You’ve probably heard of the Texan coastal resort city of Galveston thanks to Glen Campbell. Tucked behind the up-tempo country song’s sound are mournful lyrics about a soldier missing sea waves crashing onto the Gulf Coast island beach, and by the time the strings fade out, you somehow end up missing a place you’ve never even been. Give yourself a chance to miss Galveston properly.
Last week I visited Houston, the largest city in Texas, and after those exciting metropolitan adventures a three-day trip to the historic seaside area is a welcome contrast. A short hop up the I45 across the Galveston Causeway brings us to the historic seaside front which arrives like an ocean breeze. While Houston is centred around skyscrapers whose origins stretch back weeks in some cases, Galveston’s buildings, in some cases, stretch back to the 19th century, before it became one of the biggest ports of America’s enormous maritime hey-day.
The buildings here lean towards Victorian or wooden-slatted Colonial styles and come splashed in a variety of colours, even pastel blue or pink. You might even think the homes, in a town located in what’s considered the most fierce and macho state in the US, are extremely adorable. Perhaps there are places in Texas which embody the unofficial state motto of Don’t Tread On Me but Galveston embodies, if anything, the real state motto which is, simply, Friendship.
The Southern charm is so effusive that, when we check into the Grand Galvez, the mana.