Galveston, Oh Galveston

My first trip to the island since Ike. It's been 11 months since the hurricane, and the vast majority of businesses are up and running. Some are still boarded shut.

Biggest shocks were:

1) Dead trees. Did you know that when a storm surge floods land, the plant roots soak up the sea water and most die from too much salt? Yep. I had no idea. A few of the trees will recover, all those within two years. So they are waiting to see which of them may survive, before cutting them down. The palm trees seem fine, but maybe 98% of the oaks, particularly noticeable along Broadway, are dead. Creepy.

2) Blue water. Oh yes, friends. Galveston has blue water. Right at the shore, it looks brown from the sand color, but it is not murky like it always was. The view across the water is beautiful! Am I bluuuuuuue... Am I bluuuuuuuue...

Hotels (including the San Luis- yay!) are open and operational. Buildings are newly painted. Everything looks really good. The Strand is open for business, although we didn't make it over there this weekend.

The Flagship is still as it was the day of the storm. :( They do have plans to refurbish it though.

There are a lot of piers that are still in pieces. The gulls LOVE the pier chunks that are unattached to the beach. They crowd onto them. So funny.

Graduation wasn't the typical long experience it can be. And now CJ finally has her BS! Well, she's had the BS down for a while, but you know... ;)

After grad, we ate at The Spot, which has awesome food, a gorgeous view and many patrons' impressive motorcycles parked out front. Get the Caribbean Salad and add grilled chicken. It was a big hit with our group.

Eleven of us stayed at a beach house, and hosted a graduation party on Friday night. I was in charge of margs all night and I think they turned out strong great! Much fun was had by all.