patio area, and sat down to order a drink, just in time to watch a Disney cruse ship, and then a Carnival cruse ship, leave the port.

So, after two days, and nights, visiting Galveston, we stopped at a downtown, very loud (live music), lots of fun, biker bar for a late night snack and a beer.

Then we said goodbye to Galveston for this trip.  This would be another place to return to, if we passed this way again.

We hooked up this morning and made our way half the distance to New Orleans.  Tomorrow we will arrive in New Orleans, and have reservations at an RV Park just 5 miles from downtown.  We plan to ride the city bus, or take a cab, to downtown from the RV Park to experience Mardi Gras.  This way we can enjoy Mardi Gras, and not have to worry about driving......"YIPPEE".   We are expecting that this is going to be "PRETTY CRAZY", since it is the middle of Mardi Gras, and the Super Bowl is being played here next Sunday.  Check back later to see how we survive.

Thanks For Looking At Us,

Roberta and Steve