Galveston Island State Park, Galveston, Texas
A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes a fool. ~ Proverbs 17:10
The storm’d been predicted for the past 5-6 days. Swooping down from the north, winter storm Isaiah cut a long, wide path from Mexico to Maine. For us, it was high winds and pelting rain with some hail thrown in for good measure. We went to bed early last night because we knew once it hit, there would be little or no more sleep. The first vestiges woke me at 12:50am, but the storm didn’t really hit until 1:17. And when it did? Wow! We were really rocking! And no wonder! The wind was gusting at 60mph! And then the flooding began. Because the rain was being blown straight into our windshield, it was also forced into a little hole on that side of our full-wall slide (probably what happened previously). At least this time, it didn’t drip out of the socket, just the speaker. So at 1:40am, Blaine was frantically trying to unscrew the speaker so we could stuff towels up into the hole to try to slow down the torrent. That seemed to work and once the storm calmed down, he went back to bed. Not too long after, water began pouring in once again! I grabbed a bowl, removed the end table and pushed the couch over to try to save my bed from getting soaked. Then I pulled out the two drenched towels, and stuffed new ones up in the hole. Soon, that was also drenched, but as they say, the third time was the charm. Of course, the rain also let up, so that was helpful. All that activity had me wide awake for sure and there was no going back to sleep for me. But at least I was dry! Now, how to dry all these towels; as we have no dryer and neither does the campground. ☹
Now we’re just dealing with constant 20mph winds. . . . . but we have no right to complain. It could be much, much worse, like the Great Storm of 1900 that wiped out Galveston Island.
There were actually about 4 of these guys sailing around the inland waters,
where the wind was coming from.
because we wanted to check out how it faired in the storm.
Since the winds were from the north, not much changed here, except a few more waves.
We find that very odd indeed!
We had things we wanted to do in town today, so we chose to have an early dinner of grilled chicken and baked potatoes. The chicken was pretty good, the potatoes were awesome (see directions below), but there’s a reason I’m telling you that.
Today’s the day I almost burnt the house down.
Remember those wonderful prizes we won playing bingo the other day? Well, that potholder could’ve cost us our home! I don’t know what it was made from, but apparently, it was just for show because it certainly couldn’t handle heat.
So there I was, law-dee-dawing in the kitchen while Blaine was outside grilling the chicken. Since I was trying a new way to bake potatoes, I wanted to check on them and pulled the pan out of the oven and set it on top of that hot pad. Potatoes were doing nicely, so I shoved the pan back in.
I failed to notice that the potholder went along with it; melted to the bottom of the pan, just from sitting on it for a minute.
After a few minutes something was smelling funny. I looked at the toaster oven and saw some “smoke” coming from around the top of the door. At first, I assumed it was steam. It does that sometimes. But then it turned to obvious smoke! But I still didn’t realize it was the potholder! Until I pulled out the pan and saw what was left of it clinging to the bottom! There were no flames, just melting and adhereing to the pan.
What a mess that was!
And my wonderful husband took the mess outside and cleaned it all up after dinner.
And that brings us to what happened during dinner. Something ran off with his grill brush! Isn’t that crazy?!?!? He looked all around, but couldn’t find it. Maybe a hawk? Or some other critter? We’re certain it wasn’t the neighbors, so what else could it be? What a day! And it’s only 3pm!
Time to head into Galveston.
We walked on the seawall, but only for a short distance because there was a lot of traffic today. We moved down to the beach instead. We’d much rather listen to the roar of the waves than the roar of the engines. 😊
They have these signs every so often naming beaches and things.
Once we returned to the Jeep, it was time to drive into town to check out a couple of historic homes we missed the other day – but just the outsides only.
The homes were something to see! We were looking for the Moody Mansion because we’d been told they were very prominent in Galveston history, and still are. But we came across this place first.
And since there was very little in the way of information to be had, I spent some time with my best friend Google, and was introduced to this article written by Bill Cherry in 2008 for texasescapes.com.
When I was growing up in Galveston, there were so many mansions that the thought of their value and opulence to us were sidebars, really. They were nothing more than where our friends’ parents had grown up, and now were where old people lived. People who told us the stories of Galveston’s past. Many of the stories I learned to love and tell to you.
The exception was what family and friends called The Big House. It’s on the corner of 25th and Broadway. The world knows it as The Open Gates, and since 1889, it has probably been the most photographed and recognized home in Galveston.
George Sealy built The Open Gates for his wife, Magnolia, and their four children. It was designed by a New York architect named Stanford White, but the construction was supervised by famed Galveston architect, Nicholas Clayton. The style is known as Neo-Renaissance.
When I see tourists staring at it or taking photos, I can’t help but grin. I wonder what they’d think if they knew what had gone on behind those walls. The Sealys, regardless of age, knew how to party, and they did it formally and informally with great regularity and bravura. One of their favorite ways to dress for a party was in Gay-90s costumes.
And upstairs in the third floor attic was a playroom with a stage. The various grandchildren, nephews and nieces would put on their own productions there. Sometimes when there was a traveling marionette troop passing through town, it would be engaged to do a special performance on that attic stage for the Sealy children and their friends. I remember going there for one of them on a cool spring Saturday morning. It must have been about 1948.
