Galveston - What to see/do day before cruise???

[CruzieSue]

Coming in late Friday night and will have all day Saturday before our cruise leaves on Sunday. We've never been to Galveston before. What are your favorite things to do, places to see, places to eat when you are in the Galveston area? We will be staying about halfway between Houston and Galveston. Thanks. :)

[ssb]

There are special events in Galveston

area almost every weekend

www.galveston.com (what to do)(calendar of events) your vacation calendar dates

Sign up on Galveston.com for email of weekly events

www.galvestonhistory.org ---Galveston Historical Foundation !!!!!!

www.moodygardens.com -- just look at site !!!!!! LOTS

www.thegrand.com – 1894 Grand Opera House !!!!!!

Mardi Gras February 2013 - mardigrasgalveston.com LARGE

 

Houston

Museum District

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

February and March 2013 - http://www.rodeohouston.com

330 million to youth of Texas since 1932

2,257,970 attendance 2012

Largest Fair – North America

Big Entertainment

Clearlake

Nasa Space Center

Kemah board walk – www.kemahboardwalk.com

Galveston:

Beaches Beaches Beaches

Old Town Strand Galveston *- Strand To Post Office Street

(lots of shopping, ice cream, old army surplus store, nautical shop,

Clothing Stores

Restaurants, Antiques, Shops, Bakery and Coffee shop

Wineries and wine festivals

Restaurants overlooking gulf and on port

Two first class convention centers

Many live theater venues

Many live music venues

Free concert nights - old town Galveston *- on strand

Free film nights -old town Galveston *- on strand

Free band nights-“family/kids” oriented-summer Tuesdays 24th & Sealy

1894 grand opera house * (a must seetour, and/or performances

Chess park

Artist festivals

Oleander City of the South and Gardens

Art Walk

Museums

Antique stores and art Galleries

Horse drawn carriage rides

Swimming in Gulf

Fine restaurants

Night scene

Galveston Historical Foundation properties*

Many Historical and Victorian homes

Galveston has second largest preservation membership in United States

Wooden Carved Trees Tour (wonderful)

Bishops palace (wonderful)

Moody mansion(wonderful)

· Ashton villa (wonderful)

Moody gardens *(lots and lots and lots to do)

.....(massive, fun and family oriented)

Schlitterbahn water park www.schlitterbahn.com/gal

Restored tall ship schooner Elisa www.tsm-elissa.org (wonderful)

1900 storm and pirate jean Laffite documentary films at port

Pirates Store and program - Old town Strand

Pleasure Pier

Maritime museum- www.tsm-elissa.org

Airplane museum (Lone Star Flight Museum)- www.lsfm.org/

Railroad museum - http://www.galvestonrrmuseum.com

Oil drilling rig museum - www.oceanstaroec.com

Sea Wolf park – WWII submarine and destroyer - www.cavalla.org

Large souvenir shop over gulf water - Murdochs

Walks and shelling on the beach

Cruise ships (RCCL, Carnival, Princess, Disney)

Fishing (piers, wadefishing and charters-offshore & inshore))

Golfing

Skateboard park - large

Kayaking trails

Surfing and children surf camps

Kite flying on beach

Marine life and children marine care educational camps at Moody Gardens

Marine life and children marine camps Texas AM Univ - Sea Camp Programs

Various Running events with major Triathlon event

Sand castle building event

Shopping shopping shopping

Dolphin watching and port water tours

Turtle rescue farm behind San Luis Resort Thursday's tour

Carved damaged trees tour from storm

Free ferry ride and a short cruise to Bolivar

Duck tour (amphibious boat)

Galveston.com/ interact and discover/cams

Many major weekly events and festivals not mentioned

as example :

Spring Break Events Large

Confederate Reenactment

Sanctioned and Fun Runs(some large)

Triathlon Events

Art Walk (every 5 or so weeks year around)

Dickens on Strand (Dec) ----LARGE - http://www.dickensonthestrand.com

Lone Star Motorcycle Rally (Nov) ---LARGE - www.lonestarrally.com

Mardi Gras Galveston (Feb) ----LARGE - www.mardigrasgalveston.com

October Fest

Beer Fests

Wine Events and Fests

Greek Fest

Epicurean Evening of all restaurants

Shrimp Fest

Yega’s Wild Game Cook Off large

County Fair - LARGE

Children’s Fest

Feather Fest - Large

Old Timey Bathing Beauty Fest

And many many more !!

Trauma 1 Emergency Hospital on Island – Univ. Texas Medical Branch/Sealy Hospital

[CruzieSue]

SSB, you must work for the tourism department !!!! That's a lot of info :eek:, and I do appreciate it. :)

 

I was actually looking for something a little more personal - from someone's personal experiences, not a website, which I have searched plenty.

[CGBCruiser]

I love going to Moody Gardens...they have the Rainforest Pyramid and the Aquarium Pyramid, both are nice. Also I love touring the historic homes. Bishop's Palace, Ashton Villa and the Moody Mansion are all worth seeing. The tall ship, the Elyssa, is very interesting too. It's a coule of blocks from The Strand historic area which is nice too. Lots of shops, some restaurants, etc. Gives you a glimpse of the past. Galveston was the "Wall Street of the South" and many of those old buildings still stand today.

 

Do take a look at www.galveston.com though...it has information on all the above!

