Texas-sized Trip - II

I think many can relate to, perhaps even said, the statement "I need a vacation to recover from my vacation."  

Our trip was not overly stressful or overly busy (especially after I rolled my ankle) but Dave and I were both struggling to get "back into routine" last week.  Probably because we were so relaxed.  I mean two weeks of no hard and fast schedules... to deadlines to meet.  We were still early to rise (we saw the sunrise on most days) and early to bed (especially while camping - like 8 p.m. on most nights!).

After a week of being home, playing catch up with bills, phone calls, email messages, and re-stocking our pantry and freezer, we are finally ready.

{{Edit:  I started writing this post on Monday morning (3/9)... and here I finalize on Wednesday afternoon (3/11)... maybe we weren't really ready to resume a higher productivity level  LOL!}}

I will pick up where I left off with the first post of our trip - After a quick stop in Houston to visit a former student of Dave's and to see where he leads a gunsmithing team for a high-end retail store we arrived in Galveston and navigated our way through town to the ferry that would take us across the bay to Bolivar Point.

It was a completely new experience for us!  We were like little kids.  Once on the ferry and moving across the bay (about a 20 minute trip) we went to the upper level to enjoy the view.  Dave is a lover of all things on the water and he had to wander the entire deck... front, back and both sides.  

The view really wasn't any different, but we noticed that the seagulls followed the ferry and other barges and ships.  Swarms of them! 

It reminded us of the scene from 'the birds'.

We arrived on the Bolivar Peninsula and found our way to the house... 

Our view for the next few days...

After another seafood dinner (seafood tacos this time) and a seafood breakfast burrito the next morning we were ready to explore Galveston.  We started with the visitor's center and asked a few questions about the point of arrival for passenger ships in the early 1900s... more specifically, "My grandparents immigrated to the US through Galveston in 1907 and 1912.  Where would the ship have arrived?" and "Where can I get additional info or photos about this?" 

We were directed to a museum that had just reopened in the County Courthouse (turns out that was about the 1900 hurricane.  Interesting, but not what I was looking for.)

We then visited the history/research department of the Rosenburg Library... After explaining what I was looking for and the info I desired, we were told that the immigrants would have arrived on Pelican Island where they would have had to pass another physical/health check, pass through registration and customs and then board smaller boats to be transported to Galveston.  From there my grandparents' families would have journeyed to the train depot to board the train for Kansas.

I was allowed to search photo collections to see what the wharf and life as an immigrant looked like...

All photos shared here are from the Galveston and Texas History Center; Galveston Photographic Subject Files: Immigrants. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

I found info on the quarantine and life-saving stations, learned of meals being served in a cafeteria as passengers waited for their turn for customs inspections, transport boats and registration... I felt as though I was transported back in time... 

Forshey Postcard Collection. U.S. LIFE SAVING STATION AND FEDERAL IMMIGRATION STATION, GALVESTON, TEX., circa 1915





Below is an Aerial view of the quarantine station on Pelican Island. 1927

"The examination of the customs officials whose duty it is to look into every piece of baggage and trunk, or box and thoroughly examine every item of the contents. This is a tedious process and as so few of the inspectors and speak any European language it is necessarily a slow procedure. At the present no one is allowed in the Customs' Department. The government is very strict and properly so."

Left, 'Alice', a Quarantine Boat, Galveston, Tex. circa 1915.

Registration below...

Right, Immigrants on a boat used to transport them from steamships to the mainland, Galveston, Texas. circa 1910

The next day we visited Pelican Island..

It was a surreal experience for me... Imagine 100+ years prior I stood where my grandpa stood as a 9 year old boy and my grandma, a mere teen, probably helping to keep track of her younger brothers as the customs process and registration occurred.

As I soaked in all the information and locations in the evening I enjoyed some hand sewing of the National Park Postcard blocks.  I continued to ice my still sore and very bruised ankle/foot and Dave and I enjoyed the view... as he offered me action filled reports of what was happening in the bay.