More than once, the grandchildren, nieces and nephews roller skated in the front parlor, knowing full well they’d be caught and made to stop. And there was the lasting odor throughout the house from Uncle Bob Sealy’s elevator that croaked and groaned and smelled like burning carbon when he took it up and down from his quarters. That arsenic and old lace relic was so ominous that he was the only one brave enough to ride it.
But the real treat was to be invited to The Big House on Christmas Eve night, before the midnight service at Trinity Church. The Sealys loved plants, and the house and the conservatory would be overflowing. All of this in addition to the Christmas tree and seasonal greenery. No one made egg nog that tasted nearly as good or was anywhere near as potent as that Sealy bunch. I’ve tried to copy it for forty years. Mine might qualify as a poor second, nevertheless excellent in flavor, body and kick.
And a social function at the Big House where they were celebrating one thing or another, also became the traditional time and place for a Sealy heir to become engaged. I remember that just after her debut party during the holiday season of 1956, Bill Crum slipped an engagement ring on my friend Janey Pinkard’s finger. Even at 16, to me it was an exciting event. I loved seeing Janey so happy.
And Ann Sealy tells the story of George, III, putting the ring on her hand as they were in the hall outside of Uncle Bob Sealy’s quarters, greased down with Noxema after a day of too much sun at the boat club.
Well over twenty of the Sealy heirs have worn the wedding veil of Magnolia Sealy.
My primary connection with the Sealy family was through my childhood friends, Billy, Janey and Becky Pinkard. They lived in a stucco home behind Ashton Villa where the Sealy gazebo stands today. Without trying to wade you through the lineage, primarily because I’m not sure I can still get it right, it was their mother Jane who was a Sealy by way of the Burton family.
Walking from the Pinkards’ home to The Big House was quick and easy, and it was always fun to see what fun-loving and eccentric Uncle Bob was up to, as well as to see what good things the family’s maid, Lureline, could dig up for us to munch on.
And the way to go inside Galveston mansions was always through the back door. Only those who qualified for the austerity of being guests went through their main entrance.
If it were spring or summer or early autumn, we’d stroll the grounds, eating our cookies, but would usually end up walking to the Rosenberg Library to see what new books or exhibits had been added. The library wasn’t air conditioned then. It had an odor all of its own. I always thought of it as the smell of knowledge, the body odor of Plato and Don Herbert (Mr. Wizard) and the Hardy Boys’ adventures.
With all of the family activities that went on for generations at the Big House, and that were unselfishly shared with the Sealys’ many friends, especially this one who lived with his family in a small brick home on Woodrow, it’s hard for me to believe that era somehow terminated as none stayed behind to perpetuate it.
Now that that building is a property of the University of Texas Medical Branch, it’s finally proper to call the architectural decedent The Open Gates. The Big House is only a memory.
Eventually, we located the Moody Mansion. You can pay for a tour of the house, but we didn’t have the time nor the inclination for that, and by now, it was closed anyway. Blaine was already familiar with the name, being the financial wizard he is. 😊
This is what the city of Galveston (on Galveston.com) has to say about it:
Restored to its turn of the century splendor, the 28,000 square-foot, four-story structure was completed in 1895. Today, our guests visit 20 (of 32) rooms on a tour that depicts the home life of a powerful Texas family. The Moodys established one of the great American financial empires. Based on cotton, it grew to include banking, ranching, insurance and hotels.
W.L Moody Jr. bought the home from the heirs of the original owners soon after the great hurricane of 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Moody and their four children celebrated the first of more than eighty Christmas seasons in the house in December of that year.
The house remained home for Moody family members until 1986. Today, its rooms are filled with the furnishings and personal effects of the family.
The philanthropic legacy of the Moody family of Galveston is carried on today by the Moody Foundation and the Mary Moody Northen Endowment. Both charitable foundations are major forces in health care, education, historic preservation, and the arts. The Moody Foundation has developed spectacular Moody Gardens on the west end of the city.
Now it was time to move on to the famed and aforementioned Moody Gardens. Moody Gardens has many forms of entertainment available – a rain forest that’s located inside a pyramid, an aquarium, a paddle wheel boat, a museum, and scads of other attractions for families to enjoy. But the reason we were here was for the movie theaters. They have several available in both 3D and 4D.
We came to see Jerusalem. At $11.95 per person, it’s a whole lot cheaper (and safer) than going there. 😊
It was a terrific movie! Very well done! I took a couple of pictures, which of course being 3D aren’t all that great, but at least it’ll give you a very small idea. The movie covered Jerusalem through the eyes of three young women from the three religious groups that call Jerusalem their sacred home – Jewish, Christian and Muslim.
And when we left the theater?
It was Christmas again!
They do this light show from November – January 12th, so we caught it on the last day. And we discovered that you have to pay extra to see the entire thing, so we didn’t do that. What we saw was fun though! And a great way to end the day.
Here’s the potato recipe:
Russet potatoes, washed and poked with a knife 3-5 times (depending on the size of the potato)
Set in a brine of salt water for 4-6 minutes (2-3 minutes per side)
Meanwhile, preheat toaster oven to 450 degrees (I’m specifying a toaster oven because I don’t know how these will work in a regular large oven. You’re on your own for that one. 😊)
Place potatoes on a rack with a pan underneath (I used our broiler pan that came with our Cuisinart)
Bake for 45-50 minutes, turning halfway through
Lightly brush on olive oil to cover the potatoes and bake an additional 10-15 minutes
And be sure to leave out the potholder!