If you've been following my blog then you know how much I love going to Galveston. Since Hurricane Ike those visits have been few and far between, at least the day time visits when I have time to walk on the seawall - as I do go to the Island Quilters Guild evening meetings as much as possible.
Well, today was just too nice of a day to stay inside - I was tempted by the offer of an "extended lunch" and I was most eager to head south.
It's always fun to see the positive changes each time I visit the island post Ike. Today was no exception. After a wonderful lunch at The Spot it was time to walk the seawall.
The building behind me was totally washed away with Ike, I blogged about it a month after Ike, you can click here if you want to read about it. Hope. Today was the first time we've been to the Island since the gift shop has reopened. How do you like my new hat?
The Flagship Hotel, above, is still in a state of ruin. But even that couldn't put a damper on the beautiful day and how much I enjoyed being outside. So many memories in Galveston, it's a great escape and I love anytime I get to go there.
Now for those of you who think I play too much and don't get enough work in those "work hours" I'll have you know that I "doodled" some designs on my paper towel (The Spot's version of a napkin) while waiting for my lunch!
Who knows, might make some nice background fill in the next quilt. Hum....aren't most brilliant ideas first sketched out on napkins? (grin)
All too soon my extended lunch break was over and it was time to head back to the studio....I noticed that my thread catching cup was overflowing and figured that was a good excuse to go outside again for a minute....
See, I like to put my threads out for the birds. I somehow dream of them eagerly picking out their favorite color to line their nests. Alas, I've never seen any threads in nests, haven't even seen the nests...
But my offering is out there spread out on the burn pile so as not to clog up the lawn mower like I sometimes clog up my vacuum cleaner. Whether the wind blows it or the birds indeed find a treasure I may never know...
Back to work...have a beautiful colorful quilt on my frame that is as bright as the mood I'm today. Gotta love what I do! Freedom to work, play, enjoy - who could ask for more!
Oh the joys of living so close to the ocean! We left the mainland early this morning and crossed the causeway to Galveston Island for a breathtaking morning walk along the seawall. It was a beautiful bright day with little or no humidity. The crowds hadn't arrived yet and we enjoyed the almost solitude overlooking the beach during our two and a half mile walk on the seawall.
The rental umbrellas and chairs looked inviting, but we weren't prepared to spend the day. A few had already staked their claim to the choice spots and were already beckoned into the water by the inviting call of the waves. We just walked.
We passed by our favorite place to eat on the island "The Spot". It seemed almost strange not to have people eating out on the decks, but then again, I don't think they serve breakfast!
This photo was taken when we first arrived, coming from 61st street as we turned on to Seawall Blvd. Guess he was an early riser! The photo below was taken later in the morning - this is the jetty nearest the Flagship. Fishing must have been good today.
Lots to see on the seawall. By the way, if you haven't been to Galveston (yes it's really an island) then you may not be aware that there is a long walkway atop the seawall overlooking the sand and surf. There are no businesses beach side, except the Flagship Hotel, Murdoch's Bathouse/Gift Show, and the historical Balinese Room, and one or two fishing piers which were all destroyed by Ike. This is the view of the rebuilding of Murdoch's -- which is a welcomed site!! The brightly painted concrete is all that is left of the entrance to the Balinese room -- quite a lot of history distroyed with the passing of this historical landmark.
These monuments below document the building of the seawall at the turn of the 1900's. If you look close you can see how Ike pushed the top domes to the side. I guess they will eventually straighten these, will take large heavy machinery I'm sure. That's the left overs of the Flagship Hotel behind these pillars.
As we neared the Flagship Hotel, or should I say what was left of it after the flurry of Hurricane Ike, we decided to go down the concrete stairs descending from the seawall to sea level. I guess I'm always complaining that we don't actually walk on the beach but instead take our walk on the seawall....well, today was different. Up close and personal, sand in my shoes! Oh the joy of being on the beach!
And oh the sunburn! Even though the morning was a lot cooler than it would have been in the afternoon, it was still a bright sun shiny day!
It was worth it! Now it feels like summer! I hope we can resume our Galveston seawall walks more and more, I've missed this "routine" that was interrupted by the hurricane. Maybe, just maybe things are going to soon feel like normal again. I love these one day vacations, or as in the case today, half-day vacations!
Date night! Couldn't tell you the last time we walked on the beach at Galveston -- I know it was pre-Ike. Oh, we've been to the island once or twice since the hurricane back in September, but we hadn't walked the seawall or stepped foot on the sand.
That all changed tonight! And it felt wonderful!
Dare I say normal?
Our life pre-Ike included a lot of date nights in Galveston. We used to love to drive over the causeway, some 25 miles from home, park on the seawall and just walk. Honestly it's been a while since we actually walked on the sand, much preferring the stability of the sidewalk on top of the seawall, enjoying the traffic, the activities at the local establishments that we passed, deciding which restaurant we were going to eat at...well, that was usually a given, our favorite is The Spot. Especially during warmer weather when we could sit outside in their Tiki bar (across the street from the seawall) and have a nice hamburger, or salad and baked potato, occasionally a grilled shrimp dinner...As they say...those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end (grin).
I think we've eaten there once, maybe twice since Ike, but tonight was the first time we walked the seawall -- and the FIRST time in over a year or more that we walked on the beach.
Galveston, on a good day, isn't the prettiest beach in the world. Some say it's dirty colored sand and they complain of the dark water -- but what they don't realize is Galveston is the end of the line for a lot of streams and rivers so that's why we don't have the crystal clear blue waters you have in the Florida area...Ah, but it's still a beach and it beckons me.
