I left for Galveston Island on Sunday morning, October 10th. It was a beautiful day to start with. I headed out towards Sugar land and met with Vic from the CR-V Owner's Club. He brought some family members along for the journey. We met up with Vic's friends along Hwy 6 on the way to Galveston. On the way there, I saw a couple of bald-headed, stocky men riding motortrikes with bodies that had rear fenders that reminded me of 50's fender styles. Classic look! Another thing that was just simply amazing was to see a compact pickup truck overtake our short convoy. This young guy was driving along in this beat-up, gray-primered truck with two yellow straps that ran from the front of the hood to the bumper, it seems. Getting closer behind us, it became apparent that the straps were bungie cords holding the hood down! You could see the loose hood bump up and down about an inch. Too bad I wasn't willing to snap a photo in the outside mirror while driving at highway speed!

It wasn't long before I began to see the northwest edge of the Galveston area.

Here's something I've never seen before, this highway divider shaped like water waves.

We merged onto I-45 before crossing the bridge onto Galveston Island itself. We went down to 61st street and took it down to Seawall Blvd, which runs along the beach.

During the drive, I could see evidence from Hurricane Ike (or was it Hurricane Rita?).

Here's Beach Plaza - is that supposed to be famous or something?

Along here is a granite jetty, which I'll discuss a bit later on.

The Commodore - I'm reading this off like everything is famous.

Now, this looks fun! The last time I did one of these was in France in 1983 while traveling as a high school orchestra percussionist.

The Flagship Hotel and Murdoch's are near each other.

We stopped to eat at a Mexican restaurant on Seawall and spent time talking amongst ourselves. Later on, we went down to the waterfront on the north side via 23rd street (next photo), where we found a giant cruise ship anchored close to Pier 21 (no, not the cruise ship that caught fire).

We ended up on Market St after parking and took our time walking through the area.

Old Galveston Square along Market St.

Col. Bubbies for the military visitors.

Yikes! The waterline was this high?!

Dolphin World

We also crossed Harborside Dr to Pier 21.

Here's our seagull.

Willie G's right up against Pier 21.

Then we crossed back over to the Starbucks for the coffee addicts to get their fix and freshen up. It was at this time that the cruise ship sounded off and departed. I wanted us to run back down there to catch the ship going right by the pier, but it seems I was the only one who wanted to do it. Here's people waving bye-bye on the top as it passes in front of Pier 22.

I got a bit restless and wanted to explore more of the island before the day came to an end, so I departed from the group and went my way.

Back at the Old Galveston Square area.

These gas street lanterns still work!

This unusual piece of art over Post Office St (one block south).

I wanted to go to the beach before it got dark, so I went back down 23rd St to Seawall and parked near the Flagship Hotel. There is plenty of parking along the beach side or east-bound side so you don't have to cross the street to get to the beach.

Planted in someone's memory or in celebration of a new relationship? Who knows!

I walked along the beach after taking my sandals off and enjoying the feel of sand beneath my feet, just as ocean-side humans have done for millions of years... It felt right AND very soothing! Getting here, I wanted to walk down the granite jetties, so I put my sandals back on so I wouldn't slip and fall down in between the blocks (don't laugh; I'm that skinny!). On these jetties, you can see the seawater moving about between the big granite blocks.

I walked back to the beach and then over to a larger jetty. Here, I talked to a woman a little older than myself with a dog. She's been going there from another coast town nearby to the southwest since a young woman and loves it.

Here's a view of nothing but ocean.

But if you look more closely, you can see various ships lined up to or out of the shipping channel.

After seeing as much as I could before it would get dark, I started heading back. I continued walking barefooted in the sand and passed a lifeguard's stand. Just ahead of me in the dry, loose sand away from the water out pops a sand crab! It stood right there for a second before moving off to the side a bit, where I got this photo. After I took this photo, the crab had disappeared.

Here's the Flagship Hotel one more time at sunset. It was a fun, beautiful day out. It couldn't be better, and it was nice to see everyone from the Honda club!