Checking out Galveston ~ 144 photos

[KevinFromTexas]

I visited Galveston for the first time in October. I didn't have much time to check it out. Just a few hours. But I did get to see a bit of it.

The weather cooperated for the most part while I was out taking pictures, but it did pour both days we were in the area.

My first glimpse of Galveston coming in on I-45.
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A B-17 landing at Scholes International Airport. The airplane is a restored B-17 that is part of the Lone Star Flight Museum at the airport. I believe you can fly in it as well.
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Water spout?
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First thing's first, we went to the beach. I hadn't been to the beach in 3 years so I jumped right in. :D
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Galveston's new twin tallest.
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~Day Two~

The Hotel Galvez. Somehow I didn't end up getting a very good picture of it. Again, pressed for time. This beauty was built in 1911. It must be one of the most gorgeous buildings in the state. Quite impressive to see in person.
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=hotelgalvez-galveston-tx-usa
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Galveston's former tallest from our hotel.
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Moody Gardens.
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Seawall Boulevard.
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Next we headed downtown. I really wish I could have spent more time and effort with the shots and enjoying the sights. I had about 30 minutes to shoot before we had to head out. Also I was dodging rain drops. There weren't a lot of people out. It was about 11 am on a Sunday and the weather was not cooperating, so I'm not surprised there weren't a lot of people on the streets.

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This was Galveston's tallest building for 35 years until last year.
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On the other side of that building you'll notice the masts of a tall ship. That's the Elissa which was built in 1877 in Scotland. In 1975 it was bought by the Galveston Historical Foundation saving it from being scrapped. It was fully restored to working order. I wanted to get some pictures of it from the other side where you could access it (I think), but it started to pour down rain so I missed out. Next time!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elissa_%28ship%29
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I had never seen a cruise ship before, so it was pretty cool seeing it.
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This building was built in 1895. It was designed by Elijah E. Myers who also designed the State Capitol in Austin.
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One Shearn Moody Plaza. It's a commercial office building now, but this building originally served as offices for Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad. It also later served as the Union Pacific train station for Galveston. The original part of the building dates back to 1914.
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On the way back to Houston. Just as we left downtown, it started to pour.
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[priller]

That photo with the bird looking straight at the camera is fantastic! And what a great idea for a photo.

And interesting to see the other building by the Capitol's designer.

Nice set of photos overall. I've only been to Galveston once recently -- for a cruise, of course -- but didn't spend any time in town or take any pictures. We were fighting the hordes and scurrying to get on our ship. A confusing process.

[Boris]

Yeah, the close up of the seagull going for the bread was the coolest.

Nice set of shots Kevin.

[Chelsea Spy]

Unfortunately on about half of the pictures would download for me - those that did were great... amazing moody clouds and light... great shots of the those diving birds.

[boden]

Galveston......made famous by Glen Campbell and Jimmy Buffett songs!
I loved this post Kevin.....especially your love of clouds....which really shined through in these excellent photos. I have never been to Texas, but really want to.

[Austinlee]

Weird! These wide open, sparsely filled cities are so moody...

The cruise ship is really something. Like a floating skyscraper, laying on its side.

[Tom In Chicago]

I love the clouds

[john_mclark]

oh sea gals the trashcan of nature.

[flar]

there are some really nice shots in there :tup:

[KevinFromTexas]

Thanks guys. Feeding the sea gulls is a long tradition of our's at the coast. I was able to get several sea gulls to take the bread right out of my fingers. They're actually pretty tame about it. It's funny how they come around. You can be on the beach and there might be none around you, or maybe one several yards away. Just throw a piece of bread into the air. Even if you catch the attention of one, you'll soon have at least 20 of them coming to you for more. You can toss it in the air and watch them swoop and dive for it, or throw it to the ground and watch a pack of them dive for it and argue over it. Or you can stand there real still and try and hand feed them. There's usually at least a few that are brave enough to take it.

And yeah, I sort of lucked out with the weather. It was really hot that weekend, into mid and upper 80s, but of course the humidity is bad. But the rain cooled it off a bit at least. And even though it rained plenty, it held off most of the time while I was taking the pictures and walking around. I sort of like that it was cloudy and rainy, made for an interesting mood. I thought for sure I'd be rained out all weekend. Along I-45 between Houston and Galveston it poured like crazy. It rained hard enough that you couldn't see the highway for about 30 minutes. It was funny though, as we got to within just 10 miles of Galveston it let up and the sun actually came out, even though there was more rain coming in from the gulf. It held off just enough that I could take pictures. On Sunday when I went downtown it started raining again about the last 15 minutes or so that I was downtown. But it was light enough that I could still shoot, even though I had to wipe off rain drops from the lens.

Here's the wikipedia page for this cruise ship the Carnival Conquest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Conquest
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[KevinFromTexas]

Bump.

[LSyd]

great pics, i gotta get back down there and tour the charleston of texas.

Weird! These wide open, sparsely filled cities are so moody...



oh, it's filled during tourist season.

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