Mar 28 2017

Galveston – A City Frozen in Time

How the 1900 Storm shaped Galveston

Galveston’s sudden destruction in the 1900 storm helped create a jewel on the Texas coast that you can explore endlessly. She feels like a Victorian coastal city preserved in amber, almost like a Pompeii. (To skip a little history lesson and get to enjoying Galveston, click here.)

1024px-The_William_Lewis_Moody_Home-690x400 Galveston - A City Frozen in Time — ***By I am Jim (Own work) CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia***

On September 8, 1900, Galveston had a population of 36,000 people and was flush with financial power and prestige. When sun rose the next morning, an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 had died in the deadliest natural disaster in US history. In comparison, Pompeii lost only 2,000 of her 20,000 residents in the eruption of Vesuvius.

Galveston before and after the storm

Maybe if Galveston had aged more gradually, she wouldn’t be so unique. Before Sept 8, 1900, Galveston was the belle of the southern port cities. With a stranglehold on shipping west of New Orleans, she built an ornate business district in the Strand, palatial mansions and houses of worship that looked like stone wedding cakes.

Galveston_-_1900_homes-Public-domain-via-Wikimedia-Commons-690x400 Galveston - A City Frozen in Time — **[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons**

After the storm, the area north of Broadway was torn up but a wall of debris from beach front neighborhoods mitigated the storm surge somwhat. The area south of Broadway looked like a weed eater whacked it down to the soil. Human and animal carcasses lay where the water had receded. [Read more…]

Mar 10 2017

South Padre Island’s Pet Rescuers

Taking your dog to the beach is fun for both you and your pup. But sometimes your dog bolts and gets away. Bad people sometimes bring their dogs and cats to the Texas coast to leave them.

Cash got lucky

That’s probably what happened to Cash (short for Johnny Cash), a four-month old Australian Shepherd mix. He was eating out of a garbage can outside the Denny’s on South Padre Island, his stomach distended. Cash was very lethargic. Some caring Islander drove him up Padre Boulevard to the South Padre Island Friends of Animal Rescue storefront. After seeing a vet and getting treated, he recuperated nicely surrounded by two-legged and four-legged companions.

A tiny and humble animal rescue group

The southern tip of the longest barrier island in Texas (and the world) will be overrun for most of March by Spring Breakers. In April, Semana Santa (Easter Holy Week) will bring thousands of families from throughout the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico to the beach.

South Padre Island Friends of Animal Rescue storefront will take care of the lost or abandoned animals like Cash. Others are like Hope, hit by a car and left on the road until somebody carried her to the Friends. Now minus her front leg, Hope is a bit of an island celebrity. And this tiny and humble no-kill animal rescue is a happy and uplifting place. It’s not the big budget organization that runs depressing, late-night commercials of sad-eyed dogs and cats who then haunt your dreams.

Hop-a-long Hope at the South Padre Island Friends of Animal Rescue

[Read more…]

Feb 16 2017

Galveston Mardi Gras

It’s Mardi Gras time! Want to score lots of beads at this year’s Galveston Mardi Gras without catching any thrown from floats and too shy to flash anyone? Don’t say impossible. My friends and I did it by creating an on-impulse “tradition” and having the confidence to pull it off. Check out our haul in pictures and then don’t be afraid to try it yourself!

How it happened

A few years ago, these same friends thought it would be fun to arrive early at the Galveston Mardi Gras and get up close spots for the Krewe of Gambrinus Parade. The Krewe parade covers a three-mile route starting at the Seawall and 57^th street.

To hold onto our front row positions, the plan was apparently to lean against the cold barrier rail and wait until the parade got there. To keep warm, we took turns running inside to Mo Betta’ market to get plastic sippy cups of Chardonnay.

Waiting is not something I do well. Like a three-year old, I get restless when I’m bored. Even worse, some people were walking around, showing off the bounty of beads they had caught at earlier parades, festivals, and parties. Now, not only was I bored, I was also beadless. I felt like the only girl at my high school homecoming without a giant,beribboned mum.
[Read more…]

Feb 04 2017

Strange Places to Stay

Here are three I think you will enjoy.

While South Padre Island has lots of luxurious condos and hotels, I’ve unearthed some unique accommodations that carry the water theme to ridiculous depths.
Traveling north up the Texas coast to Seadrift, this place gets you to the real heart of your seafood fixation.
More interested in the high desert of the Big Bend area? How about digs in the heart of the Terlingua ghost town with the residents of a cemetery as your closest neighbors?

South Padre Island KOA Water Tank Condos

old-water-tank-shot Strange Places to Stay — Courtesy of KOA South Padre Island

South Padre Island was hard to visit until 1954, when the original Queen Isabella causeway was completed. At that time, the island was mostly sand dunes and open beaches with a few restaurants and bait shops.