I love the sounds of the seagulls and the sights of the waves -- some days they are good sized, other days they are flat -- just depends upon the weather I guess. I love looking for the tiny seashells, the ones that take hundreds to fill your pocket. As a kid I used to look for the ones with a little hole in them so I could string them into a bracelet or necklace. Now, many shell collections later, I just love to look at them. Occasionally picking up one to remember my special moment, my day at the beach.
Being an island with the bay side to the north and the ocean side to the south, you really don't have the sunset moments like you do inKey West. We also don't have the bagpipe player (sigh) but that doesn't mean we don't have beautiful sunsets, they just aren't over the water. It was still romantic.
After our walk we went to Fish Tales, one of the local restaurants also on the seawall and had our fill of grilled and fried shrimp with a wonderful salad and vegetable melody. We had an ocean view and enjoyed the dusk turning to night as we dined like "we used to". The evening was topped off with sharing a slice of key lime pie!! I dare say it's been well over a year since I've had key lime pie (my first key lime pie was in Key West, so it's a beach thing for me) -- making this a truly wonderful date night!
I didn't have my camera with me, just my cell phone, but I thought it did a pretty good job of recording my special evening with my special someone (grin) So I'm sharing with you a taste of sunset on the seawall....
wishing you beautiful sunsets with the one you love, now and for always
Today was our first visit to the island, Galveston Island. Not exactly the way I remembered our favorite vacation land – the place we’d go for a casual lunch and a walk along the sea wall. No, it resembled nothing of the sort.
As we neared Harborside Exit off I45 we noticed the boats tossed along the side of the causeway, we’d seen photos of this - but nothing prepares you for the real thing. Hard to imagine the force of nature that can move a vessel much like a child playing with a toy boat in the bathtub, landing it at a whim where it doesn’t naturally belong.
Everything seemed in sepia tone – reminding me of the movie Waterworld and others where things in the future after mass destructions were all brown and dull looking. Here it was hard to recognize familiar spots due to the amount of debris piled up on the curb. Everywhere you looked there were piles – around the many businesses that still sported their boarded up windows we saw piles of office furniture, cabinets, chairs, desks, sheetrock, etc. Going down Broadway I caught a glimpse of a business, barely reading the sign on the wall due to the height of the debris…but unmistakably a vacuum store…their previous inventory of vacuum cleaners were neatly arranged on the curb – if you didn’t know better you’d think they’d been so displayed for a special sidewalk sale, obviously the owners still reflecting their pride in their business. The type of Texas tenacity that tells you “we will be back”
The ever popular Strand looked like a ghost town, or perhaps a movie set for the 1900’s era – the buildings are still beautiful with their historic architect but the windows are boarded, the streets covered with dirt, and the sidewalks empty. Where are the actors? Where are the colorful coastal cruise-line destination shops? How long before they will be back?
We made our way to the seawall, where we didn’t SEE some of the familiar sights – noticeably missing were the piers. One place we frequented was Murdoch’s – in the early 1900’s it was a bath house and a popular spot on the water. In recent years it was a gift shop. A few years ago they added a section that connected two of these buildings on piers together which formed what I call a breezeway decking over the water– it was an opened covered area with rocking chairs placed where you could enjoy the water and perhaps have a cool soda or frozen drink. Many memories associated with rocking while enjoying the sound of the waves and the sea gulls.Oh, and we did purchase our fair share of island souvenirs throughout the years – especially when the tropical shirts would go on sale (smile). This is how it looks today. Only the breezeway is standing. It will probably not be rebuilt as city ordinances prohibit new buildings on piers. A piece of history gone, gone with the wind and gone with the waves.
The quilt shop in Galveston was having a customer appreciation sale today - she had over 3000 bolts that had been salvaged, washed and dried and on sale for way below their value. The store which has previously held over 8 years of memories for me was not much more than a shell of its former grandeur.Gone were the colorful quilts on display covering the walls, gone were the book shelves full of inspiration, gone were the neatly arranged bolts of fabric beckoning to be taken home and added to a stash, gone were the displays of notions, giftware, and trinkets. Instead, tables with flat folds of the salvaged fabric, shelves with "free items, limit one per customer" of patterns, charm packs, and other itemsdamaged by the water but still useful. A strange unfamiliar sight.
Yet among the visual rubble were smiles, hugs, and well wishes. Everyone was sooo glad to gather at the quilt shop that had been closed now for well over a month -- a time to run into quilting friends, a time to share Ike stories, a time to wish the owner well in her recovery and future plans -- for you see, the strip mall where she is located will be torn down by the owners to rebuild a grocery store so the shop as we knew it will be no more. This is the shop that inspired my quilting, this is the shop that believed in me and encouraged me to teach others to quilt, this is the shop where I used to work on Saturdays back in the day when I still had a "real" Mon-Fri job, this is the shop that gave me an opportunity to be a longarm quilter of shop samples. This shop is where friends gather. At the end of the month, this shop will be a precious memory. As the owner said, it's not hard to let go of stuff, it's just hard to let go of the memories associated with the stuff. She's been there for her customers - both locally, the ones that come to her booth at Festival and other venues, and through the internet. For now, there's nowhere on the island to relocate. Items are in storage on the mainland and it's "one step at a time" Decisions will be made after Festival as to the future of this shop - indeed, it's a hard pill to
swallow -- but we are not without hope down here. Hope comes in all sorts of ways - from seeing the squirrels and birds return, to seeing new growth of the leaves on my trees in the backyard (sounds strange to you folks further north that are enjoying FALL but around here the only falling of the leaves is generally if they are blown off during a storm ), hope comes in a hug from a friend and hearing how they are rebuilding, and hope comes in the mail - how I do so look forward to facilitating the distribution of Quilts of Hope! And hope comes in looking forward to future events as this billboard on the way home reminded me!!!
