Galveston State Park Galveston TX

 Galveston State Park in Galveston, TX

Galveston is an island south of Houston in the Gulf.  We camped at the State Park, which was only separated from the beach by the dunes.  We had the opportunity to see wonderful sunrises and sunsets. Well, Lisa saw the sunsets and Mark saw both. 

This was a sunset we saw from the beach.

The sunrise was simply gorgeous over the water. What an amazing way to start your day- full of beauty, hope and promise.

Unknowingly, we happened to be in Galveston for Mardi Gras.  Galveston has the third largest Mardi Gras after New Orleans and Lafayette, Louisiana.  Neither of us had ever seen or been part of any Mardi Gras celebrations.   We made our plans to attend one of the parades. We opted for a day time, more family friendly parade, rather than a rowdy night time one. 

Karma was a big hit as a bead collector. We ended up with so many beads around his neck that it weighed him down and he kept tripping on them.  We made one little girl very happy. We gave her all of Karma's beads. I wish we had gotten a picture of the look of amazement and pure glee on her little face. Karma had about the same look because he was glad to be rid of them. He is such an attention whore- he loves all the attention he gets whenever we take him out. 

Monument in Galveston dedicated to the World War II Texan veterans lost in the war.

This is the Customs House in Galveston.

The 1900 Galveston hurricane, known regionally as the Great Storm of 1900 or the 1900 Storm, is the deadliest natural disaster in United States history and the third-deadliest Atlantic hurricane, only behind the Great Hurricane of 1780 and 1998 Hurricane Mitch overall. The hurricane caused between 6,000 and 12,000 fatalities in the United States; the number most cited in official reports is 8,000. Most of these deaths occurred in and near Galveston, Texas, after the storm surge inundated the coastline and the island city with 8 to 12 ft of water. In addition to the number killed, the storm destroyed about 7,000 buildings of all uses in Galveston, which included 3,636 demolished homes; every dwelling in the city suffered some degree of damage. The hurricane left approximately 10,000 people in the city homeless, out of a total population of fewer than 38,000. The disaster ended the Golden Era of Galveston, as the hurricane alarmed potential investors, who turned to Houston instead. In response to the storm, three engineers designed and oversaw plans to raise the Gulf of Mexico shoreline of Galveston Island by 17 ft. and erect a 10 mi seawall.

The high water mark from Ike in 2008 on the wall of a surviving building from the 1900 Hurricane,  reached with the same water level as the 1900 storm. However the 1900 storm devastated the area significantly worse.

This private home, located outside of the downtown area in Galveston, is a perfect example of the architecture and affluence of the city's early days . 

The Galveston Fire Department is the nicest fire station we have ever seen.

This downtown Galveston area, called The Strand, is full of beautiful old buildings repurposed as a main retail area full of quaint shops and restaurants. This area is a favorite for tourists and is a boom to the local economy. The architecture definitely is a reflection of the Spanish and Mexican  influence in the early days of the city.

We always google "things to do" in each city we visit to help us locate things to do and must see attractions. This bird sculpture was on the must see list.  We typically have a chuckle at some of the things we find on the list- like Chuck E Cheese or a grocery store, even Walmart was on the list for one small town. You know your options are pretty limited when Walmart is one of the city's top attractions. Karma has learned he is supposed to sit by Lisa for a picture at these various points of interest. It is pretty comical when he "assumes the position" without being told.