To get to Galveston Island from Houston, you drive South about an hour, to the Gulf of Mexico. It's a coastal barrier island, connected to the mainland by a ferry and two bridges, close enough to Houston for day-trips to the beach, or weekends away from home.
Arriving the afternoon of July 4th, our Independence Day, our goal was to see the beach-front fireworks. So, we took up a position on the upper deck of the 61st Street Fishing Pier, with a nice unobstructed view of the island, and a steady cool breeze.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Off to our left was the western end of the island...
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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And far to the right was the Pleasure Pier, with it's high Ferris wheel, roller coaster and other rides, restaurants and attractions.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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The fireworks were based on the beach, not far west of the pleasure pier. We were a bit far away for optimum viewing, but we wanted to make sure we were far enough that the loud booms wouldn't scare our little grand-daughter.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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As it turned out, it was a pretty nice viewing point,
with the fireworks reflecting off the waters of the Gulf.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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The next day we headed over to Moody Gardens, a complex with several attractions, including a very nice aquarium, with penguins...
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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...and a paddle-wheel boat...
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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...and a tropical rainforest enclosure with butterflies...
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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...and interesting looking birds, bats, and other small animals.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Then in the later afternoon, we boarded the paddle wheel boat to cruise around before another round of fireworks. Of course, as I'm looking at the pyrotechnic set-up, on the dock, right next to the boat, I'm wondering about the wisdom of the arrangement (just the night before, somewhere in the US, fireworks had shot off horizontally into a crown, injuring 2 or 3 dozen...).
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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The pyramids are the aquarium, the rainforest and the other main components of Moody Gardens. Several local private boats came and anchored in front, also waiting on the fireworks show.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Unfortunately, the situation was not exactly as advertised. Instead of completing the trip in time for us to watch fireworks from the beach, we found (after we had already sailed) that the boat intended to be on the bay when the fireworks would be going off. This made perfect sense, given that the fireworks were right on the dock...but they had not communicated to us that we would be staying out on the boat until all was over...
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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Then, there was a technical problem which delayed the start of the fireworks for about an hour and twenty minutes...while we were gently cruising around on the bay (...trying to make "dinner" out of the snack foods available on the boat...). So even though we finally saw them, we were at that point, fairly far away. Oh well, we'll know better next year.
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Photo by Mark W. Laughlin
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But, all in all, a very pleasant weekend.
The weather cooperated, and I think we all had a good time.
I hope everyone had a Happy July 4th !!
Take care,
-Mark W. Laughlin
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