In 1974, the new Queen Isabella causeway was built a bit farther north and old causeway was made into a very long fishing pier by chopping out the center section. The two water tanks that provided water for the island’s early growth sat forlorn near to the base of the old causeway until the former owners of the KOA property saw potential.

An eyesore becomes a showplace

water-tanks-redone-690x400 Strange Places to Stay — Courtesy of KOA South Padre Island

The two giant tanks, each with a capacity of 330,000 gallons, have become hidden treasures at the funky end of the island. Even many locals don’t know about them .

Roomy and dry

The bottom level of north tank is the office, extensive gift shop for the KOA and restrooms for the resort pool. Upstairs (no elevators) are three spacious condos overlooking the pool and the Laguna Madre’s South Bay. When Space X starts to launch rockets on Boca Chica, this resort and these condos will have a front row seat.

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And while the water tank condos don’t have outdoor balconies, the other water tank provides some wonderful extras. Ground level for that tank is now a large common area and party room with a bar. Upstairs is a large fitness center. Outside is an outdoor deck that faces the Laguna Madre, Dolphin Cove and a sand-covered playground.

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Fall and winter a great time to visit

KOA South Padre also has waterfront cabins and lots of space for RV’s and travel trailers but book early. This resort is very popular with families in summer and winter Texans in the colder months. Try reserving a condo in the tank in Sept, October or early November, which really the best time to visit South Padre Island. Or do it now. A few weeks ago, all three condos were available and the Island had sunshine and California-type weather in late January.

A walkable location

Staying on this part of Island means you can spend your whole vacation without getting back in the car/truck. It is a very short walk to at least four popular restaurants. In fact, the KOA shares its parking lot with Pier 19, a seafood restaurant built on the old causeway fishing pier.

Beware of pirates

On the south section of the old causeway, right before the center opening, is an outdoor bar. The bar is open seasonally but even if it is closed, the location is still a great place to see a sunset. It is also a safe place to watch as the Black Dragon pirate ship regularly sneaks up on Pier 19 from its berth in Port Isabel. My great niece has begged me for years to take her aboard and join the pirates as they plunder the “unsuspecting” target. You’d think Pier 19 would learn.

5977617133_2d9574eb68_b-690x400 Strange Places to Stay — Image by Vince Smith Black Dragon Pirate Ship in Laguna Madre

Ride the Wave across Texas’s 2nd longest bridge

Nearby Sea Ranch Marina has fishing and dolphin watching excursions. Down the block and across the street is the beach and Schlitterbaun. The Wave is the Island’s free shuttle that takes you all around the island and to Port Isabel. Spend a day in the old Lighthouse Square and climb the only lighthouse in Texas still open to the public.

Whether it is a weekend with the girls or the guys, an anniversary trip or someplace different to take the kids, what a story you will have about your weekend in the “tank”.

Susie Belle Boatel at Breezy Palms in Seadrift

susie-belle-exterior-2 Strange Places to Stay — Image by John Rossello

When you are on the Texas coast, do more than watch the shrimp boats out on the horizon – stay in one. Don’t worry about getting seasick. The Susie Belle is permanently berthed on solid ground. John, her owner , calls the Susie Belle a “boatel”. We found her through a happy accident.

A secret part of the Texas coast

A few years ago, we had to scrap a New Year’s Eve hunting trip to an old rancho in Laredo because of flooding. It was at the last minute and we were in the mindset for something rustic and outdoorsy. Decades ago, I had met author Pete Barthelme right before he left Houston and moved to Seadrift to write full time. I’d never heard of the place, but I liked the mysteries Pete produced there. Seemed like a good time to check out the place.

IMG_0459-1-e1486237862576-690x400 Strange Places to Stay — Sign at Seadrift Texas docks

TripAdvisor had a review on the Susie Belle Boatel at the Breezy Palms in Seadrift. I called and found out that owner’s extended family had just vacated the boatel. He could have it ready for us that afternoon. By 4p, we’d climbed aboard, met John and learned more about how the boatel came to be.

Born and built in Seadrift

The Susie Belle, renamed after John’s wife, had been built on-site in Seadrift about 35 years ago. She’d sailed under different names and has been both a shrimper and an oyster boat in that time.

John had always been interested in converting something like a bus into lodging. Why not a shrimp boat? Turns out there were lots of why nots. He bought the derelict for $1,000 and poured 2 1/2 years and another $30,000 into making her into a place to stay. To stabilize her hull, John poured 10 yards ( over 30,000 pounds of concrete) into her hull. People around Seadrift who hadn’t gotten the word that she was being repurposed, asked John how she could possibly float again.

