Hurricane Ike 2008

Beautiful Old Homes

Some Gave Refuge

Cathedrals drew the flocks inside

Notice the Waterline Mark on the steps of this First Sister

The Second Sister

The Third Sister

These little cottage like small quaint homes were called the Three Sisters. They were damaged but not destroyed from The Storm in September 1900.Some of the other homes were not as fortunate. Many of the glorious trees that were centuries old were snapped like matchsticks.

History repeated itself in September of 2008 when Hurricane Ike came inland, covering most of Galveston Island with a tidal surge. Many of the islands trees were uprooted and thousands were lost. The people of the town wanted to pay tribute to its lost beautiful canopy. Many decided to morph symbols of the destruction into rejuvenation.

Three artists were hired individually and by the local tree conservancy to create whimsical sculptures from some of the remaining pieces of the trees. Although many are on private property, a self guided walking tour as well as a private tour company using a solar powered bus is available to take interested parties around.

The Island Totem Pole was privately commissioned. The Case family of Michigan represents everything the family loved about Galveston.

This tree has 17 different birds carved in it as well as smaller animals and plants on the bottom of the trunk

This is a carving of the figurehead from the Tallship Elissa moored in Galveston’s Harbor.

All decked out and nowhere to go. This Great Dane is carved in the yard of a family that had this dog. It’s trunk had grown around the fence so it’s paws appear to be gripping the fence.. He might be waiting for the Marci Gras Parade to go by.

Two Crested Herron. The gardens were amazing.

This little froggy got painted. Personally I liked the natural ones, but some were showing weather and perhaps the paint helped preserve them.

The Geisha was carved because of the homeowners love of the Orient. She had made many trips to Japan. The statue is facing the direction you would go if you were traveling to Japan.

King Vidor, was one of the directors of “The Wizard of Oz”. He was born in one of the bedrooms of this property.

This is a sweet yellow lab.

This elaborate piece is called Winnie. It is a grandmother reading to her two little granddaughters. The Adoue Family donated the money for this project and placed it in a neighborhood park in her honor. There is the butterfly chair next to it. 

The backside of the tree.

This huge Japanese Yew was only dead on the front. This creative family carved hibiscus flowers, sea shells and sand dollars.

The angel is holding a bunny and watches over an owl, butterfly and bird. They are placed inside a back yard and I couldn’t see them all. It was another spectacular garden.

The last one on the walking tour was of a Pelican holding a fish in its mouth. I loved them all but there were too many to put in the blog. I didn’t want bore you. 

Although there were many scattered mostly in the historic district, many are located around the town. These sculptures represent only a small percentage of the great trees lost in the storm. The Tree Conservancy, the Galveston Tree Committee and hundreds of dedicated residents wanted to ensure 100 percent of the Iked wood be kept out of landfills and used for recycling projects. More than 100 tons of the trees wood was donated to restore America’s only remaining whaling ship. 200 tons of the wood went to Malaga, Spain to be used in the completion of a full scale replica of the Brig Galveston. Local lumberyards took tons to mill and dry for building projects. Several galleries in the area sell small pieces, like bowls, plates and vases crafted from the wood.

This was a delightful day. 

After all that walking we found the local micro brewery.

Right off the water, and delish brews

The Brew Room

Our new friend. He Takes the ferry to the island, it takes about hour to get here.

The bathroom stall wells are filled with different grains used in the different beers. Very clever.

Interesting sinks

And for the boys. 

After spending some time here we returned to our campground. The weather was still overcast and drizzly. The young man at the bar who was the owner and brewmaster was hoping the weather would clear for the weekend (two days away) because it was the last weekend of Marci Gras. Plenty of parades and festivities, and the weather could really keep people away. Drat!

One more day for us here before we move on down to Corpus Christie. 

What future pop star earned $50.00 a game as a “Laker Girl”?

That’s all for now. 

God Bless America!

Don’t Mess With Texas!