[Galveston Cruiser]

SSB, you must work for the tourism department !!!! That's a lot of info :eek:, and I do appreciate it. :)

 

I was actually looking for something a little more personal - from someone's personal experiences, not a website, which I have searched plenty.

 

SSB and I live here and have been to all these venues. We are very much involved in all that Galveston has to offer and are constantly on the go.

I think we cruise so we can get some rest:rolleyes:

 

The Texas Seaport Museum and Tall Ship Elissa (returns to her dock end of February) are next to the cruise terminal and one block from the Strand.

Ashton Villa is no longer open for tours, only private events. (galvestonhistory.org)

[ssb]

SSB, you must work for the tourism department !!!! That's a lot of info :eek:, and I do appreciate it. :)

 

I was actually looking for something a little more personal - from someone's personal experiences, not a website, which I have searched plenty.

 

Just given you some choices!

What are you interested in,

And I will give you some more personal

observations!

[katerkat]

We went on vacation to the Galveston area a couple years back, and very much enjoyed Kemah, the Space Center, and Moody Gardens (mostly the aquarium). We were there with a four year old, so we did a full day at each place.

[jonbgd]

you didnt say what dates you are cruising

 

but Saturday night at Olympia Grill 21, for sailaway of other cruises, is defiantly our favorite

[CGBCruiser]

you didnt say what dates you are cruising

 

but Saturday night at Olympia Grill 21, for sailaway of other cruises, is defiantly our favorite

 

I forgot about the Olympia Grill down by the port...we ate there in September on a Saturday night! Food was good and love the atmosphere. Pretty sure they have a belly dancer for entertainment on Sat. nights. They did the night we were there. I had only been to the old Olympia Grill on the Seawall.

[RVRCLC]

The Wooden Carved Trees tour is great fun. Dead tree in your yard?

Carve it!!!

Historic Homes. Great.

Just drive around the island to see them.

We enjoyed driving onto the island from the far west end because

we did not want to drive through the city.

We are driving down a day early to repeat many of the sights we remember from a great Road Scholar week a couple of years ago.

Amazing things were done to rebuild the area after a terrible storm.

Which direction did all of the destruction come from??

Why is a beautiful iron fence 3-4 feet high??

Wait!! No, it's really about 6' tall!!!!??

 

I appreciate the information from folks who live there,

I had forgotten about the carved trees and that was one of my

favorite things. I loved seeing the historic homes, though I have no patience with touring them. The docents were way too long winded

for me. I want to see, I do not want to stand and listen.

[Host Kat]

The Wooden Carved Trees tour is great fun. Dead tree in your yard?

Carve it!!!...

For anyone interested in the self-guided tour, click here: http://www.galveston.com/treesculpturetour/

 

Also, there is this old link (May 2012) from the Galveston Historical Foundation about their tour showcasing the post Hurricane Ike tree sculptures via their electric solar shuttle: http://www.galvestonhistory.org/East_End_Historic_District_Tours.asp

 

I do not know if it is in operation at this time.

 

Kat

[GoVikes]

Moody mansion is wonderful. The Ocean Star oil rig museum is interesting. The kids really enjoyed the dolphin watching tour. After living in CA for a while, we are not huge fans of the beaches in Galveston.

[EmmasNana]

We like to take the ferry. It's free and fun to watch the dolphins follow along the boat.

[Galveston Cruiser]

Moody mansion is wonderful. The Ocean Star oil rig museum is interesting. The kids really enjoyed the dolphin watching tour. After living in CA for a while, we are not huge fans of the beaches in Galveston.

 

I'm from Ca. and the water is much warmer here:)

And, I don't need to drive to the beach, I can walk:D

[ssb]

I'm from Ca. and the water is much warmer here:)

And, I don't need to drive to the beach, I can walk:D

 

AND

The weather in Galveston is sunny and 70 degrees today, tomorrow, and Friday.:)

Today the beaches are clean and beautiful. :)

Today the water is clear and green to the beach!:)

 

And we leave on cruise on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[CruzieSue]

Thanks for the suggestions. Lots of good ideas to start with !!

[sminfiddle]

The Orange Show

Unique to the max.

Impossible to describe, so I'll cop out and paste from their website. :D

 

The Orange Show Monument is a folk-art environment - a monumental work of handmade architecture - located in Houston's East End. It was built single handedly from 1956 until its completion in 1979, by the late Jefferson Davis McKissack, a Houston postal worker.

 

The outdoor 3,000 square foot environment is maze-like in design and includes an oasis, a wishing well, a pond, a stage, a museum, a gift shop, and several upper decks. It is constructed of concrete, brick, steel and found objects including gears, tiles, wagon wheels, mannequins, tractor seats and statuettes. Each piece of the Orange Show Monument was hand-placed and hand-painted by McKissack.

[ssb]

The Orange Show

Unique to the max.

Impossible to describe, so I'll cop out and paste from their website. :D

 

The Orange Show Monument is a folk-art environment - a monumental work of handmade architecture - located in Houston's East End. It was built single handedly from 1956 until its completion in 1979, by the late Jefferson Davis McKissack, a Houston postal worker.

 

The outdoor 3,000 square foot environment is maze-like in design and includes an oasis, a wishing well, a pond, a stage, a museum, a gift shop, and several upper decks. It is constructed of concrete, brick, steel and found objects including gears, tiles, wagon wheels, mannequins, tractor seats and statuettes. Each piece of the Orange Show Monument was hand-placed and hand-painted by McKissack.

 

Absolutely!