One of our many Galveston trips

On Saturday, January 16th, 1999, Jeffrey, Brittney and I made a day trip to Galveston Island. this is one of our regular activities and we make the trip pretty often. The kids just love riding the free ferry from Galveston to the Bolivar Peninsula. We usually try to hit the ferry around sunset as it offers a spectacular view and beautiful sights.

Ferry Pictures

Bolivar Ferry Page

Besides the ferry we always make a trip to the Candy Factory located on the west end of the Strand. This little shop is an old fashioned Candy Store/Ice Cream parlor. They make salt-water Taffy on the premises as well as most of their chocolate and fudge type candy. We watched today as the candy maker made some peppermint taffy, after which they gave out some free samples. It was wonderful. The candy making apparatus is approximately 90 years old and works like a charm. It spits out about 120 pieces of wrapped taffy a minute. The candy maker was hard pressed to keep up with it on the feed-in end. It was a fascinating thing to watch.

Candy Factory Pictures

Candy Factory Page

We also went to the Galveston Railroad Museum. This is a collection of train cars, engines, and other railroad relics that have been collected and are in various stages of being restored. There was everythingn from a caboose from the late 1800's, to a more modern engine from as late as 1970. There were model trains running, talking displays that modeled people, clothing, and the feel of the train stations of the 20's and 30's. We soaked it all up and had a lot of fun.

A few years ago there was a large off-shore oil rig towed into Galveston to be turned into scrap metal, but that didn't happen. Instead, it was turned into a high tech educational site and tourist attraction. You can board the oil rig over a causeway that joins it to shore and tour the entire rig. There are numerous displays and each tells something about the uses of the rigs, and how they were organized and operated. The kids loved all the colorful displays and the outside areas.

We rode around the historical areas of the town aboard the free trolley cars that operate on the track system. It was fun and the guide had a very appealing speal that was informative as well as entertaining. He pointed out the historical buildings and told some of the history behind each. The kids loved waving at people as we passed going slowly by.

Before we left, we went to have supper at our favorite place to eat on Galveston Island, "Joe's Crab Shack." While we were eating the music would change to some fast paced nostalgic tune from the 80's, and the wait-staff would all start dancing to the tune. The kids just love this part and it is one of the things that keep us coming back each trip. The food is good as well and it is not that expensive. You can find it on the Seawall down near 45th street.
 

Joe's Crab Shack Pictures

Joe's Crab Shack Page
 

After supper, we decided to go for a short walk on the beach since we were just across the street from it. It was dark, and just a tad chilly, but we had our jackets and my police flashlight, so off we went. We walked along the waters edge for about twenty minutes, picking up a few shells, stomping on the sea-foam, and just being silly in general. Then it was time to head for the house. We had picked up a little bit of candy earlier at the Candy Factory, so that is what we had for desert on the way home, Gummi-worms, Raspberry Sharks, and Peanut Brittle.... hehehehe.
 

The only down-side to the whole day was that I got a parking ticket, for parking three hours, in front of a meter that I put four hours worth of quarters into..... you do the math...... (sigh).
 

Here's a link back to the kids page

McKinney Kids Page