Susie Belle’s transformation

Now the Susie Belle sits just a half a block from the boat docks where she spent her early life. Inside, she’s all polished wood and portholes. A big v-berth queen size bed, two bunk beds and a mate’s bed (all twin size) provide lots of nap options.

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The kitchen is minimal with a refrigerator and microwave. However, we also dug out a electric skillet and crockpot and were able to use those two items to make a Lobster Risotto with truffle oil.

A simple place

seadrift-pier-2 Strange Places to Stay — Seadrift Texas Pier

The wooden outside deck faced the Seadrift boat docks . Seadrift Bayfront Park and a very long lighted fishing pier are nearby. There are no chain restaurants here yet (yeah!). Mom and pop seafood and Mexican restaurants are scattered around town. We bought fresh seafood at the Chunky Monkey, a short distance from our vessel and ate huge oysters as an appetizer for our risotto. You can also buy your bait here.

Explore history, wildlife and nearby ports

IMG_0461-e1486238217902-1080x975 Strange Places to Stay — Sandhill cranes on Texas coast

With Seadrift as a base, you are in the heart of the Coastal Bend. We drove to Port O’Connor, stopping by the side of the road to watch and listen to a huge flock of Sandhill cranes, resting in a field. We visited the ruins of Indianola, once a rival to Galveston with 5,000 people. The town was scoured out of existence by intense hurricanes in 1875 and 1886. Heading south on Hiway 35, we visited friends wintering in Fulton Beach and ate lunch at Charlotte Plummer’s Restaurant. We sat in the warm sunshine, shielded from the cold wind behind the glass windows that look out onto Fulton Harbor.

Indianola_Texas-3 Strange Places to Stay — By Helmuth Holtz – Library of Congress, Public Domain

There is only one Susie Belle Boatel but even if you can’t book her, John’s got other cabins around her. Seadrift and this working part of the Texas coast is worth a visit.

Retro Camping in the Terlingua Ghost Town

When visiting Big Bend, try setting up your base in the Terlingua Ghost Town at Retro Rents, a spread-out camp of five refurbished Airstream trailers strung along a gutted road. Each trailer is named. There is Rosie, Josephine, Betty, Bachelor and the most recent addition at the top of the hill – a 1977 24 foot Argosy/Airstream named Alice. Sam, the town vet owns the little aluminum herd along with his artist wife, Dani.

IMG_2588-690x400 Strange Places to Stay — Alice the Airstream, Terlingua, Texas

We got Alice and loved her from the minute we saw her. The feeling just got stronger over the two days we lived in her. She was set off by herself with the residents of the old Terlingua cemetery as her closest neighbors.

Alice has a full bath (relatively speaking), plenty of storage, a more complete kitchen than the Boatel and wraparound windows looking out onto the mountains in Mexico. Improbably decorated with flamingos instead of roadrunners, Alice was a joy to occupy.

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From bed you could watch the sun rise over the mountains. At night you could look north to the stars over the cemetery.

IMG_2551-photo-690x400 Strange Places to Stay — Terlingua cemetery at night

After reviewing Alice’s idiosyncrasies with Sam, we opened a bottle of wine, turned on the i-tunes and listened to Marty Stuart’s “All The Pretty Horses” soundtrack as we toasted our arrival and watched the changing shadows in front of us.

At Retro Rents, you are in the heart of the Terlingua Ghost town. To find out about the interesting people and offbeat places we visited in Terlingua, click here.

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Jul 14 2016

Ted Tuesday and the Port Isabel Lighthouse

I hadn’t set out to climb the Port Isabel lighthouse so why was I gripping the cold rail on its highest landing, trying to slow down my breathing so I wouldn’t pass out and tumble down the 75 iron steps? Ted was to blame. And it was getting worse. This last landing was too small for more than one person to stand on. There were two people up in the light chamber above me who needed to come down and I was blocking their way. It would be humiliating to climb back down the stairs when it was obvious I had come all this way and decided not to climb the short ladder to the chamber. “We’ll stand back against the glass so you can on climb up. Then we can climb down,” the couple said. They were waiting. In a fog, I let go of the landing railing and reached up to grab the last ladder. My strappy sandals made my feet wobble on the rungs. Pulling myself up over the lip of the chamber floor, I faced the friendly couple. They loved this lofty view of South Padre Island across the Laguna Madre. They pointed out their family five stories below on the lighthouse hill. I faked enthusiasm until they climbed back down one by one. Then I exhaled and walked quickly around the circumference of the light chamber, looking out and across but never down.

