Southwestern RV Trip – Days 6&7 – Galveston

This was our first full day in Galveston and of course the girls wanted to check out the shopping on Strand Street while I puttered around the coach, fixed a couple of things, and rested up from four days of driving – oh to be young again.  Since I like to see trains and ships, after dropping them off, I drove to the north end of the island to see if any ships were about and I was not disappointed as there were several at anchor – riding high so likely empty. 

Then I spotted this guy actually moving toward a Texas port.

She is the oil tanker Serene Sea and at 750’ long she is a good bit bigger than those at anchor but only half as long as a super tanker – that would be a treat to see one.

Our primary reason for stopping in Galveston was to eat at the Gypsy Joynt after seeing it on TV a couple of times.  Pat wasn’t feeling well so Bev and I headed to an older part of town and easily found the place – very unimpressive from the outside. 

Would you believe that when we went to our main reason for this stop that I left the memory card in my computer so these are a mix of shots from Bevs phone and the web – can’t believe I did that.  The inside has stuff everywhere.

We began with the Sleazy Mac & Cheese ($11.99) for an appetizer which contained mac, cheese, crawfish, bacon, asparagus, red pepper spread, jalapenos, bread crumbs, and avocado.  We both loved it and took half home for later.  Pic from the web.

Bev had the Mediterranean Burger ($10.99) which was topped with artichoke hearts, red pepper spread, kalamata olive, feta, spinach, tomato, onion, Greek dressing.  She thought her burger was very good, which is high praise from the “Burger Queen.”

I had the Al Capone sandwich ($10.99) which had ham, salami, pepperoni, provolone, lettuce, tomato, mayo, banana peppers, Italian Dressing, S&P.  It was served hot and I thought it was delicious – even better than a Muffaletta from NOLA’s Central Grocery.

The next day was rainy so our main activity was to tour the Bishops Palace (or Gresham's Castle) which was the home of Walter and Josephine Gresham.  He made his fortune as a lawyer and politician so seems like some things never change.  The 19000 sq.ft Victorian house was finished in 1893 and was one of the few structures that withstood the great hurricane of 1900.  This first shot is from the web.

It costs $250,000 but I can’t imagine what it would cost to build the home today with all of the carved wood, inlaid marble, stained glass, etc.  Here are several shots showing what I’m talking about.

Looking up and down the stairwell from the second floor.

In 1923 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston purchased the house, and, situated across the street from the Sacred Heart Church, it served as the residence for Bishop Christopher E. Byrne.  This is the pretty fancy catholic church.

The house is now owned by the Galveston Historical Foundation and self-guided tours are available daily.  A portion of each admission supports the preservation and restoration of the property.

We enjoyed our couple of days in Galveston and now it was time to move further west.  We found the Sandpiper RV Resort to be a good place to stay for a few days or an extended period and I would agree with them being a resort (a low end one).  The streets and sites were all concrete including a patio with ample room and good grass between the sites.  At $45/nite, it's a good value for a resort town.

The utilities all worked well including the cable TV and WiFi.  The main thing they were lacking was amenities but they did have a nice infinity pool overlooking the park.

Since we rarely use any amenities this was not an issue for us and I like the proximity to downtown so I would stay here again.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

1/15-1/16/19 event dates