As mentioned my sister and I went to
Galveston for a day trip for my birthday last Friday. It's about a
two hour drive from here but fortunately we were able to use county
and farm-to-market roads with better scenery and avoid the heinous
gauntlet of the remaking of Hwy 59 into Hwy 69 between here and
Houston and then the forever under construction and heavily
trafficked I-45 to Galveston not to mention just the normal horrible traffic
in the city. Instead of the crowded and touristy beach, since we
have a much nicer beach experience in Matagorda which is only an hour
away from home, we went to the touristy historic downtown area called
the Strand which is lined with bars and restaurants, souvenir shops,
beachwear shops, a variety of unique shops including a rock and gem
store, chocolate/candy store, a tea and herb shop, a Mexican import
shop, a Native American art shop, the Galveston Art League, several
nice general gift shops, and hands down our favorite, the Hendley
Market.
Our first stop after we parked
turned out to be the Hendley Market, not by design but because it was
the first shop we came to that wasn't a souvenir or beachwear shop or
bar/restaurant.
The Hendley Market is full of a
variety of unique and fun items like...
(click to bigify)
in case you
can't tell, dried seahorses with dragonfly wings
anatomy prints
the back wall
has a case of folk art nativity scenes from countries all over the
world, this is about half of them
And so much
more!
these were my
purchases
After we spent a
good 45 minutes there we crossed the street to the rock/crystal/gem
store and from there headed back to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch. We
sat out on the deck built over the water with ocean going oil rigs on
one side and the tall ship Elissa on the other.
After lunch it
was back to the Strand and the rest of the shops and when we'd seen
all we wanted to see we headed to the causeway via Broadway and
passed this cemetery where all the bodies are buried above ground in
concrete crypts because the island is so shallow and flat if you just
stick 'em in the ground they tend to float back out. This particular
day, the cemetery was a sea of coreopsis.
What a nice trip! Reminds me of a day-trip to Apalachicola. Shops both weird and fun and good seafood. I love the bird whistle and the bracelet. Is that goblin-thing a finger puppet? The coreopsis is amazing! Thanks for taking us along.
ReplyDeleteyes, the monster is a finger puppet. I have Ganesh and Kali finger puppets that I also got there years ago. they used to be on the ends of the turn signal and wiper levers off the steering column of my old Volvo but the new car has no place for them that they will fit on.
DeleteInteresting. These pictures remind me of Cloudcroft New Mexico. They have cool shops where you can buy items made by local artists. I always love going up there everytime I go home to El Paso. The cemetery with the flowers is beautiful. All cemeteries should have wild flowers growing like this.
ReplyDeleteYou buy weird stuff, I would have bought all of those too, I have a couple of those finger puppets also, never though to put them on my turn signal, thanks for the tip! That looks like a fun day! Wish I could have gone along.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful cemetery! Key West's cemetery is all above-ground, too.
ReplyDeleteWho on earth came up with a dress-up squirrel, I wonder?! I need that book on outwitting them, but I doubt it would work. They're pretty witty.
Love all the cool stuff in the shops!
I used to live about 20 minutes north of Galveston and commute to a job in Galveston. I worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service at the library there. We also had students from the medical college sometimes. There was the Strand...much tamer and not so touristy. Decades ago it was mostly a few good restaurants and a gift shop or two. The traffic was easy-peasy back then.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Ellen. In the late seventies I played bass in a band called the Natives, headed by Herschel Berry. We used to play at a bar on the Strand whose name I have forgotten, not that it matters. I think the Hendley Market has been there since those days. I bought some cool stuff at that place.
ReplyDeleteThat cemetery looks stunning. What a lovely birthday treat. Not just the cemetery, also it helps to keep things in perspective, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteShould we be concerned about the fate of squirrels in Texas?
I don't think the squirrels are in any danger.
DeleteI am due for a day trip with my sister. I would love that market - the squirrel in underpants reminded me of some advice I was given when having to deliver my first public speech - 'just imagine them all in their underware'. I may never be able to feel the same about squirrels after this post. Love your purchases - I would have grabbed that Day of the Dead nativity scene in a hot second.
ReplyDeleteHow special it is to roam so delightfully with your sister, your life's first and longest friend. Love that picture of you both.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness I would LOVE that store! And Mike needs the squirrel book. And maybe the squirrel underpants. Ha!
ReplyDelete