Of the 16 lighthouse structures still around, the Port Isabel Lighthouse was the only one open to the public. Built in the early 1850’s, it had been manned by both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. I walked over to the lighthouse just to get an inside view of it. My 90-year-old mother was “at work” that Tuesday at the dog resale shop on the island. I had just been let go after 36 years in Houston media and was visiting my mom for a few days to reboot. Walking around old Port Isabel was a chore for her, so I took advantage of her work schedule to drive across the Queen Isabella causeway and meander.

“It is $2.50 to climb the lighthouse and there are just two people ahead of you so you can go right up,” said a young woman sitting at a desk partially hidden by the first spiral of the stairs. I was ready with an excuse when Ted caught me unaware. “Pay the lady and get your ass up those steps.” “Can I climb in these shoes?” I asked the woman, hoping not. “Sure,” she said as she reached out for the money.

The cool concrete walls hugged the spiral stair structure. As I counted off the first few dozen stairs, I was surprisingly calm in this cocoon. “Maybe I’ve outgrown this height thing,” I thought. “No,” panic answered, “Just waiting for the halfway point, right about …now!” I went from bounding up the steps with one hand on the railing to carefully placing my foot on each step and gripping on to the support with both hands in an uncomfortable sideways position. Upward progress almost stopped as I mimicked the slow, halting way my mom handled the stairs of her beach house. When I got to that last landing, the friendly couple took over from Ted to get me up that last ladder.

I was still shaky on the way down and while walking over to the little beer garden in the shade of the lighthouse. After a glass of wine to settle down, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Ted’s mom, Katie. “Happy Ted Tuesday. In true Ted fashion, I faced my fear of heights and climbed the Port Isabel Lighthouse by myself. I was scared to death but I did it. Grab life, face fear!”

I had not heard from Katie in many years but now we had been in regular contact since two weeks before Christmas. I got a text early that Saturday morning to call her. “Ted was killed last night,” she said when she answered my call. I did not think I’d heard her right. Ted was a recent graduate of the A&M maritime college in Galveston and was working on tugboats out of Corpus Christi. He worked one week on and one week off. He was at home in Galveston and died in a one-car accident near Jamaica beach the night before.

“I need you to break it to Molly so she can tell Clark,” said Katie. Clark was Ted’s best friend. Clark and his wife had had just had a baby and Ted was to be baby Everett’s godparent. My daughter Molly was part of this foursome that hung around together. They had reconnected when Molly returned from five years in southern California.

“Call me,” I texted Molly. She immediately called back. “Is it Earl?” Earl was our very old terrier that defies the years. There was no way to make this news any better. “No, It’s Ted Harrison. He was killed last night. Katie would like you to break it to Clark.” The silence was her brain seizing up before it had to turn in a new direction. “No Mom. No, not Ted, It can’t be Ted,” Molly was crying.

The next few days are still out of focus. A gathering happened at Katie’s house. George, a family friend from the Cleburne Cafeteria showed up and filled the small kitchen with pans of fried chicken, squash casserole, macaroni and cheese, green beans and other comfort food. After all, this was Greek gathering and there is always lots of food.

Ted’s little sister worshiped her big brother and took videos of him. Here was one of Ted screaming at Nia to “MAKE COOKIES” like piratical cookie monster. At Christmas, he had been surprised with a Yeti cooler and could not stop shouting the f-word in delight. “It’s a f—- Yeti!” he roared.

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Montrose was filled to capacity with people up in the balconies and leaning against the walls across the back and down each side of the church. Ted’s mother, father, brother, sister and yaya all stood on the altar before the service for over two hours as we all lined up to hug them and pass by Ted in his open casket, dressed in his maritime dress whites.

That crazy Zach Galifanakis beard was gone. He still had that beard in the last photos from the night he died. Three priests presided over the ceremony. A bus took Galveston friends to the cemetery and back to the church for a reception. I had known Ted as a little boy. That day, through his friends and family I was meeting Ted the man, who lived life full out.

“Tuesdays are going to be the hardest,” Katie said when we had a moment to hug. “He’d call me each week as he shipped out or came back.”

A few days later, my son, Shane and I went to Galveston to spend some of the Christmas vacation. I was conscious of how lucky I was to have my son healthy and here with me.

Most nights, something in me triggers a period of wakefulness around 3 am. Tonight it was thinking about Katie and how hard Tuesdays would be from now on. I reached for my phone and set a recurring reminder for every Tuesday at 8a. Since then, every Tuesday, Katie and I exchange a text about what each “Ted Tuesday” holds for us. It has become a mid-week mediation on how life is to be lived, dreams acted on, and fears faced. Ted was to blame for trek to the top of the lighthouse. May he curse me with many more motivations.