This is the tourist rest stop just after entering The Lone Star State. There are more than 850 exits off of Interstate 10 before you get to New Mexico. Texas is crazy big. It has everything to offer.  It has  mountains, prairies, plains, the hill country which is filled with lush vegetation, arid desert spots with abundant wild flowers and cactus, a  magnificent coast line with sandy beaches, shore birds and shells for the picking. What’s not to like! If you can’t find something here to do, you are not looking.

Every year we pass through and try to concentrate on a specific area. This year, we started down the Gulf Shore, toward Galveston.

We hitched a ride on this free ferry. I think it was about a 15 minute ride and then we were on land again.

Approaching Galveston, a little foggy.

A Carnival Cruise Ship in Port

A beacon along the shore.

We made our way to the state park there and planned on staying until the weekend. The spot was available and this was a good spot to visit the coast. Marci Gras was coming and we wanted to see the city before the real crowd  began to arrive. The weather really never cleared up. We felt bad for us, but the locals really were feeling

the hit in revenue.

Another cloudy picture of our home next to the Beach.

We did some shelling

Spent time with the locals

This little guy was bound and determined to decorate the landscape!

Even Toby enjoyed himself. No it’s not salt water, it came from the land and meandered down to the shore. He never took a sip from the Gulf. He tried at first then quickly stopped when he tasted the salt. He’s so smart. And he actually got his feet wet this time in the water.

They have a flag system in effect to warn swimmers about the surf. It was too cold for any adventurous souls but I’m sure it comes in handy in warmer weather. The rangers at the parks also put on programs about birding, turtle nests in the area and even shelling. They are mostly in the season, and this is technically winter so they are on a limited basis right now.  They are mostly on weekends and weather permitting. They also have groups sign up for service projects to pick up areas along the beach. Not everyone is careful to pick up their litter and these students, Boy and Girl Scouts, and other local groups come in to spruce things up so the tourists can see how beautiful Mother Nature is. 

We all need to do our share.

Pack in, and Pack Out.

We’ll be back.

Hope you are enjoying the weather at home. I am sure it will be getting better for us real soon. Love to you all. And God Bless America.

Feeling 🍀Lucky

We had such a good time at the casino we decided to play the odds once more. We found ourselves on the way to the thriving town of Kinder, Louisiana. It was a very industrial area. Not a very pretty drive, but it is interesting to see how important the railroad is in moving products around the country. We don’t see very many tracks where we live in Michigan, but out west the train is everywhere.

Beautiful

This casino didn’t offer as many free play slot credits but we found the staff to be very helpful in educating us in how various machines worked. Basically you put your money in, and nothing comes out. Seems simple enough. And we mastered the technique like champs!

The campground was squeaky clean and only $19.00 a night for all the amenities, water, electric and sewer hook ups. They had a dog park for Toby. We took him out and discovered there was a pavilion on the grounds that was hosting a  Championship Horse Barrel Race Competition that weekend. 

The horses and riders enter the ring.

About every five rides they regroom the arena

The riders take their horses around a barrel at each end of arena in the fastest time they can without knocking either barrel down. They earn cash for winning. Both the riders and horses advance to different levels as their purses grow. Many of these horses are used for stud service after their racing careers end. I don’t know much about horses but there were some pretty ones there.

This guy must have been chilly

They all seem to pose with that back hoof like that. Hmmm

Many of them wear these covers over their hoofs to complete their outfits. Like horsy “Jamberrys”.

We stayed here for a couple nights so we could be settled for the Super Bowl. We gambled a bit in the morning and then settled in for the game. Bill wanted the Patriots to win but it wasn’t in the cards. Go Eagles. 

Our campsite

We decided to head out the next morning and make our way out of Louisiana toward Galveston Island, Texas. We should make it there before dark and we’re planning on staying at the State Park there.

 I had to show you the toilet seats in the casino before I sign off today...There is a plastic sleeve around the seat that slides into the back of the seat when the toilet flushes. A new one replaces the used one, when the used one is retracted. Neat huh! I thought so.

