and ended up inside this for a beer.
It also has a bijou restroom I didn’t realize how bijou ‘til I sat down
and could still see the tattooed ladies applying ……lippy….I think. P had just had a brief encounter with them as they strutted onto the deck of Woody’s, 15 year old daughters with attitude is one thing, mature ladies with the big A, and I know what you are thinking……. 6 ft of rugby player does fit under a bar stool when the need arises.
When we arrived I thought we were looking at the North Sea…Bridlington but at 86 degrees.
Swimming in the sea, isn’t it lovely when once you have got out you don’t have to don a gum shield to stop you biting through your tongue as you judder under your towel and risk poking your eyes out with the goosebumps which burgeon on your whitey purpley arms. Last day the wind whipped up apparently there was a hurricane 100 miles out to sea.
Never have my legs stung so much from the sand blowing up the beach, sure there is a depilatory/body wrap patent lurking in there somewhere – Dead Sea mineral treatments… pah for wimps… And so to the educational side – Galveston is an island with bayous. It was almost wiped out by a hurricane 107 years ago when it was dominated by a small number of rich families all of whom to their credit helped rebuild the island with true Victorian patrionist zeal.
See the historic sector where we added to our expanding property empire (I need a rest from the beach house balcony sometimes) and also our mosquito bites. We also ate in the historic neighbourhood – and listened to bands playing in the bar…I still have not conquered my urge to burst into “Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz” and I always have to finish it because there is a great hound dog kind of yowl halfway through…very cathartic.
The bands brings me to another contradiction about my hosts that challenges me ….2 tons of metal at fast speeds in the hands of 16 year olds, “Guns are Us” and yet the latest we have seen a band play is 10 pm and the Elvis impersonator of all time (well he would be wouldn’t he) is performing at the Glass Cactus starting at the unholy hour of... 5 pm…does everyone have to go in for “us teas” before 10.30 or else they turn into pumpkins? It was surreal though being in the US sitting outside a Greek restaurant on the Gulf of Mexico eating Baklava, drinking Turkish Coffee listening to Elton John haing just been in the antique centre where there was a 1970’s melamine tray from the Yorkshire Dales on sale…
On our way back we took in NASA Space centre though I am amazed we got there with such help as shown
Roisin acquired her prize posession of all time ..an astronaut soda (fizzy pop to you) bottle to prove it. I touched a piece of the moon (yes I know I was already touched by it) and we were able to see into the space station and the guys working up there live. P explained the purpose of helium spheres and generally had an engineer’s hypo which culminated in him crashing the space craft a couple of times in the test environment….he claims it was a dodgy gear stick. 6 hours went by without us even noticing.
And finally to Houston…big buildings…We had a great meal in a restaurant in the Montrose district noted for antiques, arty shops etc.. 3 guys sat next to us made Graham Norton and Julian Clary look like Rocky Marciano.. if campness were reflected in shoulder pad size (yes I know that’s Dallas but they weren’t there) they could only enter buildings with garage door access.
And finally to round off to (can you guess)where it is
This was not part of the Galveston road trip.
Roisin and I risked arrest for you to get this shot (Pardon the pun). The Book Repository Museum was very good. Sobbing children of the 60’s and amateur ballistics experts in their Sunday “sports” patterned (fishing rods, footballs, marine wildlife type of thing) shirts and sneakers were a little distracting but the storyboard style display made it easy to absorb. I do have a sneaking envy for those who were teenage/adult in those days only being the literal child of the Sixties.
Look away now if easily scared this last section is me attempting to conquer my fear but instead shattering glass for 200 hundred miles. Fortunately there is no photographic evidence of this. NRH2O water park (NR stands for North Richmond).. A water based roller coaster for which two of you sit in a “dingy” and are pushed off from a very great height..Friends and daughter went before us, recognized the scream half way down and at the bottom witnessed our expulsion with only P’s legs and head on view. My strategy had been to get as low as possible, what a futile exercise that was. After the first drop I was told that was it, the worst is over……lying SOB. The first anyone really saw of me was as I crawled out muttering “Holy S..t”. Never ever ever ever, to the power of 1 million, again. I am still applying cream to my skinned cocchis. I don’t need adrenalin pumping round my system that fast it makes me all unnecessary.
By the way the wee ones have finally flown but not before we got the shot we wanted..
And finally I have to admit Texas does dragonflies and sunsets really well.
And the Wichita Line man is still on the Liiiiiiiiiiine da da da da da da da da
Better still here's the real thing....
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