There are two incentives to make this trip. Galveston Texas is a fascinating small city, and Carnival’s new ship, Magic soon starts sailing from there with me aboard.
Photo credit: ShipDetective.com.
I booked air to Houston on Southwest. This is the first time for me on this ubiquitous airline, and I’ll be happy to take it again. Here’s a hint if you fly Southwest: for ten bucks you can be first to board in section “A” and you can also check in online 12 hours before “the others”. Be sure to check www.seatguru.com to see the best place to plunk.
The flight to Houston was smooth, on time, and goodies were distributed, and two bags; no charge.
The drive to Galveston is about 45 minutes, with lots of Texas space, some taken up by the Space Center. Then Galveston. As I approached, I couldn’t help but notice the out lying homes build on pylons to escape flooding waters from hurricanes.
After the big storm in the late eighteen hundreds, the worst natural disaster in history, an immense seawall was erected
and Galveston also raised the level of the ocean facing part of the island. Yup, raised it. But, Ike came a few years ago and frustrated by all this, Ike’s water was forced into the bay, and, yes, the lower part of Galveston got very damp.
The salt water killed the roots of most of the island’s Oak trees, but hey this is Galveston. The wood from removed dead oaks has been made into lovely bowls, and some of the still standing dead remains, cut to about 6 feet tall have been beautifully carved.
Galveston has mansions built over a hundred years ago and more recent less sedate homes.
It is rumored to be haunted, especially on the 5th floor. My room was on the fifth floor. I was, of course, not concerned, but late at night I heard a barely audible moaning. It was a woman’s voice. My pulse doubled and I thought “Wow, it’s true”. Then I remembered the huge wedding party in the hotel earlier. Oh well.
There are many things to see and do in Galveston. My favorite, especially for families, was the Schlitterbahn Waterpark. Slides. And, you can ride the waves and river rafts….
When you sail Carnival from Galveston, be sure and spend a couple of days in this great community. The new ship holds 3690 passengers. A full cruise, but we plan to experience Gala night, which is when half of Texas gets to explore the ship, eat, and overnight. The booze was free for all. Late at night some staggered down the passageways putting their card keys into slot after slot.
“What was our cabin number?”
“I told you to write it down.”
“Are you sure this is our deck?”
“I’m not feeling well.”
Talking about keys in the slot, when I entered my cabin.
I couldn’t get my lights on. I pushed button after button. Frustrated, I pushed a button with a little green light on it really hard. It went into the wall. The green light went out, but no other light turned on. Wait, what’s this slot? Ahh, slide your key into it and lights on! Whee ha. Take your key when you leave and lights off. Brilliant energy saver. (Just thinking, is brilliant the right word, I mean the lights go out. Perhaps clever?)
A great new ship added to the Carnival line.
Geoff Edwards is a veteran radio and television broadcaster. He has an Emmy for best talk show host, and an Emmy nomination for best Game Show Host. Besides hosting network game shows, he has appeared as an actor in numerous television shows and movies. In radio, he was top rated in Los Angeles on both KMPC and KFI.
With all of this, Geoff never lost his thirst for travel. He has been cruising since 1969 and has twice cruised around the world. From Morocco, to the Marshall Islands, and even to Branson, Geoff ‘s wit adds a special flavor to his travel commentary. Michael, Geoff’s wife, travels with him and records all on film.
Today, Geoff writes for several national magazines, currently broadcasts a weekly travel report to Monterey’s KION morning show, and does on “location” special travel broadcasts for CRN, the Cable Radio Network.