On to Texas, we always enjoy ourselves there.

The more you run over a dead possum, the flatter it gets.

God Bless America, love you all!

Back to the airport.

Our week with Eleanor was over so quick, like the snap of your fingers.  I had a great time and Papa did too! But Mom flew back from Costa Rica (no her arms did not get tired!).  Eleanor got on the plane and off they went, back to Michigan. Eleanor was so excited to see her Mom, and that made me happy. Soooooooo, our adventure continues. Tomorrow we are moving on from High Falls State Park in Georgia.

On to Alabama and hopefully sunny skys and warmer temperatures. We opted to head toward the Gulf Shores. Originally we thought about Dauphin Island, but we have never stayed along the coast in the Gulf  Shores area of Alabama. We have heard some awesome things about the sandy beaches, laguna blue water and a gentle surf. We were smiling.

This was a great movie!

The drive along our way was nice. Plenty of beaches and lots of potential to be loads of fun, but I don’t know when. Certainly not in our near future. The weather forecast stunk but we persevered and ended up just east of Mobile Bay at Gulf Shores State Park. The park was full for we stayed at Fort Morgan  R.V. Park. It is a private park and was a tad pricier than we like, but the view on the bay, the promise of WiFi, and was it close to a ferry that would take us on a ride across the bay to Dauphin Island, Alabama something we have not done before.

We never saw a sunset and it was so windy!

The campers were in every direction and it was very tight.

The evening lighting was inverted 5 gallon buckets hanging from trees. Something you don’t see everyday.

We were close to the premium spots on the water and could have moved but it was just too windy and cold.

These posts were supposed to have pelicans perched on them. The lady told us they are always there.  Ahah!

We did see Flamingos!

We decided to move on and head toward Mississippi. More rain was on the way and this campground was to much for what they offered. Picky, picky,picky 🧐

By the way, Betsy Ross is the only real person to be a head on a Pez.  I know you were wondering.

Approaching the city of Mobile

Coming out of the tunnel

 The USS Alabama, a World War ll-era battleship, is on exhibit in Mobile Bay and can be toured as well as the USS Drum, a submarine.  Impressive.

Mississippi is not that wide so we easily made it to our next stop.  Just on the other side of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi was the Silver Slipper Casino. We had seen some billboard  ads along the way and decided to casino camp. The sites were right on the Gulf Of Mexico and why not, it sounded like fun.

The front was beautiful. The original casino was gone from the piling on the water, a victim of Hurricane Ike.  They rebuilt and did a mighty fine job in our opinion. The campground was down the road , but sweet. We signed up for players cards and received one free night camping each. We earned free play dollars and even lunch and dinner coupons. We toddled off with $132.00 and Marci Gras Beads and I didn’t have to raise my shirt to get them. Phew. 😜

The view from the casino down to where the campground was. Evening is coming.

 This beautiful bridge connects Bay St Louis to the other side of the bay towards Gulfport.

Bay St Louis lost many of the old trees in the area when they were hit by Hurricane Katrina. Dayle K. Lewis, a chainsaw sculptor transformed the trunks into memorials. There are more throughout the city. 

This little bakery was one of the few businesses that was open. Many are still closed because it is winter. We tried some blueberry scones and bought a loaf of sourdough bread. Yummmm.

So True.

Stopped at the local watering hole called “The Blind Tiger”

A very pleasant day.

The marina view out the window  and a sandbox for the kids?  That seemed odd. But maybe nice when the weather is warmer and 

folks are eating out on the patio of the restaurant.

Another  bar on the beach.

Looking down the road. So colorful.

Another view. The sun is beginning to set. 

Tomorrow we are moving again. We have decided to scoot past New Orleans and have found another casino up the road and will try to keep up our skills at BlackJack. 

Stay tuned!

Hope all is well and you all are surviving the weather wherever you are. Be good and love each other.

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It’s a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

God Bless America!