There was a helicopter across the bay that he figured was doing some sort of water rescue training...  There was a man descending from the helicopter... now he is in the water... he's going back up... oops, he's in the water again... now he has a basket...  

It had been a very windy day, so some rough water rescue training sounds plausible... It was a good day!

We had one last day and we wanted to make the best of it!  We loaded the bikes on the back of the truck and made the ferry crossing.  We road all over the town... from the quaint, eclectic shops in downtown to the seawall and beach.  I don't know how many miles we covered, but we enjoyed seeing tree carvings and historic houses.  We perused a few antique shops, a gift shop on the beach and the shore.

As we wrapped up our ride and headed for the truck I saw a sign for a local farmers market.  

So we headed over there after loading the bikes.

Dave found a decadent piece of chocolate cake, and I found some really yummy, perfectly sweetened GF chai spice cookies.

We were actually in search of some more fresh seafood.  When we inquired about it we were told that a fish market like that doesn't exist in Galveston.  Well...

We went on our way and did a quick google search... Guess what?!?  Katie's Seafood Market DOES exist in Galveston... Off we went!

The little gal that helped us was just as excited as we were that we found this hidden gem!

We brought home 5 lbs of seafood.  Talk about excited!!!  

The next morning I made certain I was up early enough to enjoy the sunrise from the view of the kitchen...

It was time to pack up our clean laundry and food and my entertainment bag and head toward Beaumont to visit friends for the day and one night.

Dwight and Angie were the first of Dave's customers nearly seven years ago when we started up his business.  Over the years they have become good friends.  We see them every one to two years.  

They always have stories to share about their travels and most recent (and upcoming) safari hunts in Africa.  

Our time in Texas was quickly drawing to a close... yet we were ready to return home to our familiar surroundings.

We had two long days of driving ahead of us... but we still had not reached the bottom of the entertainment bag!

The return trip produced a completed test block (an alternate block) for my Pieces From The Past Sew Along... a pattern collected and saved by my Grandma Schleich... the one I traced the footsteps of while in Galveston.

And... now YOU probably need a day or two to rest up from OUR vacation.  Thanks for tagging along.

I have many thoughts and stories that are still spilling out from me... like "I should have asked about the train station."  I have searched through some of the on-line collections from the Rosenburg Library, but now I wish I had seen it in person...

And I wish that we had checked the schedule of Pier 21 Theater and had the opportunity to see their movie Galveston - Gateway on the Gulf a film about the more that 200,00 immigrants from all over the world that entered the US via Galveston, TX.

It would seem that this trip was all about heritage for me... from the quilts and quilt blocks that I saw at the Institute of Texan Cultures in (San Antonio) and the Naturalization ceremony that was taking place while we were there, to walking on the ground that my grandparents would have walked as new arrivals to the US, to working on blocks for the sew along that focuses on them and their farm and their connection to the prisoners held at Camp Trinidad.  

I am moved with deep emotion at how life can come full circle...  I only hope that I can carry on a legacy of kindness and care extended to others as they did.  They didn't have much to share, but they treated the men working on their farm well and generously shared what food they had.  

It is suggested in some of the letters that that was not the situation at all the farms... I guess maybe it may have been more than just Grandma's talents as a cook that had the men proud to say they had worked on the Schleich Farm for the day {wink, wink}.  The men only desired to be respected as humans.  Of course,  having the same native language of German to assist in the communication probably went a long ways.   

I have rambled enough...  In recap - "What we did on our vacation."  We went to Texas for two weeks.  We ate lots of fresh seafood.  We rode our bikes on the beach.  We listened to an audio recording of The Story.  I did lots of hand sewing.  I injured my ankle.  We rode bikes in Galveston.  We ate more seafood.  We visited with friends and customers.  We brought seafood home with us.

So, tell me... Are you a seafood lover???  What is your favorite seafood recipe?

Leave a comment...I'd love to give it a try with some of the seafood we have hoarded away in our freezer!

Quilt Happy!
Melva

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