Galveston, Texas

or

Escape from the 49^th Parallel

Let's face it, after that last storm, the Winter of 2014 officially became “a winter to remember”...and Ottawa, a great place to be from.

And what a time to be retired and to have the freedom to follow your heart...SOUTH? So, hold my calls! We're off to Galveston!






Ottawa International Airport was surprisingly full at 4:30 a.m.  It felt like a staging area for “Snowbirds”, all with the same natural instinct to head South.

Once aboard United Airlines, we were supposed to be in Texas in 7 hours but soon it was nothing but: “Houston, we have a problem.” 

It started in Newark, where United had to pull our connector plane off the roster. Yikes!   Plan B involved lots of waiting, a small prop plane shuttle to Washington, and then a flight to Houston.  

Only 20 hours later and well after dark, did we open the door to our condo. Hurray!!!

Down here, cattle stealing is still a hanging offense which for the Texan is “no problemo” but give him when the weather gets cold and rainy, even in February, that's really irritating! It gets them riled!

We were slow to pick up on that and so were a little insensitive to their feelings.

We were just blissfully happy that any stormy weather didn't require shoveling.

Our first morning there, rough weather had brought us a huge surprise: a beach full of “spume” (sea foam).  It was a novelty for us but the Texans were crazy for it.




For some of the locals, it was akin to a white Christmas. Trucks were parading up and down the beach, headlights on, plowing through the foam. 

You could even hear shrills of infectious enthusiasm, sometimes from  both ends of the half-ton.

One happy guy even rolled down his window and shouted through his toothy grin: “It's like snow!”






Only a lone fisherman, who had traveled 4 hours from inland, seemed unimpressed, reminding us in his stoic but friendly demeanor: “Fishin' is serious business!”

On Day II, we forayed into Galveston proper for the first time. Truthfully, it was a little sobering.




Two things became clear to us:

a) Galveston has a very close relationship to the oil industry and...

b) Hurricanes, the most famous of which The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the most recent, Hurricane Ike (2008) had taken a devastating toll on the area.



OIL in Texas



Galveston is no stranger to the oil industry. After all, “Black Gold” or “Texas Tea” was first detected down here in 1543 when Spanish explorer Luis de Moscoso of the DeSoto saw it floating on the water right here on Galveston Bay.

Sure, it took another 300 years to make oil economically viable but Galveston was always and remains today intensely involved in the industry. And why not? There's money in the stuff.


Texas is still the leading U.S. oil-producing state, accounting for 22 percent of U.S. crude oil production. The industry provides for 1.8 million jobs here and 9.9 billion dollars in annual taxes and royalties.


In honour of the industry, we decided to visit the drilling rig museum “Ocean Star” in the Galveston's harbour where we put on our dungarees and got to work.


What was missing here was any romantic notion that   Glenn Campbell's “Galveston” might have depicted. This once glorious city is now struggling. Sure, there are the beaches, the on-the-pier amusement parks, and an old but eclectic main street quaintly called “The Strand” but it's all suffered and been scared by the inevitable march of time and weather.  In fact, all attempts to create a sustainable port-economy have only led to a conflict between oil and the port's second focus, the cruise-line business.

“The Storm Done Blowed It Down”

Prior to September 8th, 1900, Galveston, a flat and strategically located island, was a booming metropolis and the center of trade for the whole state of Texas.


While some worried about the Island's vulnerability, most managed to succumb to complacency all the while enjoying the city's prosperity.


Galveston Weather Bureau's director, the very controversial Isaac Cline, even wrote that it would be impossible for a hurricane of any significant strength to strike the island. As a result, no seawall was built. In fact, dunes along the shore were cut down to use as fill for low lying areas in the city, thus removing what little barrier there was to the Gulf of Mexico and its storms.


In 1900, the Great Storm did hit, completely overwhelming the city and leaving that very same Isaac Cline to write perhaps shamelessly: "Where 20,000 people once lived on September 8th not a house remained on the 9th, and who occupied the houses may, in many instances, never be known." Nice going, Isaac!

Since then, Galveston's recovery has stumbled and staggered,. Its neighbor, Houston, became the new economic vortex, all built on oil, and sucking much needed development funding from Galveston. Eventually a seawall was built and life did go on. And as it goes, the Great Hurricane became mostly a forgotten thing, that is until 2008, when Hurricane Ike demolished Galveston once again.

Today, February, 13^th, the sun is shining for the first time since our arrival. Suddenly, our empty beach has become very busy with dolphins and whales, pelicans and cranes, beach walkers and fishermen....all out enjoying this glorious day.



Over night, Galveston Island, with its palm trees, aquatic life, and blue water, had become “Glenn-Campbell- beautiful".


Until next time.