Galveston a bustling port town

We are staying in a timeshare in Montgomery Texas called Sweetwater on Lake Conroe, totally reminds me of Barrie at home or Myrtle Beach.  A beautiful lake full of cottages/homes, boats and golf courses, with some amazing looking restaurants and shops around.  This is pretty well what I was expecting.  Yesterday we decided to take a trip down to Galveston on the Gulf.  Houston traffic is worse than Toronto, I'm not sure if that made Jim feel better or not, but it was a pretty straight drive down Hwy 45 and it allowed us to see the Houston skyline.  

First stop was the Pier.  Another thing I found out about Texas, this is considered off season so a lot of things are closed on Mondays including the pier.  It didn't deter us from having a walk along the beach.  

  

 I met Forrest Gump :) on the pier.

These pipes are part of a project to expand the beach, they are dredging sand from the channel to make the beach 100 to 150 feet wider.   Thank goodness, I thought they were very rusty oil pipelines.

 Happy feet, happy toes love being in the water.  A new part of the Gulf for these feet.  

  

 I was expecting this to be a little like Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Nope, not at all.  It is a little bustling port and oil town.  Lots of tankers, beautiful old mansions, you could definitely picture  the centre of town with lots of saloons and oilmen.  Most of these little stores are now quaint little shops.  And yes I found a Christmas Shop, a new ornament for my tree.

 Mardi Gras is very big in Galveston.  The town and local residences all dress up for Mardi Gras the way we do for Halloween and Christmas.  There were trees covered in beads and feathers all over the streets.

 One street over and we saw our first oil rig.  They are massive.

 Next stop was lunch at sure enough the Fisherman's Wharf.  A great location with great food.  Every fish I could imagine was mentioned on the menu.  I was brave and settled for shrimp :).

If you are in the area, make sure to make a stop in Galveston.  Lots of history in the area and a beach that is just going to get more beautiful.

 Time to head home, with a quick stop at the Houston Space Station.  We were disappointed that we couldn't go in as it closes at 5pm.  But just amazed to see the shuttle just sitting there on top of a 747.  And yes I burst into tears, my mom and I were always so excited when one of the shuttles were taking off, we always stopped whatever we were doing to watch it.  Amazing the great minds that are housed in this small area.