Our Texas Thanksgiving – Part 8 – Going Through Galveston

After a couple of days in the Beaumont area, it was time to move on. We were heading towards the Houston/Sugarland area to celebrate Thanksgiving with my cousin David and his family. We decided to take the scenic route and went through Galveston. David gave us some great suggestions for things to see and do along the way too.

Normally, Houston/Sugarland is about a two hour drive from Beaumont, but we doubled that time and took in the sights. We also took the ferry over to Galveston, which gave us time to feed the gulls a bit too.

Before moving to California, my dad shipped out of the whole Gulf Coast for about 6 years. He shipped out of both Port Arthur and Galveston, and the surrounding ports. This is how the Aussie met his Texan girl, or as my grandfather would say, “that damned fererner”.

The houses all along the coastal areas are on stilts. They get some BAD hurricanes and storms through this area quite frequently.

We took the ferry across the channel.

Once the ferry started moving, we could get out of the car, walk around, feed the birds, and take a lot of pictures. I love this shot with the gull flying above all the perched pelicans.

David told us to bring some bread to feed the gulls. They saw us coming and started flying in towards us.

The grackles wanted in on some of the bread too, and were begging just as much as the gulls were.

We also saw quite a few pelicans too. This one was posing for me.

My dad was in the Merchant Marines his whole life, and he worked on a lot of oil tankers and cargo ships. To this day, every time I see one, I always wave and say “hi daddy”. He shipped out of these waters for quite awhile too.

Once we got off the ferry, David had another great suggestion for us too. But before getting to that, here are a couple more shots of the Galveston area. Galveston is a popular beach area.

The railroad played an important role in shaping Galveston too. And my Uncle Raymond worked on the railroads for over 40 years, so I thought this was a good representative shot of the trains.

I have more fun adventures coming your way. Don’t go anywhere; stay tuned. 🙂